To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the draft Conditional Fee Agreements (Amendment) Order 2010 will be implemented.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the draft Conditional Fee Agreements (Amendment) Order 2010 will be implemented.

Draft Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2010. Considered by Delegated Legislation Committee. Agreed to on division (8 votes to 6). Debated with draft Conditional Fee Agreements (Amendment) Order 2010. Negatived on division (5 votes to 9).

Draft Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2010. Considered by Delegated Legislation Committee. Agreed to on division (8 votes to 6). Debated with draft Conditional Fee Agreements (Amendment) Order 2010. Negatived on division (5 votes to 9).

My Lords, having heard the noble Lords, I will continue but I will endeavour to be as brief as I possibly can—

My Lords, having heard the noble Lords, I will continue but I will endeavour to be as brief as I possibly can—

I will say no more about the meeting I had with the Minister. I think I have given the gist of it. Both these instruments raise different, discrete points, but they have one important factor in common: they both raise questions about access to justice. Access to justice in the...

I will say no more about the meeting I had with the Minister. I think I have given the gist of it. Both these instruments raise different, discrete points, but they have one important factor in common: they both raise questions about access to justice. Access to justice in the...

My Lords, my admiration for the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, and his magisterial work in promoting access to justice over the years has been uplifted by at least 100 per cent for every year that I have had the privilege of knowing him. However, I much regret that...

My Lords, my admiration for the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, and his magisterial work in promoting access to justice over the years has been uplifted by at least 100 per cent for every year that I have had the privilege of knowing him. However, I much regret that...

Moved By That the draft order laid before the House on 16 March be approved. Relevant documents: 11th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and 14th Report from the Merits Committee.

Moved By That the draft order laid before the House on 16 March be approved. Relevant documents: 11th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and 14th Report from the Merits Committee.

Tabled by At end to insert "but this House regrets that Her Majesty’s Government have laid the draft Order before Parliament without allowing sufficient time for consultation with all of the professional and legal bodies concerned and in light of the benefits of no win, no fee arrangements for those...

Tabled by At end to insert "but this House regrets that Her Majesty’s Government have laid the draft Order before Parliament without allowing sufficient time for consultation with all of the professional and legal bodies concerned and in light of the benefits of no win, no fee arrangements for those...

My Lords, in view of the assurances of meetings that the Minister has given, I am prepared not to move the amendment. Amendment to the Motion not moved. Motion agreed.

My Lords, in view of the assurances of meetings that the Minister has given, I am prepared not to move the amendment. Amendment to the Motion not moved. Motion agreed.

Why does the noble Lord not accept that the real problem here is defective libel law, which makes it much too easy for claimants to get an unjustified verdict in their favour, rather than making it possible for people with limited means to bring action against someone who may have...

Why does the noble Lord not accept that the real problem here is defective libel law, which makes it much too easy for claimants to get an unjustified verdict in their favour, rather than making it possible for people with limited means to bring action against someone who may have...

I strongly suspect that it will make no difference at all, because the lawyers are understandably anxious to do the work and they will continue to do the work by and large in those cases where they think that they have good prospects of success on a conditional fee basis....

I strongly suspect that it will make no difference at all, because the lawyers are understandably anxious to do the work and they will continue to do the work by and large in those cases where they think that they have good prospects of success on a conditional fee basis....

Would the noble Lord, whose knowledge about these matters I respect greatly, be good enough to indicate whether he can say with total confidence that the careful selection of cases, which already takes place when the lawyers have been getting a 100 per cent uplift, will mean that, if the...

Would the noble Lord, whose knowledge about these matters I respect greatly, be good enough to indicate whether he can say with total confidence that the careful selection of cases, which already takes place when the lawyers have been getting a 100 per cent uplift, will mean that, if the...

Paragraph 3.11 of the impact assessment states: ""The introduction of a maximum cap may result in some claimants with particularly complex claims being unable to find a representative to act for them under a DBA, as the restriction on their fee means the representative is unwilling to take their case...

Paragraph 3.11 of the impact assessment states: ""The introduction of a maximum cap may result in some claimants with particularly complex claims being unable to find a representative to act for them under a DBA, as the restriction on their fee means the representative is unwilling to take their case...

My Lords, I thank everyone who has spoken in this debate. I defend my noble friend the Chief Whip. All he was doing was reminding the House that we normally rise at around 7 pm on a Thursday. I do not think he was doing anything more than that. Indeed,...

My Lords, I thank everyone who has spoken in this debate. I defend my noble friend the Chief Whip. All he was doing was reminding the House that we normally rise at around 7 pm on a Thursday. I do not think he was doing anything more than that. Indeed,...

My Lords, I am not of course seeking to address your Lordships’ House on the merits of these issues, on which I would be wholly ignorant. I was fortunate enough to be a member of the old Statutory Instruments Committee in the days when it merely considered vires. It is...

My Lords, I am not of course seeking to address your Lordships’ House on the merits of these issues, on which I would be wholly ignorant. I was fortunate enough to be a member of the old Statutory Instruments Committee in the days when it merely considered vires. It is...

I strongly support all the points that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, made about the current deficiencies in the substance and procedure of the law of libel. I very much hope that those matters will be reformed, but the harsh reality is that they are not going to...

I strongly support all the points that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, made about the current deficiencies in the substance and procedure of the law of libel. I very much hope that those matters will be reformed, but the harsh reality is that they are not going to...

For the noble Lord, of course I can do better than that. Although there may well be an election fairly soon—I do not know—Ministers continue to be Ministers until the results are known, as I understand it. There is therefore time for us to meet, if that is what he...

For the noble Lord, of course I can do better than that. Although there may well be an election fairly soon—I do not know—Ministers continue to be Ministers until the results are known, as I understand it. There is therefore time for us to meet, if that is what he...

In every instance there are advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that this was an unregulated market. For example, do we think that a figure of more than 35 per cent is an appropriate percentage of someone’s damages? There has been quite a lot of consultation on these regulations, and...

In every instance there are advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that this was an unregulated market. For example, do we think that a figure of more than 35 per cent is an appropriate percentage of someone’s damages? There has been quite a lot of consultation on these regulations, and...

The Minister said that we are getting pretty close to the wire. We have an Easter Recess coming up, and I was trying to be helpful in saying after the election, but if he can do better than that, that is excellent.

The Minister said that we are getting pretty close to the wire. We have an Easter Recess coming up, and I was trying to be helpful in saying after the election, but if he can do better than that, that is excellent.

My Lords, this could have been tabled so we could have had more time. It was obviously something that was going to generate a lot of discussion, which is why it was moved from the Moses Room where it was originally going to be held— particularly after the comments made....

My Lords, this could have been tabled so we could have had more time. It was obviously something that was going to generate a lot of discussion, which is why it was moved from the Moses Room where it was originally going to be held— particularly after the comments made....

May I assist the House? We do not have an hour and three-quarter slot. We have as long as this House feels it is necessary to take on these orders.

May I assist the House? We do not have an hour and three-quarter slot. We have as long as this House feels it is necessary to take on these orders.