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BCCI working group to back hands-on stance from judges

Author: claire.ruckin@legalweek.com

Published: 05/04/2007 03:24

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A top-level working party is set to call for a greater use of court sanctions by UK judges in a bid to ward off escalating legal costs in large commercial litigation.

The post-BCCI working party, chaired by Mr Justice Richard Aikens, looks likely to recommend that judges be quicker to punish those failing to comply with the commercial court users guide (CCUG) in its interim report in June.

One member of the eight-member working party told Legal Week that judges needed to fully use existing powers to stop big-ticket legislation spiralling out of control.

Aikens added: “The CCUG could be adapted; used a little more or a lot more forcefully than it has been.”

The working party, which was created to avoid a repeat of high-profile case collapses such as BCCI, is also likely to propose a docket system where two judges take on and follow a case throughout its duration.

Other recommendations may include regular guidance notes in the form of a leaflet or via the CCUG website.

Aikens added: “The leaflets idea is one possibility; another is a more active website where new opinion could be put up.”

The commercial court working party consists of judges, barristers, solicitors and users of the commercial court. It was set up in October by the chair of the commercial court users committee, Mr Justice David Steel, following the collapse of a number of controversial and expensive trials.

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