A leading planning barrister, Jenny Wigley of No 5 Chambers, has warned that the government’s latest consultation on cost protection rules in environmental challenges could ‘drastically reduce the costs certainty currently afforded to judicial review claimants’, as a consultation is launchd with a closing date of 10 December.
The current limits in relation to costs liability are £5,000 for individual claimants and £10,000 for organisations. The liability of the defendant is limited to £35,000. Proposals now out for consultation could raise the standard cost caps to £10,000 for individuals, £20,000 for organisations and reduce the reciprocal cap to £25,000.
The Ministry of Justice has also started consulting on the scope of the regime in terms of the types of cases that are eligible for costs protection and whether the regime should be extended to apply to certain reviews under statute like recovered appeals.
