On 4 February 2021 the Department for Justice launched a 12-week public consultation on increasing the general jurisdictions of the County Court. In November 2021 the Department published a summary of the consultation responses and their proposed next steps. In summary, a Working Group is to be established to assess the practical impact of:
- An increase of the County Court jurisdiction from £30,000 to £60,000, with an increase in the jurisdiction of the District Judge’s Court to £20,000;
- Maintaining the current County Court Jurisdiction of £30,000 for clinical negligence claims only;
- Whether the County Court and District Judges should have a statutory power to remove cases from the County Courts to the High Court; and
- Whether the general civil jurisdiction in respect of defamation cases should be increased and, if so, to what level.
Following the consultation, the Justice Minister announced that the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court would be increased from £3,000 to £5,000 with effect from 3 October 2022.
Should you require any further information or advice, please contact any member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team: –
marie-louise.lowry@edglegal.com christopher.duffy@edglegal.com
claire.martin@edglegal.com keara.powell@edglegal.com
Tel: 028 9024 5034
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Every care has been taken in the preparation of this bulletin; readers are advised however to seek legal advice in relation to specific issues.
