COST OF LITIGATION

Southland Times, Issue 21362, 7 April 1931, Page 8

COST OF LITIGATION

HOPE OF REDUCTION. MOVEMENT IN BRITAIN. London, January 20. The prospect of reducing the cost of litigation was mentioned by Sir William Jowitt, K.C., Attorney-General, at the general meeting of the Bar, held under his presidency in the Inner Temple Hall last week. ■ Alluding to the deputation recently received by the Lord Chancellor on the subject of the recommendations contained in the memorandum of the London Chamber of Commerce, the Attorney-General said the Bar Council had taken the matter in hand with a view' to reporting- to Lord Sankey upon the proposals. They all realized that it was desirable, so far as could be done without interfering with the satisfactory administration of justice or departing from those principles w'hich experience had shown to be necessary, to reduce the cost of litigation, so that no man need be frightened of going into the King’s Courts. He hoped that by this time next year something would have been done. Sir Thomas Hughes, K.C., chairman of the Bar Council, also referred to the mat ter, observing that it was certainly a most serious one. It was possible that some of’the recommendations could be carried out, while others could not. There was no doubt that in the smaller matters of litigation the expense prevented people enforcing or defending their rights in the Courts, but in the larger matters the cost was not so important, being a small percentage of the total outlay. He was sure it was in the interests of the public and of the Bar alike that the expense should be reduced, and he hoped the- would be able to do something of real practical use.