10th September 2025 at 1 pm
The Bad News
The latest MoJ Civil Court statistics (June 2025 – Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2025 – GOV.UK) show the number of:
- County Court claims issued for 2025 Q1 was up 18% (the highest level since 2019 Q3);
- defended claims was up 8% and of claims going to trial was up 16%;
- County Court sitting days in 2024 were down 8% (DDJ sitting days were down 19%);
- High Court, Chancery Division proceedings in 2024 increased by 7%;
- enforcement application were up 6%; and
- Court of Appeal, Civil Division appeals were up 2% and
the mean time from claim being issued to hearing is 49.8 weeks (for small claims) and 74.7 weeks (for multi-, intermediate- and fast-track claims).
The House of Commons’ Justice Committee’s Report Work of the County Court (21st July 2025) – Work of the County Court says:
- “the County Court is a dysfunctional operation that has failed to adequately deliver civil justice across England and Wales”;
- “the situation in the County Court is dire and requires urgent attention”;
- “… the operations of the court having been failed by a dysfunctional attempt at digital reform”; and
- recommends that “an urgent and comprehensive, root-and-branch review of the County Court is undertaken to establish a sustainable plan for reducing the systemic delays and inefficiencies entrenched across its operations”.
The Good News
The 11th Annual CEDR Mediation Audit (2025) The Eleventh CEDR Mediation Audit indicated that 70% of commercial mediations settle on the day and a further 17% settle shortly afterwards.
Litigation is increasingly an expensive, lengthy and uncertain process (and is likely to get worse on all counts): mediation provides a quick, economic and effective way of resolving or avoiding litigation.
The Best News
On the 10th September 2025 at 1 pm Paul Tapsell (an accredited Civil Mediation Council mediator) will be hosting a lunchtime webinar intended to provide insights into how to prepare for mediation and the strategies and tactics that can help you achieve a successful outcome, which will be followed by a panel Q&A with members of the Becket Chambers Mediation team.
The webinar is intended to be of particular interest to private client practitioners dealing with various areas of litigation (e.g. boundary disputes, TOLATA claims, contested probate matters, landlord and tenant and disrepair claims and commercial and contractual disputes) but will be relevant to anyone engaged in mediation in the civil or family spheres.
Please contact clerks@becket-chambers.co.uk for more information or to register for a place.
