Hi csirl
An interesting idea, but I think that the more fundamental issue is really the cost, the efficiency and access to the civil courts.
The Financial Services Ombudsman has done a good job in making it a lawyer-free zone. The Employment Appeals Tribunal is supposed to be lawyer-free as well, but it's hard to go there without a lawyer. At least, you don't have to pay the other side's costs.
Many debtors use the justice system to avoid paying their debts, knowing that creditors just won't change them.
I would go after this issue as a priority. When it's sorted, I would look at charging the litigants for the use of the civil court's time.