Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Deferred
Litigants-in-person are inadequately supported due to inaccessible language and insufficient data collection.
Conclusion
Despite persistent calls, litigants-in-person are not adequately supported through the court process. The language used in court applications is inaccessible, court procedure is not explained, and there is limited support available. The insufficient data collection on the prevalence of litigants-in- person means the Ministry of Justice cannot understand how to direct and provide the support needed. (Conclusion, Paragraph 85)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government highlighted benefits of existing digital services and the new Civil Auto File Share (CAFS) system for modernising civil case file handling, but did not specifically address the lack of adequate support, accessible language, or data collection for litigants-in-person.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
Accept. The Ministry of Justice and HMCTS already publish some information on the representation status of claimants through the following publications, namely: Civil justice statistics quarterly – GOV.UK, HMCTS management information – reformed services – GOV.UK and Assessing Access to Justice in HMCTS Services – GOV.UK We will review existing data collected in the courts in line with the recommendation, to consider whether further, more granular data can be made available, ensuring we balance accuracy and quality against the needs of the committee and wider users. Accept. The Online Procedure Rules Committee (OPRC) is taking a new approach to the development of procedure rules to make processes clearer and simpler for lay users and litigants-in-person. The rules underpinning the new digital possession service are being drafted by the OPRC and will offer litigants in person guided online journeys to complete the steps in possession proceedings, as well as paper equivalents for digitally excluded users. In the long term the goal of the judiciary is to move more digital services into the remit of the OPRC and simplify the rules.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗