Civil Justice Council to review track limits and High Court/County Court boundary

The CJC noted that the last substantive revision to the track limits took place in 2014, “and there has since been significant change in civil justice practice, judicial deployment and court structures, including the pace of digital reform”.

It said: “The review will be forward‑looking and grounded in current and emerging operational reality. It will consider track limits and allocation in the context of digital reform, regional practice and judicial deployment, recognising variations across England and Wales and the importance of transparency for court users, particularly in relation to costs, case management and legal representation.

“The work will be informed by data as well as judicial and practitioner experience, with appropriate involvement from High Court and County Court judiciary, data specialists and HMCTS on an observer basis, to support the development of coherent and future‑proofed recommendations.”

The terms of reference are as follows:

• To review court track limits and the High Court / county court division of work. 
• To gather and analyse data on the impact of current track allocation and court jurisdiction on efficiency, cost and access to justice, including consideration of data gaps, limitations in existing HMCTS data, and how these affect the accuracy of case allocation. 
• To review existing monetary statutory limits for court jurisdictions, including consideration of whether limits should be consolidated within the CPR framework. 
• To promote simplicity, predictability and accessibility for all court users, particularly litigants in person. 
• To consider how frameworks may be better ‘future‑proofed’ to support improved data collection and periodic review, including how evolving court structures and digital systems should be designed to enable this, and what data ought to be captured at claim level to support evaluation of track allocation and future reform. 

The Master of the Rolls and Chair of the Civil Justice Council Sir Geoffrey Vos said: “This is a significant opportunity to take stock of how track limits and jurisdictional boundaries operate across the civil justice system. We must ensure that the framework keeps pace with changes in case complexity, procedure and technology, and that it supports a system that is fair, efficient and accessible to all.”