Lib Dems pledge to review court fee costs

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to carry out an immediate review of court fees should they be in a position to form a government after the General Election.

The party’s General Election manifesto, released today, includes a promise to look at civil Legal Aid cuts, the judicial review system and court fee rises.

Nick Clegg’s party said that, in consultation with the judiciary, it would analyse the three areas in order to deliver a “functioning legal system”.

Its manifesto said that the party wanted “to ensure Legal Aid is available to all those who need it, that those of modest means can bring applications for judicial review of allegedly unlawful government action and that court and tribunal fees will not put justice beyond the reach of those who seek it”.

‘This will mean reversing any recent rises in up-front court fees that make justice unaffordable for many, and instead spreading the fee burden more fairly,” it said.

If in a position to do so, the Liberal Democrats have also said that they will retain access to recoverable success fees and insurance premiums in asbestosis claims and where an individual is suing the police. The same will apply and for both claimant and defendant in publication and data protection claims, except where one party is significantly better resourced than the other.

Mark Dugdale