Disclosure reform important post-Brexit

Our civil courts are facing increased competition from courts and tribunals overseas, ‘who regard the Brexit vote as “Christmas come early”,’ Ed Crosse, President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (LSLA) told lawyers at the LSLA annual dinner last week.

He emphasised that reform of the Civil Procedure Rules, and the disclosure regime in particular, are central to maintaining the world-leading status of courts in England and Wales.

Earlier this month, a working group of senior judges and practitioners, including Crosse, published a draft Practice Direction on disclosure in the business and property courts—interested parties have until 28 February 2018 to comment on it.

‘The working group started out with the modest intention of putting Part 31 [of the Civil Procedure Rules] into a wind tunnel, to see which bits could be stripped away to achieve greater speed and efficiency, but in fact, what we ended up doing was completely re-writing the rule.

‘The proposed rules will, if accompanied by a change in culture and behaviours by the profession and judiciary, materially contribute to a more efficient and effective administration of civil justice. That, in turn, may help to mitigate some of the challenges that our civil justice system is now facing as a result of Brexit and, in particular, increased competition from courts and tribunals overseas.’

Speaking at the launch of the working group’s draft Practice Direction, Sir Terence Etherton, Master of the Rolls, said: ‘Disclosure is one of the key procedural stages in most evidence-based claims.

‘It is imperative that our disclosure system is, and is seen to be, highly efficient and flexible, reflecting developments in technology. Having effective and proportionate rules for disclosure is a key attraction of English law and English dispute resolution in international markets.’