The role of court fees in affecting users' decisions to bring cases to the civil and family courts
The Ministry of Justice today published its report looking into the role of court fees in affecting users’ decisions to bring cases to the civil and family courts. Ipsos conducted this qualitative study, which involved over 50 in-depth interviews with claimants and applicants across a range of user journeys.
The overarching objective of this research was to provide evidence on the role that court fees play in decisions to seek redress through civil and family courts, in the context of other costs that may be incurred and other factors that might influence decisions to take a case to court. The aim of the study was to explore:
- Why users decide to use the courts to resolve disputes;
- What role costs and court fees play in this decision;
- Views on potential increases to court fees; and
- In what circumstances decisions are price sensitive.
The main conclusion from this study was that participants bringing civil and family cases to court typically felt that court fees were affordable, and they would not have been deterred from starting court proceedings if court fees had been set at the higher levels they were asked about in the study.
