To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of small claims court procedures. [81027]

The Lord Chancellor's Department commissioned research into the small claims procedure from Professor John Baldwin. This was published in December 1997. Professor Baldwin found that at least three quarters of the litigants interviewed, who had been involved in small claims, were content with the way their cases had been handled in court. This included some who had lost their cases as well as those who had won.