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13.7
Milestones and flexibility
The benefits of having a firm timetable are obvious. It would set the pace at which the
parties and their legal advisers need to work and make deliberate procrastination more
difficult. Everyone would be able to assess the progress of the case and to plan and
prepare for the next phase. The parties would be better able to consider settlement,
knowing where they have got to, how much further there is to go and when the next
major tranche of litigation costs has to be incurred. The court would be able to deploy
judicial resources more efficiently.
If these benefits are to be enjoyed, the court must be resolute in holding the parties to
the essentials of the timetable, anchored by the trial date or trial period, which are not
to be moved save in very exceptional circumstances. This is not to say that the
Working Party rejects the need for flexibility. On the contrary, the Working Party
fully accepts the need to avoid an excessively rigid approach. However, the flexibility
allowed must be such as to enable the essential discipline of the timetable to be
retained.
The aim of achieving a firm timetable which allows the flexibility needed requires a
number of objectives to be pursued concurrently. The reforms should (i) seek to
enhance the realism and appropriateness of the timetable which is set; (ii) build into
the timetable mechanisms giving the parties and the court flexibility to react to
developments while maintaining the essentials of the timetable; and (iii) develop
supporting reforms which will help to minimise disruption to the timetable.
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