Written question asked by Catherine McKinnell (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 September 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 October 2011. It was answered by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative) on Monday, 10 October 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the implementation of the provisions of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which (a) remove recoverability of after-the-event insurance, (b) introduce damages-based agreements, (c) introduce qualified one-way cost shifting, (d) increase general damages by 10%, and (e) remove success fees on the number of cases involving alleged overseas human rights abuses by UK multinational companies in which victims are able to access legal redress.

Answer: The impact assessments published alongside the Government consultation and response on implementation of Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations set out the impact of the reforms on claimants. The Government are aware of concerns about the impact of the reforms on claimants alleging overseas human rights abuses by UK multinational companies, however, we are not persuaded that there is anything fundamentally different about these types of case which would warrant an exemption from our proposals.

Secondary information