London’s commercial courts have displayed robust health through the challenges of COVID-19 and Brexit, working through a record-breaking caseload in the 12 months up to 30 March.
According to the annual Commercial Court Report by Portland Communications, published this week, the courts handed down more judgments (292 in total, 47% more than the previous year), with more nationalities represented (75) and litigants appearing (1,336) than ever before. This meant the courts recovered from a dip in activity last year and re-established a six-year-long trend for growth.
Nine out of ten of the judgments were for hearings held during these 12 months, showing the increase was not due to a backlog of cases.
Half of the litigants were from outside the UK. The decline in proportion of EU27 litigants since Brexit has continued, reaching a six-year low of only 11.5% of the total.
The report notes: ‘While this decline may be attributed to the fallout from Brexit, it also corresponds with the establishment of international commercial courts across the EU, including in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
‘With the added uncertainties around enforcement, there is perhaps a growing risk that European litigants may choose to settle their disputes closer to home.’
However, the decrease in EU litigants was offset by an increase in other foreign litigants, with Russia providing the highest number, followed by the US (the numbers from the US rose by 75%). Russian litigants most frequently found themselves in court against Ukrainian opponents.
Writing in the report, Professor Alex Mills of UCL points out that judgments in proceedings brought before 1 January 2021 continue to benefit from EU recognition and enforcement regimes; therefore it is too soon to tell whether potential difficulties in enforcing English judgments might lead parties to litigate elsewhere or to choose arbitration instead.
Meanwhile, other courts—most notably the criminal and family courts—continue to suffer lengthy backlogs and delays. Last week, ministers pledged to remove the limit on the number of judicial sitting days to tackle the backlog. Welcoming the decision, Bar Council chair Derek Sweeting QC called for sufficient staff and resources to be provided to support the rise in cases.
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