Pre-action: general

Pre-action: general

Reform proposals

The Civil Justice Council (CJC) published an interim report on the subject of the pre-action protocols (PAPs) on 15 November 2021. The interim report was stated to address the role PAPs should play in the civil justice system in the 2020s, including in an increasingly digitalised justice system. In particular, it canvassed a number of reform options to the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (setting out 'revised draft text and a proposed joint stocktake template' at Appendix 4) and the existing PAPs, plus the creation of new PAPs in certain areas. However, no recommendations had been made. The report was published for the purposes of allowing the CJC to consult as widely as possible, and to allow for the submission of views about the future direction of PAPs. The consultation period closed on 21 January 2022.

Having provoked considerable discussion among the legal profession and other interested parties, the CJC published ‘Part 1’ of its final report concerning the PAPs on 21 August 2023. The key recommendations were summarised at para 1.7, and include:

•
the overriding objective being amended to include express reference to the need to

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