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I applaud this news. Post Brexit it is important to remind the world, that the UK has a world class forum for resolving international disputes.

I have often been puzzled as to why the vital role played by our biggest law firms, in terms of oiling the wheels of international commerce, has not been more widely publicised.

However, this positive news must be tempered by the depressing reality, that successive governments have starved the justice budget of resources, and furthermore have attached little weight to the criticality of the Rule of Law, and its vital role in a democracy.

James Baldwin in the U.S.A. wrote about legal systems, saying that you can only judge a legal system by how it treats "the wretched". A crumbling court estate, a legal aid system in terminal decline, insurers being allowed to alter centuries of jurisprudence for the worst reasons, mean that perhaps the bunting should not be hung out just yet.

The word “flagship” comes from a time when one ship amongst many, had on board the commanding officer for the whole fleet. As court closures multiply, with justice proposed to be processed digitally in the guise of “innovation”, it is perhaps sobering to reflect, that in order to have a flagship, you still need a fleet.