Plans to increase civil court fees would be bad for the City, warn commercial lawyers
updated on 30 September 2015
Any government decision to impose further increases to civil court fees would result in far more money lost in tax revenues generated by legal work than would be raised by court fees, according to City solicitors and barristers.
The warning comes in a joint letter to the justice secretary, Michael Gove, from the City of London Law Society (CLLS) and the Commercial Bar Association (CBA). As reported by the Law Society Gazette, the government is considering doubling the maximum civil court fee to £20,000 with the aim of using the justice system to make money. However, the CLLS and CBA argue that, as current fee levels are already higher than two of London’s main dispute resolution competitors, New York and Singapore, any further increase will drive clientele away from London and play into the hands of the City’s rivals.
The CBA and CLLS add that the main bulk of the City’s dispute resolution work is not brought by oligarchs for whom expense is no object, but by savvy businesses looking which understand the need for excellent legal services as well as commercial concerns. Further to that, there is the salient argument that the courts are a public service which are essential to the governing of a civilised society. It therefore seems strange that courts should be expected to make money when, like other services such as the armed forces and parliament, this is not their job.
Finally, the doubling of civil court fees could not only drive businesses in need of legal services away from the United kingdom; it might also prevent ordinary citizens, who have no way of taking their cases to New York or Singapore, from accessing justice.
The letter warns: "There is precedent for the loss of legal work through expense. New York lost its pre-eminent position for maritime dispute resolution because it was perceived as too expensive. It is imperative that London does not suffer the same fate."
The Ministry of Justice said that while fee increases are unpopular, they are essential to help the “national effort” to reduce the country’s budget deficit.
