Mesothelioma claims inquiry launched

• Justice Committee

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) changed the funding arrangements for civil litigation claims under the conditional fee agreement. Sections 44 and 46 of LASPO provide that the winning party is no longer able to recover the success fee and the After The Event insurance premium from the losing party. Section 48 provides an exemption for mesothelioma claims until the Lord Chancellor has carried out a review of the likely effect of those sections in relation to such proceedings and published a report of the conclusions of the review.

In a Written Statement dated 4 December 2013, the Government announced that it had decided to apply the LASPO provisions to mesothelioma cases with effect from July 2014. The announcement followed a Government consultation, ‘Reforming mesothelioma claims: A consultation on proposals to speed up the settlement of mesothelioma claims in England and Wales’ and was confirmed in the Government’s response to the consultation, published on 6 March 2014.

The Justice Committee has decided to hold a short inquiry into the decision to apply the LASPO provisions to mesothelioma claims.

Terms of reference

Written evidence is invited by 30 April 2014 on the following terms of reference:

The appropriateness of the Government’s decision to apply the provisions in sections 44 and 46 of the LASPO Act 2012 to mesothelioma claims, taking into account:

• The potential impact of the provisions on mesothelioma claims.
• Features which distinguish mesothelioma claims from other personal injury claims.
• The process of the review under section 48 of the Act.

More information on submitting evidence to Select Committees may be found on the parliamentary website.

Please be aware that the Justice Committee is unable to investigate individual cases.