 |  |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  | |  | |
Experience appears to support the abovementioned approach. In England and Wales,
approved pre-action protocols, particularly in the personal injury and clinical
negligence spheres (which have been the subject of most study), have generally been
positively received.
(a)
The APIL, in their submission to the Working Party stated :-
"APIL was involved in drafting the pre-action protocol for personal injury cases in England
and Wales and believes that it has generally been successful. Research conducted by APIL in
October 1999 concluded that 48% of respondents felt that earlier settlement had been reached
as a result of the protocol and that 33% of cases avoided litigation."
(b)
In More Civil Justice the authors reported:-
"A general finding from this study is that litigators like clear structures. They want
timetables and example letters, provided that both can be adapted where necessary. Thus, in
general, the protocols have been well received. Personal injury litigators appreciated the
new-style letter before action and liked having a deadline for the response. Clinical
negligence specialists spoke well of the standard form for pre-action discovery and thought
the 40-day compliance period worked well."
......
"Those involved in personal injury and clinical negligence work also felt positive about the
protocols. By establishing clear ground rules on how claims should be formulated and
responded to, protocols were thought to focus minds on the key issues at an early stage and
encourage greater openness. This smoothed the way to settlement."
(c)
In the Woolf Network's 5th survey, 66% of respondents considered the problems
of front-loading to be outweighed by the benefits of early settlement.
These were views concerning specialised areas of litigation where approved pre-action
protocols had been established after close consultation with interest groups. The
response to the Practice Direction on Protocols which extends pre-action obligations to
parties generally has been much less positive. Thus, the Woolf Network's 5th survey
found that 42% of the respondents considered that Practice Direction not to be
working well.
Notes
At p iv.
At p v.
|
 |
|