The Ministry of Justice published official statistics for the period of October to December 2023, which shows the strain that the Civil Court system is under.
There has been an 11% increase in County Court claims since the same period in 2022. Of this increase, 83% of those claims were money claims.
We have seen a 19% decrease in the number of defended claims going all the way to trial, compared to 2022, which could be the result of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or simply a commercial decision by defendants based on the costs of litigation and the wait periods.
The average time taken for a claim to reach trial is 55.8 weeks for small claims and 85.7 weeks for fast track or multi track claims. This is 4.3 weeks and 6.9 weeks respectively longer than in 2022.
When we look back pre-Pandemic, the wait time for a trial is now 18.7 weeks longer for small claims and 24.7 weeks longer for fast track or multi track claims.
There are different forms of ADR; negotiation, mediation, arbitration and expert determination. ADR can take place both before proceedings have been issued and after. An issued claim can be “stayed”, which means the claim will not progress through the courts for a set period, to allow time for the parties to engage in ADR, or the parties can use ADR methods whilst the claim continues alongside it.
The court in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil CBC [2023] EWCA Civ 1416 confirmed that a Judge is able to order parties to engage in ADR. The imposition of ADR on parties to a claim depends on whether it would interfere with a party’s right to proceed to a judicial hearing and whether it would be proportionate to make such an order; taking account of time and costs.
As the wait for a trial increases, the Courts may be more inclined to order ADR if they consider it appropriate to prevent the lengthy wait for the matter to be resolved at trial.
ADR can bring about a settlement between parties, or at the very least attempt to narrow some of the issues in the case, so it is always worth considering in every claim.
If you would like further information on the methods of ADR, please contact the Dispute Resolution team here.
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