So far, the nine-person working party, which includes members of the judiciary, the Bar, solicitors and other court users, has come up with a number of ideas to streamline the court process. As a result of the party’s work, the concept of paperless litigation could take a step closer to reality, with suggestions including electronic bundles set to be announced to the users committee, in a bid to speed up cases and ditch the lever arch files.
In addition, cost capping, which is currently used in other areas of the court system such as personal injury and group litigations, could be introduced for commercial trials.
Other ideas being considered include a docket system, greater enforcement of the Commercial Court Users Guide (CCUG) and the reintroduction of oral witness statements for the most important part of a case.
The final report is set to be shown to the Commercial Court Users Committee in October. If accepted, there will be changes to the CCUG, once approved by the Lord Chief Justice, and then they will be distributed among the profession.
Justice Aikens told Legal Week: “An awful lot of what needs to happen is already in the guide, but we need to remind ourselves of what is in there and then take it further.”
