March 4 Letters: Rising cost of justice is a blow to small firms

THE Ministry of Justice’s recently announced plans to raise revenue from the courts system by introducing new, higher fees for bringing money claims over the value of £10,000 present a significant barrier to access to justice.

Under the proposed system, a fee to issue a £190,000 legal claim will rise by 622 per cent, from £1,315 to £9,500.

It is my opinion that these fees will impact small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) especially hard. Often, through no fault of their own, SMEs need to use the court system to protect their legitimate business interests – not least against much larger corporate bodies.

The ongoing rate swap mis-selling scandal is a perfect example of where SMEs may need to litigate. Adding further to their financial burden could see them priced out of justice.

Those businesses are particularly vulnerable because the harm caused to their finances by the actions of the banks makes the cost of litigating against the wrongdoers, in many cases, even more challenging.

The right to redress through the courts is the foundation of our democracy and yet these increased fees will, for many, take that away.