Morris, Annette --- "Personal injury compensation and civil justice paradigms" [2019] ELECD 2290; in Halson, Roger; Campbell, David (eds), "Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 47

Book Title: Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law

Editor(s): Halson, Roger; Campbell, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Personal injury compensation and civil justice paradigms

Author(s): Morris, Annette

Number of pages: 20

Abstract/Description:

This chapter highlights the importance of civil justice policy to understanding tort as a system of personal injury compensation. As tortious legal principles are mediated through the civil justice system in practice, civil justice policy has a significant impact on the extent to which the injured are able and willing to seek tort compensation and what they, both individually and collectively, are able to achieve through the pursuit of tort actions. Whilst the civil justice system in England and Wales traditionally purported to achieve substantive justice, a desire to reduce the cost of resolving claims and increase efficiency means it now focuses on delivering proportionate justice. This chapter explains what this reveals about current attitudes towards: the appropriate scope, nature and role of tort law in society; the value it brings to injured individuals and broader society and the government’s responsibility towards its administration.