§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Attorney-General, pursuant to the reply of 1 March, Official Report, c. 65–66, if he will give so much information as is available without incurring disproportionate cost as to the figures for (a) England and Wales and (b) Northern Ireland of (i) writs issued claiming damages for industrial deafness and (ii) cases settled by the court.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralNo distinction is drawn in the statistics collected between different types of personal injuries and it is for this reason that no information of the kind sought by the right hon. Member can be made available without incurring disproportionate expense. The figures are subsumed in the general statistical data on personal injury litigation published in the "Judicial Statistics" annual report. The latest report available, for 1981, has been published by HMSO (Cmnd. 8770).
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Attorney-General, pursuant to the reply of 1 March, Official Report, c.66, if he will take steps to keep a central record of allegations of unreasonable delaying tactics in all cases when there is a claim for compensation for personal injury.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralIt is not possible to compile a record of allegations made between parties to contentious litigation and in any event such a record could not be kept without an objective definition of what is unreasonable and some investigation in each case whether the allegations made were well or ill founded. Rules of court lay down time limits within which certain steps have to be taken; and in general the rules are designed to enable plaintiffs, if necessary with the help of the court, to carry actions forward without undue obstruction by defendants. Subject to this, and down to the setting down of an action for trial in the High Court, the speed of litigation is within the control of the parties and their advisers.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Attorney-General, pursuant to the reply of 1 March, Official Report, c. 66, if he will 426W detail the manner in which the Lord Chancellor keeps delays in the civil legal process under constant review; which areas and which aspects of them have given rise to concern;how many staff are employed on the reviewing process; and what action has been taken as a result of the process of keeping such delays under constant review.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThis answer deals mainly with procedure in the Supreme Court. The county court rules have been completely rewritten in the past 12 months, but except at the cost of disproportionate length it would be impossible to incorporate details of the changes in the present answer. Statistical data are collected on the time intervals from the date of issue of proceedings until their final disposal and these are published in the "Judicial Statistics" annual report. Other records are kept of actions awaiting hearing in the various divisions of the High Court. Delays in bringing on cases for hearing in the civil division of the Court of Appeal and the Queen's Bench division and the chancery division of the High Court are matters of particular concern, and stem from the increased work loads which those courts have to bear. A number of reforms have been introduced in the past 18 months, including the raising of the county court jurisdiction limit from £2,000 to £5,000; the introduction of wider powers of transfer between the High. Court and the county courts; arrangements for the disposal of more business in the long vacation; extensive changes in the procedures of the Court of Appeal (civil division); and the implementation in the chancery division of many of the recommendations of the review body chaired by Lord Justicce Oliver (Cmnd. 8205). It is hoped that, as these measures take full effect and work their way through the system, the position will improve. Since the review process affects all stages in contentious litigation in all divisions of the High Court, no members of the Department are engaged full-time on the review process, but on both the policy and operational levels it is part of the duties of a substantial number of officials throughout the Department to try to keep delays to a minimum by all means at their disposal.