Non-compliance and Relief from Sanctions after the Jackson Reforms: Striking the Balance

This article critically analyses the new approach towards non-compliance with procedural requirements and relief from sanctions following the Jackson Reforms on civil litigation costs. It argues that the new approach falls short of providing clear guidance as to how it is to be applied in practice. It argues that these shortcomings have principally been caused by the senior judiciary’s failure to clearly and consistently articulate an approach which obliges the courts to conduct an appropriate balancing exercise between the need to preserve a party’s obligation to strictly comply with its procedural obligations on the one hand and the need to ensure that due consideration is given to the issue of substantive justice on the other. It also argues that the new approach fails to have regard to the potential adverse impact which is likely to result in the administration of justice in cases involving litigants-in-person.