The Mounting Problems of Cost in English Civil Litigation: Learning from German Experience

The price of civil justice is getting high in England and access is being compromised. Cost efficiency has become a great challenge. On the other hand German method shows commendable success. The system is well‐known for efficient cost management. This paper will try to ascertain the motivation for such differences. It explains the history of cost reform of the two regimes, analyze the contemporary rules and define their implications. It argues whether common law‐civil law and adversarial‐inquisitorial dichotomy is an obstacle to convergence or not. It focuses on the recent trend of convergence too. The paper points out the potential obstacle to efficient cost management in England and reveals the method that German system use successfully. By the comparative analysis the paper will try to prove how German success factors can benefit England. The key message of the study is that the English system has lacked successful method by retaining undue incentives to lawyers that generate conflict of interest. The adoption of German fee scaling system can bring the ultimate solution.