Selected aspects of procedure of the English court

Abstract

Introduction Disputes in the English court are presented and decided in accordance with the rules of procedure in that court. The Civil Procedure Rules were laid down following the Woolf Report. They state that the overriding objective of the rules is to ‘deal with cases justly’. Among other things, ‘justly’ includes ensuring the parties are on an equal footing, saving expense, dealing with the case in ways that are proportionate to its complexity and value, speed and fairness and ensuring a proper allocation of court resources. The CPR make special provision for aspects of conflict of laws, particularly with regard to the service of documents and the determination of jurisdictional disputes. It is difficult to understand many aspects of the conflict of laws without an overview of the procedure of cases in the English court. Most cases concerning conflict of laws are decided in the Commercial Court of the Queen's Bench Division. The statistics of cases from that court show that of over 1,300 disputes commenced, an estimate of over 80 per cent involved one foreign party and some 40 per cent had no English party. The minimum value of the claim is £25,000 and many run into several million pounds. Litigation in the Commercial Court is not cheap. The usual costs rule is that the loser pays about three-quarters of the winner's total costs of the litigation. The best barristers command around £10,000 fees per day in court each, and City solicitors charge over £600 per hour for a partner's time, and every party will have at least one barrister and one solicitor present. Much expensive work is done by each party before trial, particularly in discovering evidence. Therefore, costs also run to millions of pounds in a large case. International litigation adds considerably to the balance of payments.