Rise in court fees poses significant risk of harm, says CILEx

15 September 2015

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has today called on the Government to postpone plans to increase court fees, which in some cases would represent an increase of more than 1000% in six months.

CILEx president David Edwards FCILEx said: “In March the Government increased the cost for small businesses and regular people to seek justice by increasing the court fees. The impact of the first round of increases has not been adequately assessed, let alone what impact a further increase in fees might have on access to justice. This cannot be justified if the Lord Chancellor is genuine in his desire to fix our ‘two nation’ justice system. I want to work with the Government to find workable solutions, but this is not one of them.”

The Ministry Of Justice has been consulting on possibly lifting the cap on court fees for recovering money from £10,000 to a possibly unlimited amount, and lifting all other civil fees by 10% (except for personal injury claims). The changes will leave many small businesses unable to reclaim unpaid invoices, landlords unable to reclaim unpaid rents, and bereaved families unable to settle disputes over wills.

CILEx, whose members work in every area of law across England and Wales, has already expressed concerns over plans to close 91 courts and tribunals, and merge or integrate 31 more. The combined actions of increasing court fees and closing local courts may cause irreparable damage to our justice system.

ENDS

The full response can be read here: http://www.cilex.org.uk/about_cilex/consultations/consultation_responses/court_fee_increase.aspx