What could the English court system learn from its counterparts overseas? Philip Sinel runs through some areas for improvement
- In the courts of England and Wales, while hearings generally progress smoothly and effectively once underway, the process of getting to court in the first place can often be held up by errors and oversights.
- On the other hand, hearings offshore tend to be slightly less uniform in approach, but in many cases they can get underway quicker, and turnover seems lower.
Being based offshore, though often litigating in England and further abroad, I have a good vantage point to compare the service of some offshore courts to those of England and Wales.
Errors abound
Our experience of the latter is that once in court, things normally progress smoothly and as expected. Progress of hearing is effective, straightforward, and generally uniform in approach.
Getting to those hearings is a different matter. Court bundles are sent to the email address so ordered, but we need
