Statutory adjudication systems started in the UK in 1998.  At the outset they had specific purposes in mind (which were to speed up the payments system and to remove unfair contract conditions) and they had a quick and cheap form of justice (adjudication) to ensure that this purpose was achieved. 

This paper deals with the extent to which the initial purposes have been achieved, how the adjudications which have been dealt with in the UK have changed in nature over time, to what extent the intentions of the legislature have been inhibited or encouraged by the courts and it questions the way in which adjudication is being used as a substitute for more appropriate dispute resolution techniques.

Apart from reviewing the literature appropriate to the field in the UK and elsewhere, the paper uses data collected by the authors through the Adjudication Reporting Centre over eight years and includes references to case law. The paper also draws on experience of statutory adjudication systems elsewhere to compare the extent of drift they have experienced from their original intentions.