Should England and Wales move to a docketing system? June 12, 2009
Posted by Richard Moorhead in : Costs, Jackson Review , trackbackDocketing, the allocation of an appointed judge to manage a case through to trial if necessary, is traditionally thought to be impossible because of the need for judges to go on circuit and the risk that a case which is allocated to a judge in a docket might not receive urgent attention when the judge is away for a sustained period or very busy on other matters. Lord Justice Jackson seems to be pushing for a rethink.
Docketing is rather delicately dealt with in Lord Justice Jackson’s preliminary report because his, “terms of reference do not extend to judicial deployment.” (para. 5.11, p.434) and there is an ongoing stream of work prompted by Sir Henry Brooke’s report (Should the civil court be unified?) but he takes the trouble of emphasizing (para. 5.11 et seq):
- there is a general perception amongst both practitioners and judges that docketing promotes efficient case management and reduces the costs of civil litigation which is supported from his own experience.
- The commercial litigators he has consulted with strongly believe that the Commercial Court should adopt docketing (although the judges have a different view partly because of the benefits of getting broader experience in other cases).
- Case management by assigned judges or Masters appears to work well where it is practiced in the current system.
- All seven of Jackson’s assessors “are strongly of the view that a docketing system should be introduced for civil litigation. They believe that this would promote effective case management and help to reduce costs.”
One of the key tensions is, “whether it is possible combine criminal work with a docket system for heavy civil cases” (para, 5.11). Jackson points to this being “for others to consider.” But also notes that he has been advised that, “judges of the W[estern] A[ustralia] Supreme Court are able to operate a docket system, despite going on circuit to deal with criminal matters for about one month per year.
Jackson concludes by saying, “where possible, civil cases should be (a) assigned to a single judge or (b) assigned to a team of specified master/DJ and specified judge. Any structural reforms which facilitate this arrangement are likely to reduce the costs of civil litigation.”
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