Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what obligations litigants have under Civil Procedure Rules to seek to resolve court proceedings by Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); what sanctions can be applied by a court on a litigant who does not engage in ADR; and what information (a) his Department and (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service holds on cases since 1 July 2013 in which sanctions have been applied to litigants who have not engaged in ADR.

Rule 1.4 of the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) provides that the courts are under an obligation to manage cases by encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedure and facilitate the use of such a procedure.

The Practice Direction on pre action conduct provides that the court will expect the parties to have exchanged sufficient information to consider a form of ADR to assist with settlement.

Should either party refuse to take part in ADR and the court considers it would have been of benefit, the court has the power to impose a financial penalty in terms of a reduction of any costs order.

The Department and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) do not collect information on sanctions applied where parties have not engaged in ADR.