John Sorabji examines the theoretical underpinnings of the Woolf and Jackson reforms to the English and Welsh civil justice system. He discusses how the Woolf reforms attempted, and failed, to effect a revolutionary change to the theory of justice that informed how the system operated. It elucidates the nature of those reforms, which through introducing proportionality via an explicit overriding objective into the Civil Procedure Rules, downgraded the court's historic commitment to achieving substantive justice or justice on the merits. In doing so, Woolf's new theory is compared with one developed by Bentham, while also exploring why a similarly fundamental reform carried out in the 1870s succeeded where Woolf's failed. It finally proposes an approach that could be taken by the courts following implementation of the Jackson reforms to ensure that they succeed in their aim of reducing litigation cost through properly implementing Woolf's new theory of justice.

In January 2009, the then Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, appointed Lord Justice Jackson to lead a fundamental review of the rules and principles governing the costs of civil litigation. This report intends to establish how the costs rules operate and how they impact on the behavior of both parties and lawyers.

A trenchant critique of developments in civil justice that questions modern orthodoxy and points to a downgrading of civil justice.

Professor Jolowicz's comparative analysis of civil procedure concentrates on the purposes served by the institution of litigation rather than on the intentions of those who litigate. Stressing that those purposes go beyond mere dispute resolution by non-violent means, Jolowicz surveys a variety of topics of procedural law, making substantial use of the comparative method, in the attempt to examine and explain the ideas which underlie some of the most important of its constituent elements. In the final section, he deals with the reform of English law and ventures a prediction of the consequences that the new Civil Procedure Rules, together with the reforms which more or less immediately preceded them, will have on the character of English procedural law.

Greater efficiency in civil dispute resolution is very much dependent on organized but fair fact-finding. Under European law, however, no clear-cut categorisation of means of evidence exists as yet, and significantly diverging interpretations persist of what is considered 'evidence' in the sense of the foundational Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001 (EER). The EER fails to provide comprehensive rules for many other aspects of evidence taking, pointing instead to national legislation for solutions. As long as evidentiary rules remain different from country to country, there is an inherent risk of conflict of laws between different systems in the course of cooperation between courts in cross-border matters, leading to mistrust amongst judiciary and other participants in the proceedings. Focusing on national rules, and using a comparative method which takes into consideration legal experiences from all legal circles in the EU, this book explains and analyses how the law of evidence works in Europe today. The authors draw on the vast base of relevant information collected in twenty-seven Member States by national reporters. Following the classical enumeration of types of evidence – production of documents, examination of witnesses, expert evidence, inspection by the judge, and examination of the parties – chapters encompass such issues and topics as the following. - judicial cooperation in cross-border cases; – general principles in evidence taking (the right to be heard, oral vs. written form, directness of evidence, burden of proof); – judges' case management powers regarding evidence; – means of evidence; – extent of influence of traditional principles and evidentiary rules on electronic evidence; – application of communication technology in cross-border proceedings; – legal costs; – language; – inadmissible evidence; and – instances in which a court can refuse a request for evidence. The authors offer well-grounded recommendations on requested judge's entitlements, direct and convenient communication, cost issues, revised provisions concerning language obstacles, unification of presumptions, and much more. Armed with the wide-ranging knowledge presented here, practitioners handling civil cases anywhere in Europe will derive great practical benefit from this book. As a masterful synthesis of how evidence is used in national courts in EU Member States, and of how that use is changing, the book will be greatly valued as a unique resource by legal scholars and academics. With featured recommendations it can contribute to the development of mutual trust among the national courts inside the EU as well as trust among policymakers and national courts.

5. Making Tracks: Nick Armstrong

Justice and Efficiency in Mega-Litigation explores the phenomenon of extremely long-running, resource-intensive civil litigation known as 'mega-litigation'. Such litigation challenges the courts to reconcile the objectives of justice and efficiency – for the parties to the case and for the community. Drawing on interviews with judges of the courts of England and Wales, and of Australia, this book shows how judges have responded to these challenges. It situates mega-litigation within broader developments in civil procedure and case management, as well as theoretical debates about the role of courts and the purpose of civil procedure. The book highlights the importance of intensive, creative and flexible case management; focus on the issues in dispute; and, ultimately, each judge's expert intuition.