Civil Procedure Rule Committee: Alternative Dispute Resolution consultation

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee (Committee) is consulting on proposed changes to the Civil Procedure Rules following the Court of Appeal judgment in James Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council in which the court decided it could stay proceedings for, or order, the parties to engage in a non-court-based dispute resolution process.

The Committee proposes to amend the Civil Procedure Rules by:

• Adding to 1.1 that dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost includes, so far as practical, using and promoting alternative dispute resolution (‘ADR’) to ensure that considering the use of ADR is a key part of the court process,
• Changing 1.4 and 3.1 to clarify that judges may order as well as encourage parties to participate in ADR procedure,
• Make changes to Part 28 and 29 to add that courts must consider whether to order or encourage parties to participate in ADR for fast-track, intermediate and multitrack claims,
• Make changes to Part 44 to add that failure to comply with an order for ADR or unreasonable failure to participate in ADR proposed by another party would be considered when deciding to make any order about costs.

Details of the consultation are available on the Committee website at: About us - Civil Procedure Rule Committee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 

Responses should be sent to CPRCconsultation@justice.gov.uk by 28 May 2024. We are considering whether to respond to the consultation and would welcome the views of EWI members on the proposed amendment to help inform the response.

If you would like to provide input into our response, please contact our Policy Manager, Sean Mosby, at policy@ewi.org.uk by 24 May 2024.