Commercial Court annual report 2022-2023 published
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The Commercial Court Report 2022–2023 (Including the Admiralty Court Report) has been published today.
In his foreword, Mr Justice Foxton, Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, explained how this period had been another busy year for the Commercial Court and its associated courts, the Admiralty Court and the London Circuit Commercial Court.
He talks about the number of claims issued in the court, hearings and trials listed, adding: “Those figures suggest some success in the Court’s efforts to ensure that its resources are focussed on those complex and significant cases which the Court was established to resolve.”
Mr Justice Foxton added: “The Court continues to see a broad range of commercial disputes. There are a number of significant groups of managed cases: Insurance claims arising from the pandemic (managed by Mr Justice Jacobs) and relating to the impact on leased aircraft of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (one group managed by Mr Justice Butcher, the other by Mr Justice Henshaw), in addition to a number of very large disputes, the largest of which – a claim commenced by the Danish Customs and Tax Authority – will be the subject of a one-year trial before Mr Justice Andrew Baker starting in April this year.
“The Court has continued to encourage junior advocacy, both at shorter hearings and in and after trials. Those efforts have now received endorsement at the highest level, with the statement of the Lady Chief Justice (whom we note, with considerable pride, is a former judge of this Court) and the Heads of Divisions of 8 November 2023.
“In addition, the “pupils in court” scheme has provided aspiring advocates with a bench-side view of advocacy in the Commercial Court. Outside court, the judges have participated in a range of events and initiatives, with a view to promoting England and Wales as a forum for the resolution of commercial disputes, the development of English law, legal education and diversity and social mobility. Full details of these events appear on the Commercial Court pages of the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website, which I would encourage those interested in the Court and its work to make a regular e-destination.”
Mr Justice Foxton thanked the Court’s clerks and staff for their hard work and dedication, the Commercial Court Listing Office, and Jay Howard, clerk to Mr Justice Henshaw, for her hard work in helping to produce this report.