Ruling favours victims
The High Court has made a ruling against government plans to deduct legal fees from damages paid to people dying from an asbestos cancer.
The Asbestos Victims’ Support Groups Forum UK (AVSGF) brought the successful legal action against justice secretary Chris Grayling.
The group challenged the decision to allow 25% of damages awarded to terminally ill mesothelioma sufferers to be used to pay legal insurance premiums and costs.
Mesothelioma, the fatal asbestos cancer, had an exemption to the legal rule requiring those recovering damages to pay 25% of their compensation towards legal and insurance costs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked in jobs where they inhaled or ingested asbestos fibres.
The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 said this legal rule could not be overturned without a formal government consultation. At the High Court, Mr Justice William Davis ruled that a consultation exercise carried out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last year was inadequate.
AVSGF chair Tony Whitston called on the government to “see this judgment as an opportunity to take a new approach based on justice for victims of big financial institutions”. He added: “The old plans were rooted in a culture of secret deals with insurers and flawed consultations which excluded the victims of asbestos.”
The MoJ said it was considering the ruling.
www.asbestosjustice.co.uk/justice-served-mesothelioma-sufferers
www.leighday.co.uk/News/2014/October-2014/High-Court-Defeat-for-Chris-Grayling-over-cancer-d