THE IMPACT ON TRAVEL CLAIMS AND LITIGATION IN THE UK 313 Applications where there is a substantial hearing in the next month; Multitrack hearings where the parties agree the matter is urgent; and Appeals in these instances. The next level of priority was given to: Infant and protected party approvals; Applications for interim payments; Stage 3 assessment of damages; Applications to set aside a judgment in default; Small claims and fast track trials where the parties agree the matter is urgent; Preliminary assessment of costs; and Appeals in these instances. Essentially, then, in those instances where the parties agreed that the matter was urgent, and in particular where the claim was a high value one, the court would hear the matter. Otherwise, hearings were likely to be vacated and adjourned, often for many months. Having determined that the matter ought to be prioritised, the courts would triage it, in order to decide what form the hearing ought to take, whether by Skype, Zoom, telephone conferencing, or on the papers via email; or, indeed, by way of any other technological advance the parties might propose. Even if the matter was one which would ordinarily be prioritised, it might not be possible to hear it remotely, for example where there would be multiple expert witnesses giving complex evidence, requiring parties to take very frequent breaks to take instructions, or where a party was self-isolating and did not have access to the relevant technology. Cases had to be judged on an individual case by case basis, but the parties were expected to co-operate with each other in reaching agreement about whether the hearing was suitable for a remote hearing, and if so, how the hearing could be conducted most fairly. 3. LITIGATION AGAINST THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY The collapse of Monarch Airlines, in October 2017, and then Thomas Cook, in September 2019, left the Air Travel Organisers’ Licence scheme to pick up the bill for compensating hundreds of thousands of customers; in each case, the
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