Adjournment debate on Thursday, 30 March 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Beith. The answering member was Baroness Harman.

Small Claims (Courts)

Westminster Hall debate on a motion for the adjournment on the courts - small claims. Motion made, and Question proposed, That the sitting be now adjourned.—[Kevin Brennan.]

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 444 c325-66WH
Session: 2005-06
Department: Department for Constitutional Affairs
Chamber / Committee: Westminster Hall
Related items: The courts: small claims. Government response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee first report of session 2005-06 (HC 519).
Monday, 27 February 2006
Command papers
House of Commons; The courts: small claims. Constitutional Affairs Select Committee first report with proceedings, evidence(HC 519 i-ii not printed separately) and appendices.
Tuesday, 22 November 2005
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions: James Brokenshire | 444 c344WH (Link to this contribution) : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting that information from the NAH. I am not a persona...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c344WH (Link to this contribution) : Having written a chapter of Kemp and Kemp, I would simply say to the hon. Gentleman that it is wri...; James Brokenshire | 444 c344-5WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Having met with some of the NAH's representatives since ou...; Simon Hughes | 444 c345-6WH (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. I apologise to you, Mr. Marshall, and to my right...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c346WH (Link to this contribution) : Perhaps I could clarify what I said. First, the citizens advice bureaux are horrendously overworke...; Simon Hughes | 444 c346WH (Link to this contribution) : I do not want the CAB, which I love dearly, to knock on my door to say that I have sent it twice a...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c346WH (Link to this contribution) : Certainly not. The trouble is that insurers are not usually interested in it.; Simon Hughes | 444 c346WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman is right about that, but I am trying to describe the justice pyramid. The more ...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c346-7WH (Link to this contribution) : I have two points. First, people do have access to personal injury lawyers: a wide range of firms ...; Simon Hughes | 444 c347WH (Link to this contribution) : That is not my experience, and I can speak only from my experience and the general experience. I s...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c337WH (Link to this contribution) : Those three cases are of the sort that I handled and won compensation for the victims.; Lord Beith | 444 c337WH (Link to this contribution) : But the hon. Gentleman is not there any more.; Philip Hollobone | 444 c340WH (Link to this contribution) : Given my hon. Friend's strong trade union links, I am sure that he will be interested in the stati...; David Jones | 444 c340-1WH (Link to this contribution) : I am sure that that is correct. Again, as the hon. Member for Hendon stated, damages for personal ...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c337-9WH (Link to this contribution) : I am not there any more, but there are many other good personal injury lawyers—members of APIL, fo...; David Jones | 444 c339-40WH (Link to this contribution) My remarks will also be confined to the limits in personal injury cases, and much of what I say will...; James Brokenshire | 444 c343-4WH (Link to this contribution) : That is a fair point in terms of the number of cases disposed of and the value of damages awarded....; Philip Hollobone | 444 c344WH (Link to this contribution) : I am grateful for my hon. Friend's reference to the National Accident Helpline, which has written ...; James Brokenshire | 444 c341-3WH (Link to this contribution) First, I declare an interest as a solicitor and a member of the Law Society. The debate has focused...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c343WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman referred to inflation, but he has not responded to my main point: whether, irre...; Simon Hughes | 444 c359WH (Link to this contribution) : Often, one of the reasons why such sums are not paid is that the company—which may be a small comp...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c359WH (Link to this contribution) : I appreciate that these are small claims, but, conceptually, these are issues that would have to b...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c356WH (Link to this contribution) : It is born of experience.; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c356-9WH (Link to this contribution) : I understand the hon. Gentleman's experience, but we could slightly broaden our horizons on this m...; Simon Hughes | 444 c359WH (Link to this contribution) : It appears that we agree that this is a hugely important part of the system's current failures and...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c359WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman's proposals deserve to be put into a pot for a broader debate. However, off the...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c351WH (Link to this contribution) : To finish my point: if the hon. Gentleman cannot tell me the answer to that question, how does he ...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c351-6WH (Link to this contribution) : By looking it up in a book. It is not the hardest thing to find. If the hon. Gentleman wants to ru...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c356WH (Link to this contribution) : Does the hon. Gentleman accept that one of the problems about costs and disproportionality is the ...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c356WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. I recognise his experience in this area. He made the point ...; Simon Hughes | 444 c359WH (Link to this contribution) : These are small claims.; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c351WH (Link to this contribution) : I cannot tell the hon. Gentleman what a broken thumb is worth. If he will let me continue, he will...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c350WH (Link to this contribution) : They have always done so.; Simon Hughes | 444 c350WH (Link to this contribution) : No, they have not always done so. GPs did not always charge for medical reports. [Interruption.] T...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c348WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman obviously has not read the evidence or seen the material produced by my hon. Fr...; Simon Hughes | 444 c348-50WH (Link to this contribution) : I have heard and read the record of the short debate on the subject yesterday, but I was not persu...; Lord Beith | 444 c347-8WH (Link to this contribution) : Another aspect of the problem my hon. Friend describes is that, in the world of contingency fees, ...; Simon Hughes | 444 c348WH (Link to this contribution) : There is a whole set of issues, and I appreciate that this is not a debate about the profession of...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c347WH (Link to this contribution) : I am sorry to keep intervening on the hon. Gentleman but he is trotting out wide assertions that b...; Simon Hughes | 444 c347WH (Link to this contribution) : Again, I am sorry, but I have been an MP for an unbroken period far longer than the hon. Gentleman...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c351WH (Link to this contribution) I start by declaring my interests as they appear in the Register of Members' Interests, but I state ...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c351WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman talks about the Judicial Studies Board guidelines. Would he care to tell me how...; Lord Beith | 444 c337WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman has to answer his own question. If someone who lacks all that essential evidenc...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c334-5WH (Link to this contribution) : I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those figures. They do not surprise me. They are slightly ...; Philip Hollobone | 444 c334WH (Link to this contribution) : The national accident helpline, which is based in Kettering in my constituency, did some quantitat...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c335-7WH (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend makes an entirely apposite point. I was about to deal with it, but I did not have t...; David Anderson | 444 c335WH (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that, in a survey carried out by Unison last year, 63 per cent. of people wh...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c334WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman is right. When I was writing a paper for the Law Commission in the early 1990s,...; David Jones | 444 c333-4WH (Link to this contribution) Does it not matter from what date one applies the start of the inflationary period? The small claims...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c334WH (Link to this contribution) : One could argue to that effect, but I am not making that argument today. I am not arguing for the ...; Lord Beith | 444 c334WH (Link to this contribution) : Is the hon. Gentleman saying that the existing £1,000 limit in all cases is at risk of being regar...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c333WH (Link to this contribution) : I am afraid that I have to disagree. I am not casting aspersions on the right hon. Gentleman, but ...; Lord Beith | 444 c333WH (Link to this contribution) : I hope that the hon. Gentleman will think again if he is suggesting that the Committee came to its...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c332-3WH (Link to this contribution) I wish to raise only one aspect of the report and that is paragraph 54, which contains the recommend...; Lord Beith | 444 c330-2WH (Link to this contribution) : At least we now have the cards on the table. The hon. Gentleman should be arguing for all small ca...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c330WH (Link to this contribution) : I am sorry, but the short answer is that I resisted the introduction of personal injury claims in ...; Lord Beith | 444 c330WH (Link to this contribution) : If the hon. Gentleman is arguing that all the cases that have hitherto gone down the small claims ...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c330WH (Link to this contribution) : The right hon. Gentleman is missing the point. The difficulty with the recommendation is not the v...; Baroness Harman | 444 c360-1WH (Link to this contribution) : The small claims track is one of the cornerstones of civil justice, providing access to justice fo...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c359-60WH (Link to this contribution) : Yes, and we must recognise that there are existing execution methods, and as much as looking for n...; Baroness Harman | 444 c361-2WH (Link to this contribution) : We have not announced an 8 per cent. cut. The second subject raised by the right hon. Member for ...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c361WH (Link to this contribution) : I believe that the Department has just announced 8 per cent. cuts; will that impact on the IT spen...; Baroness Harman | 444 c362-3WH (Link to this contribution) : I think that we have had a useful debate about enforcement here. Also, there was a lot of good deb...; Simon Hughes | 444 c362WH (Link to this contribution) : There is obviously consensus that enforcement is a big issue. Will the Minister consider talking t...; Baroness Harman | 444 c363-5WH (Link to this contribution) : I cannot give an actual date, but I can say that the review is progressing with the appropriate sp...; James Brokenshire | 444 c363WH (Link to this contribution) : The Minister is highlighting the right points about our debate. She says that her Department is re...; Lord Beith | 444 c366WH (Link to this contribution) : With the leave of the Chamber, I want to thank hon. Members who have taken part in the debate, esp...; Jonathan Djanogly | 444 c365WH (Link to this contribution) : The Minister will appreciate that everyone here knows that that is not straightforward. That has b...; Baroness Harman | 444 c365-6WH (Link to this contribution) : I have set out what I think the considerations are. I have explained that we are deliberating abou...; David Leslie Taylor | 444 c326-7WH (Link to this contribution) In the parable of the good Samaritan, the victim fell amongst thieves. I am an accountant who has fa...; Lord Beith | 444 c326WH (Link to this contribution) : Indeed it would. I expect that a further letter in amplification of the hon. Gentleman's persisten...; Philip Hollobone | 444 c327-8WH (Link to this contribution) The National Accident Helpline is based in Kettering, in my constituency. It has written to me to sa...; Lord Beith | 444 c327WH (Link to this contribution) : I am not a lawyer, although there are quite a few around. Having an accountant present encourages ...; Lord Wills | 444 c328WH (Link to this contribution) Before the right hon. Gentleman moves on, I would like to clarify something. I take his point that a...; Lord Beith | 444 c328WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman mentions the essential qualification—"““all but the smallest cases””." In a mo...; Lord Beith | 444 c328WH (Link to this contribution) : That is a very proper concern in more complex cases. When I say more complex, I have in mind the c...; Keith Vaz | 444 c326WH (Link to this contribution) As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the Select Committee discovered that the Department for Constitut...; Lord Beith | 444 c325-6WH (Link to this contribution) I glad that you, Mr. Marshall, and a significant number of hon. Members, as well as the Minister, wh...; Lord Beith | 444 c330WH (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman is a very experienced personal injury lawyer who has fought many such cases, bu...; Andrew Dismore | 444 c330WH (Link to this contribution) I hope to catch your eye later, Mr. Marshall, but I am extremely concerned about some of the right h...; Lord Beith | 444 c328-30WH (Link to this contribution) : I have indeed, but mainly because my hon. Friends and other hon. Members have passed letters from ...; Keith Vaz | 444 c328WH (Link to this contribution) : As a member of the right hon. Gentleman's Committee and someone who signed the report, I say this ...
Subjects: Courts Administration of justice Software Fees and charges ICT Enforcement Small claims
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk

Small Claims (Courts)

Secondary information

Librarians' tools