In 2001 the Lord Chancellor’s Department (now the
Department for Constitutional Affairs) instituted a review and
reform of the procedural rules that apply to civil litigation in
county courts, the High Court and to the Court of Appeal. The
driving force behind this process was Lord Woolf and the reforms
are known as the Woolf reforms.
One of the major aims of the Woolf reforms is to make
litigation less adversarial and more co- operative. One of Lord
Woolf’s proposals was that single experts should be used when
practicable. Where the parties instructed their own experts the
opposing experts should be encouraged to meet or communicate as
early as possible to narrow the issues between them. In addition,
the Court would have the power to appoint an expert.
These proposals have not been incorporated into the
Regulations governing Commissioners’ hearings (see AH0450)
but the Woolf reforms are imposed by the Special Commissioners and
are accepted as the norm for many divisions of General
Commissioners. You should bear this in mind in any case involving
an expert witness.
