Reducing the time limit for taking personal injuries cases from three years to one year is one of the measures proposed in the Civil Liberties and Courts Bill, to be published tomorrow.
It will also tighten up procedures for making personal injury claims, and make it an offence to submit a false or exaggerated claim. The Bill is one of a number of measures aimed at reducing the cost of personal injuries litigation, and, as a result, insurance costs. It accompanies legislation setting up of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board introduced last year.
However, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has also said he is "adding other carriages to the train" of this Bill by using it as a vehicle to reform both criminal and family law. On the latter, the Minister said he would incorporate into the law a number of the measures proposed by the Fennelly committee on the criminal jurisdiction of the courts, which reported last summer.
This committee decided there should be a common pool of criminal cases, which would then be allocated to the Central or Circuit Criminal courts according to certain criteria. These would include the views of the complainant, involving, in murder cases, the relatives of the deceased; the need, where relevant, to preserve anonymity; and the need for a speedy trial. The changes would mean that certain rape trials could go to the Circuit Criminal Court. All rape trials are tried at present in the Central Criminal Court, a section of the High Court.
On family law, the Bill is expected to include measures to remove the total ban on reporting. This will allow for some reporting of family law cases via a designated person to be nominated by the Courts Service, while not identifying the parties or their children.
It will also allow for information disclosed in a family law hearing to be made available to other relevant parties, such as schools, health boards or the passport office. Currently complaints against legal practitioners in family law proceedings cannot be proceeded with because of the "in camera" rule. This will no longer be the case.
The main body of the Bill will require lawyers for a claimant in a personal injuries action to notify the respondent within two months of the alleged incident of the nature of the claim. It spells out the information that will have to be furnished when a claim is made, and will disallow any claim for, for example, loss of earnings, unless accompanied by evidence.
The defendant will have to respond with a clear statement of what, if any, liability he or she is accepting. All pleadings on both sides will have to be detailed and specific and, in the case of a plaintiff, backed by a sworn affidavit. This means that anyone who makes a false claim will be guilty of perjury. It will also be an offence to make a statement which the claimant knows not to be true.
The Bill will also provide for mediation conferences to be held at the request of either party, or if ordered by the court.
Before the start of a trial both the plaintiff and the defendant must exchange written final offers of settlement. The court will be empowered to convene pre-trial hearings to identify which evidence is agreed and what needs to go to trial.