ABSTRACT
The report of the Civil Justice Review (CJR) was largely ignored and, with the exception of a shift in the balance of work from the High Court to the County Court, no major changes came from its recommendations. The whole process began again with the Woolf review of the civil justice system. In March 1994, the Lord Chancellor set up the Woolf Inquiry to look at ways of improving the speed and accessibility of civil proceedings, and of reducing their cost. Lord Woolf was invited by the government to review the work of the civil courts in England and Wales. The recommendations he formulated after extensive consultation in the UK and in many other jurisdictions form the basis of major changes to the system that came into effect in April 1999. Practice directions play an important role in the civil process. In general, they supplement the CPR, giving the latter fine detail.
