by: Seamus Swords
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers outgoing president has fired a broadside at the Ministry of Justice for dragging its feet on damages reform. This comes two years after the Government announced they were planning a major consultation on the issue. The Law on Damages was published on 4 May 2007 and a formal response from the Government is still awaited. The supposed reforms would include changes to damages surrounding personal injury, which many believe will have implications for insurers, tax payers and the NHS.
In a press release on APIL's website, President Amanda Steven said "There was much in the paper which we supported and welcomed, such as discussion about claims for psychiatric illness," she said. "We also made robust arguments in relation to other issues about which I personally feel very passionate."
Not least of these is the fact that compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity need to be increased in line with recommendations made by the Law Commission a decade ago.
"And if a claimant is so badly injured that he needs to purchase new accommodation or alter his current accommodation, the negligent party who caused the injury should simply provide the funds to allow the claimant to do this," she went on.
"These issues need to be addressed, and I find it unacceptable that this golden opportunity for the Government to grasp the nettle and really do something worthwhile for injured people has effectively been shelved for so long."
This attack on the Ministry of Justice centres on the fact that the Ministry launched a consultation on damages reform over two years ago, considering issues that were raised by a series of Law Commission reports in the late 1990s on issues including wrongful death, liability for psychiatric illness, medical expenses and aggravated and exemplary damages. It seems still after two years the ministry has yet to respond on the findings made by the Law Commission on the 'Law on Damages' consultation paper.
Amanda Stevens, who relinquishes her presidency of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) next week, said the Government's inaction on damages reform had been the most frustrating aspect of her tenure.
In other personal injury news, personal injury lawyers have warned that cosmetic surgery "is wreaking lives as profits are prioritised over care." Personal injury lawyer Mike Saul said the rapid growth in the cosmetic surgery industry is responsible for problems that he sees on a daily basis.
"What I am seeing is extremely frightening," he said at his Manchester office. "People are innocently booking in for surgery, believing it will transform their lives for the better, and they're coming out maimed and disfigured, often for life. The result of the boom is that a number of commercial clinics have sprung up, and are putting profit before patients, and commerce before ethics. The result is that operations are being rushed to fit more patients in, which means mistakes are more likely to be made. The industry also suffers from inadequate regulation."
It is important to remember with any cosmetic surgery procedure not to rush into it, do your research as you may well have to make a personal injury claim, and if the Ministry of Justice keeps dragging its heels then many personal injury claims may well be left in limbo for a while.
