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The Law Legal System And Cost Management

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Introduction
The Master of the Rolls instructed the Lord Justice Jackson to review the rules and principles governing the costs of civil litigation and to make recommendations in order to promote access to justice at proportionate cost. Sir Rupert Jackson made a hundred and nine recommendations. This essay will not delve to analyse each recommendation however its purpose will be to examine to what extent were the objectives set out achievable. It is crucial at this point to mention that since the United Kingdom prescribes to the common law legal system and there has not been any established case law to determine whether the objectives have been achievable or not, my analyse will be supported by articles from notable law scholars such as …show more content…

Lord Justice Jackson is optimistic that this discretion will only be exercised in exceptional circumstances however Prof. Zuckerman would find this contradictory in the sense that the Jackson report demonstrates the judiciary’s failure to curb down the costs. He states that history of costs teaches us that discretion in costs creates expensive satellite litigation and no cost reduction in the long run.
Cost management in Multi- Track system.
One of Lord Jacksons recommendations to reduce costs of litigation is to control the costs by proposing a system of cost management. It is defined as the process where the costs incurred by the defendant or respondent are actively controlled by the courts by determining whether the costs incurred were rightly incurred or were reasonably incurred.
Lord Jackson goes on further to note the elements pertaining to it and in a sense establishes its procedure
The essential elements of costs management are the following:
(i) The parties prepare and exchange litigation budgets or (as the case proceeds) amended budgets.
(ii) The court states the extent to which those budgets are approved.
(iii) So far as possible, the court manages the case so that it proceeds within the approved budgets.
(iv) At the end of the litigation, the recoverable costs of the winning party are assessed in accordance with the

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