APIL’s new president has vowed to “look outwards at the challenges” facing victims of negligence and the personal injury sector, in her inaugural speech at the association’s annual general meeting this morning (16 May).
Kim Harrison, a child abuse and public inquiry specialist from Manchester, takes the helm after what she calls an “action-packed” year for the association, including APIL’s judicial review on aspects of the new fixed recoverable costs rules and the success of the flagship Rebuilding Shattered Lives campaign.
“Central to our ongoing work has to be the generating of a better understanding of personal injury and the needs of the injured people we look after, so that injured people are at the heart of policy-making instead of so often being the victims of policy-making,” Kim told assembled delegates in Birmingham.
“The next big challenge for our sector will no doubt be the outcome of the discount rate review,” Kim said. APIL has called on the Government to deliver on its commitment to uphold the principle of 100 per cent compensation.
“Now is the time to look outwards at the challenges, but also the significant opportunities that 2024 and beyond can bring for APIL and its members and, most importantly, our clients and future clients,” said Kim, adding that the association’s proactive campaigns are “close to my heart”.
“We have made great strides in raising awareness on our key campaigns such as reforming the outdated and unfair law on bereavement damages, the need to introduce new laws to support sufferers of asbestos-related lung cancer, and also for the Government to get on and implement the recommendations arising out of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report,” said Kim.
Kim represented more than 100 childhood sexual abuse survivors in the IICSA and gave evidence for APIL.
“We quite rightly argued that the unfair and outdated law on limitation in England and Wales be abolished,” she said. “I, along with other lawyers and campaigners, was pleased to see this recommendation in the IICSA final report and we look forward to responding to the Government consultation on this point, which was published yesterday.
“These campaigns will continue to be at the forefront of the work that we do and, I believe, with what is likely to be a new Government by the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to continue to lobby MPs and peers for changes to be made that will assist injured and bereaved people,” she said.