Litigation post-Brexit

London’s reputation as a leading centre for cross-border dispute resolution has been thrown into question by Brexit.

The government’s pledge to enact EU law into domestic law pending further review has reduced some of the uncertainty. However, this exercise is not as straightforward as it seems, particularly where reciprocity with member states is required to render EU laws effective, Jonathan Harris QC, Serle Court, writes in NLJ this week.

Harris says the two key ingredients are the ability to choose English courts as the forum and the ability to choose English law to govern contractual and non-contractual relationships between parties. Both of these are “almost entirely regulated by European regulations”. He argues that both are likely to be preserved in a post-Brexit era. Moreover, he points out that parties choose the English courts for the quality of its lawyers, the independence of its judiciary, and the procedural and substantive rules of English law—none of which will be affected by Brexit.