Liverpool Law Sep 2017 copy

Court News
Business and Property Court Launch
On 11th July I attended the Business and
Property Court (BPC) launch in Manchester.
The launch was attended by the Sir Geoffrey
Vos, Chancellor of the High Court, Mr Justice
Norris, The Vice Chancellor of the County
Palatine of Lancaster and many other senior
High Court Judges, advocates and Court users
of the Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
The BPC is the new name for the Chancery
Division of the High Court and will be live on
2nd October 2017. There is also one in
Birmingham and Leeds, with more information
on Newcastle and Liverpool to follow.
The BPC has been created with a view to
simplifying archaic Court procedures to attract
more international litigation as fewer contacts
refer to the exclusive jurisdiction of England and
Wales. Matters will no longer be referred to as
Chancery business.
When a case is issued in the High Court you will
need to select that you wish it to be heard in the
BPC. You will then need to select from the 10
sub-divisions which include financial irregularity,
competition, probate and trusts etc. Within some
of those sub-divisions there are further subdivisions.
Historically cases had to be issued in London to
have them heard by the appropriate Judge
however cases will be issued in the Court relevant
to the dispute with the appropriate Judge ready to
hear them. The idea is that a construction dispute
at a building site in Manchester will be heard in
Manchester. The Judge will be allocated at an
early stage so they hear all case management not
just final hearing. It is also hoped that the Court
process will be a lot quicker as not everything will
have to go though London.
In addition the High Court is going paperless, like
the Rolls Building is already, and all documents
will need to be uploaded on to their system,
however this will not be live until Spring 2018.
Once live you will not be able to file anything
other then via CE filing. Which itself has its
advantages as you received an electronic
acknowledgement to confirm receipt to
documents.
There is a practice direction about the BPC and
the sub divisions coming out in the next few
weeks however, it is the Claimant’s responsibility
to ensure the correct Court is selected and if the
case is being heard in the wrong Court this may
result in the case being struck out Judges have
advised.
Danielle Blaylock
Chartered Legal Executive
MSB Solicitors