LITIGANTS IN PERSON (COSTS AND EXPENSES) BILL (Hansard, 7 July 1975)

Lord DARLING o f HILLSBOROUGH
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time. If I am in order I should like to be permitted to express the gratitude of the sponsors and supporters of the Bill to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for the support that he has given to this useful measure, and particularly for the improving Amendments that he moved in Committee. These are now part of the Bill, having been accepted unanimously by your Lordships. I beg to move.

§ The LORD CHANCELLOR
My Lords, when this Bill was first introduced in the other place it consisted of 29 lines. Its passage through the House of Commons took six hours of deliberation and at the end of it the Bill was 44 lines long when it came to this House. In this House we have considered the Bill to date for just over 1½ hours and the Bill is now 67 lines long. The shape of the Bill has therefore changed considerably in its passage through Parliament—and I make no comment on the relative work ratios of the two Houses—but the purpose of the Bill has remained the same. The Bill when it becomes law, as now seems certain, will allow a litigant in person, subject to provisions to be made by rules of court, to recover his costs for preparing and arguing his case in civil proceedings.
Although the work of Parliament itself on this matter will shortly be complete, there is still much to be done. The Rule Committees in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will now have to clothe the bones of the Bill with the specific rules which allow cash to go into the pocket of the litigant in person. Much work remains to be done and I would ask for forbearance from those who wish the Bill to come into force at an early date. Not only on this occasion must the various Rule Committees consider carefully provisions that should be made, but they must also discuss with each other the provisions to be made so that litigants in person throughout the United Kingdom should, so far as possible, be treated 588 equally. Although work in this field has already begun it will take some time, but our aim is to bring the Bill into force by the 1st January, 1976, or earlier if possible.
I should like to close by saying that the increasing number of litigants in person appearing before the courts owe a debt of gratitude to my noble friend Lord Darling for the way in which he has carried this Bill through the House and for the work he has done in seeing that it reaches the Statute Book in a form which will benefit the maximum number of litigants. My Lords, the Government have supported this Bill from the first and I commend it to the House.

§ Lord DARLING of HILLSBOROUGH
My Lords, since I had never heard of these Rule Committees before I became involved in this Bill I am grateful for the Lord Chancellor's explanations of what is now to happen, and I now beg to move that this Bill do now pass.