The evidence
The figures behind the ask. Every one carries its source, and none of it is contested. The money is not the argument for fairness; it is the answer to anyone who says fairness is unaffordable.
Nobody in this record had to behave badly for every free route to close. That is the point, and it is why one word has to change: why this has to change.
And the same shape turns up in records that were never written for the public: what their own records show.
People are using this campaign
Who checks it. Reach and monthly audience are measured by independent site and audience measurement, not by our own counts, and audited before any figure is published. Supporters are counted from our own database of registered campaign followers.
The UK has already promised it
Parliament put fairness first. The rule does not.
The Act that created the rule committee requires it to make rules with a view to a civil justice system that is accessible, fair and efficient
. The rule made under that power, rule 1.1(1), tells the court to deal with cases justly and at proportionate cost
. Cost was written into that sentence in 2013. Fairness is not in it. The word fairly
appears once in the whole rule, at rule 1.1(2)(d), inside a list introduced by Dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost includes, so far as is practicable
, and there it is tied to speed: ensuring that it is dealt with expeditiously and fairly
.
Fairness is in the rule only so far as it is practicable. This campaign calls it the optional fairness rule.
This is not a change of policy. It is bringing the rule into line with the Act that authorises it. The committee has already accepted the principle: in 2021 it amended the rule so that parties can participate fully
and give their best evidence
. The Employment Tribunal rules, remade in 2024, already open with fairly and justly
. This asks the committee to finish what it began.
“My Government’s legislative programme will be mission led and based upon the principles of security, fairness and opportunity for all.”
The King’s Speech, setting out the Government’s programme, 17 July 2024.
“The Rule of Law: the certainty of stable and accessible rules, an independent judiciary resolving disputes and delivering impartial justice.”
The King, addressing the United States Congress, 28 April 2026.
Fairness is the word the Government put at the centre of its programme, and stable, accessible rules are what it told Congress the rule of law means. Fairness is not in the sentence that overrides every other rule in a civil court. Both quotations are matters of public record and no endorsement of this campaign is stated or implied.
Make fairness first Been through the courts? Draft your letters. Two minutes
Sources are named in each tile and are public records anyone can check. This campaign is not connected to any political party and does not support or oppose any party or candidate. It is not connected with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. Nothing on this page is legal advice.