For many years, discussions about civil justice reform in Northern Ireland have felt like a conversation trapped in a holding pattern.
The publication of Sir John Gillen's landmark Review of Civil and Family Justice in 2017 provided a comprehensive blueprint for reform, identifying issues around delay, cost, disproportionate procedures, limited digitalisation and the need for stronger case management. Yet despite widespread agreement that reform was needed, progress was slow. Political instability, periods without a functioning Assembly and competing legislative priorities meant that many of those recommendations were never implemented.
Today, however, there are signs that the position is changing.
Over the last 12 months we have seen a series of consultations, policy developments and industry discussions which together suggest that civil justice reform is once again firmly on the agenda. While there are no guarantees as to what reforms will ultimately be delivered or how quickly they will arrive, the level of activity now being seen represents the most significant reform momentum Northern Ireland has experienced in many years.
For insurers and compensators, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge.
The most significant recent development was the Department of Justice's Access to Justice consultation, which closed in May 2026.
Although framed as a consultation on legal aid and funding arrangements, the exercise quickly evolved into a much broader conversation about the future shape of the Northern Ireland civil justice system.
Many of the issues considered extended well beyond legal aid and touched upon wider questions of procedure, costs, digitalisation, expert evidence, claims management regulation and access to justice.
In our response, Keoghs welcomed the consultation as an important first step but emphasised that meaningful reform cannot be delivered through isolated changes. Experience from other jurisdictions demonstrates that costs, procedure, funding mechanisms and digital infrastructure are closely interconnected. Reform in one area without corresponding changes elsewhere risks creating unintended consequences rather than genuine improvement.
Importantly, the consultation also reopened discussion around many of the themes identified by Sir John Gillen almost a decade ago, including:
The Department's response to the consultation is still awaited. However, the exercise itself is significant because it signals a willingness to revisit reform issues that have remained largely dormant for many years.
The Department has also indicated that further consultations are expected in the coming months on legal aid eligibility and merits testing. These proposals form part of the wider "Enabling Access to Justice" programme and may have significant implications for how civil claims are funded in future. Officials are also exploring alternative funding arrangements, including insurance-backed and private sector models, with further policy work expected over the coming years.
While these proposals remain at an early stage, they could have a material impact on claimant behaviour and therefore represent an important area for insurers to monitor closely.
The same day the consultation closed, Keoghs and the ABI hosted a Northern Ireland civil justice reform roundtable attended by senior representatives from across the insurance market together with Sir John Gillen and leading legal stakeholders.
A clear theme emerged throughout the discussion: there is growing recognition that Northern Ireland is becoming increasingly out of step with other UK jurisdictions.
Participants highlighted concerns around:
There was, however, a strong sense of optimism.
The roundtable identified broad support for practical reform measures including stronger pre-action protocols, improved case management, greater judicial control of expert evidence, expanded digital processes and the development of a single end-to-end claims platform.
Perhaps most encouragingly, there was a shared view that policymakers, the judiciary and industry stakeholders now have an opportunity to work collaboratively in shaping a more proportionate and sustainable system.
Since the ABI roundtable in May, further momentum has emerged from the judiciary itself. In her Opening of Term address, the Lady Chief Justice placed significant emphasis on the need for earlier and more efficient resolution of civil disputes. The address highlighted stronger judicial case management, greater use of alternative dispute resolution and early neutral evaluation, earlier engagement between parties, and a more proportionate approach to progressing claims.
These themes closely mirror many of the priorities identified during recent industry discussions, including the importance of proactive case management, early evidence testing and realistic valuation of claims at an earlier stage in the litigation process. The judiciary's endorsement of these principles is significant because it demonstrates that reform is not being driven solely by policymakers or stakeholders, but is also receiving support from the courts themselves.
The Lady Chief Justice also highlighted the potential role of artificial intelligence and technology in supporting document review and wider litigation processes. While still at an early stage, this reflects a broader recognition that digital tools may help address delay, improve efficiency and support more proportionate dispute resolution.
For insurers, the message is clear: the judiciary is increasingly signalling a preference for early assessment, active case management and realistic dispute resolution before costs and positions become entrenched.
Alongside the Access to Justice consultation, Northern Ireland has also progressed one of the most significant procedural changes in many years.
Later this year the County Court jurisdiction is expected to increase from £30,000 to £60,000, with corresponding increases to District Judge and defamation limits.
This represents an important step towards improving proportionality and reducing unnecessary use of higher courts for mid-value disputes.
The accompanying consultation on County Court scale costs generated significant debate, particularly among insurers. Many respondents argued that Northern Ireland should take the opportunity to move towards a more modern costs regime, incorporating greater recognition of complexity, stronger incentives for early settlement and closer alignment between costs and work undertaken.
While the Rules Committee ultimately decided to proceed with its proposals broadly unchanged, the outcome was not without significance.
The Committee expressly acknowledged many of the wider issues raised during the consultation, including procedural reform, proportionality, digitalisation, staged costs and the relationship between claim complexity and recoverable costs. Significantly, it has committed to a broader review of County Court scale costs before the end of the decade.
In many respects, this wider review may prove more important than the immediate consultation outcome. Recent engagement between FOIL, insurers and the Department of Justice has also provided greater clarity on implementation. The Department continues to target implementation of the new £60,000 jurisdiction during autumn 2026, with late November currently anticipated. A Justice Committee scrutiny period is expected before commencement legislation is finalised.
Importantly, the Department indicated that the jurisdictional increase will not apply retrospectively. Existing High Court proceedings are therefore expected to remain in the High Court, avoiding the need for large-scale remittal applications. This may have important implications for reserving, litigation strategy and settlement considerations in claims currently valued between £30,000 and £60,000.
The Department also advised that discussions with the judiciary have not identified significant capacity concerns. Formal reviews of the reform's impact are expected after one year and again after two years. While questions remain regarding expert availability and operational pressures, particularly in more complex liability claims, these commitments provide a useful framework for monitoring the practical effect of the changes.
Recent developments suggest that Northern Ireland is entering its most significant period of civil justice reform since Sir John Gillen's review was published in 2017. The Access to Justice consultation, planned County Court jurisdiction changes, ongoing work on costs and growing judicial support for stronger case management all point towards a renewed focus on modernisation.
However, Northern Ireland continues to lag behind England and Wales and Scotland in a number of key areas. Digital infrastructure remains underdeveloped, many claims processes remain paper-based, and wider questions around costs, funding, proportionality and claims management have yet to be resolved.
The challenge now is ensuring that current momentum translates into meaningful reform. The forthcoming response to the Access to Justice consultation, implementation of the County Court changes and future reviews of costs and procedure will all provide important opportunities to shape the future direction of the system.
Broader developments within the judiciary may also support this agenda. The appointment of Mr Justice Kinney as senior King's Bench judge is likely to be viewed positively by many practitioners, given his experience as both a solicitor and County Court judge and his reputation for a practical approach to dispute resolution.
The next few years are likely to be critical for the future of Northern Ireland's civil justice system. While progress is far from guaranteed, there is now a genuine opportunity to deliver reforms that improve efficiency, proportionality and access to justice.
At Keoghs, we continue to engage actively with policymakers, the judiciary, industry bodies and stakeholders across a broad range of reform issues, including costs, procedure, digitalisation and claims handling. We will continue to support clients as the reform programme develops and to contribute to discussions shaping the future direction of the jurisdiction.
If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact the Keoghs Northern Ireland team.
Victoria McLean - Partner
Rachel Keenan - Partner
Megan McBrien - Partner
Natalie Larnder - Partner & Head of Market Affairs
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