Commercial Court speculation holds up plans for reform
Media reports on the future of the Commercial Court are impeding the progress of renewal plans and risk jeopardising huge earnings from overseas investors in the UK, the president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA) claimed this week.
There has been considerable discussion over the poor state of the court following government moves to reform it, started in 2000, and a more recent push by the Lord Mayor of London - barrister Gavyn Arthur - to make progress on the issue.
LSLA chief Tony Guise - who last week left City firm Merricks to set up his own London practice - said that press reports that a hotel on London's South Bank could house a new court, that it should be jointly housed with a commercial arbitration centre, or funded by a private finance initiative were all incorrect.
He said: 'However tongue-in-cheek the idea of sharing premises with a South Bank hotel is, it is a non-starter.
The suggestion that an arbitration centre could be part of a new building would not work because the plans of the arbitrators would distract from those of the court.'
Mr Guise added that private finance was inappropriate.
'The LSLA's view is that the court is provided by the state as a service for litigants,' he said.
Mr Guise said some lessons could be learnt from the way in which the arbitrators charge by the day for the use of their facilities and staff, and that these might be applied to a new Commercial Court.
The LSLA has brought together an informal working group comprising a wide range of interested bodies, including the judiciary, Court Service, solicitors, barristers and arbitration organisations, to offer advice to the government.
Mr Guise said: 'The quality of justice delivered by the Commercial Court is a hugely important contributor to this country's earnings from overseas organisations.
The lamentable quality of the Commercial Court's operating conditions risks jeopardising those earnings.'
Jeremy Fleming
No comments yet