The start of the legal year is defined by tradition and ceremony. This year it is no exception, with a service at Westminster Abbey, followed by the traditional Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast in Westminster Hall. Yet, amongst the court dress of wigs, gowns, breeches, and buckled shoes, a 151 year old institution is quietly being consigned to the history books.

The Chancery Division, one of the founding strands of the High Court, is no more. In fact, it is only the King’s Bench Division which remains from the original five divisions.

In its place is the rather unimaginatively titled Business and Property Division. Whilst, in practice, this new Division will draw together those legal disputes that were previously heard before either the King’s Bench or Chancery Divisions, symbolically it represents the slow erosion of our legal heritage. Moreover, it risks diminishing the allure of litigation in the High Court of England & Wales.

The word Chancery is synonymous with the British legal system, even lending its name to a lane at the centre of London’s legal heartland. Yet, in the name of modernisation, it is being removed from the legal lexicon. Those in favour of the change pray in aid that it will help litigants navigate the courts more easily. It is also pleaded that the change will “[s]trengthen the international reputation of the Business and Property Courts by including them within a single, coherent divisional structure.” The latter is an argument that I simply fail to understand. To the contrary, the international reputation of the Chancery Division is precisely why London has become the de facto destination to settle international disputes. My fear, not misplaced when I speak to experienced and wise counsel, is that watering down its historic links will merely risk diminishing the lustre of litigating here. That in turn threatens the ongoing growth and success of the UK legal sector, which is one of our strongest assets – generating £60 billion annually for the UK economy.

Sir Robert Buckland KC, a former Lord Chancellor and Solicitor General of England & Wales, described the demise of the Chancery Division as “the worst sort of iconoclasm.” He is, of course, right. However, it is more than that, it is deliberate self-harm.

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst MP is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Solihull West & Shirley, and Shadow Minister for Health & Social Care. He previously served as a British Army Medical Officer and barrister, and sits on the House of Commons Justice Committee.