Commercial court moves to go public on supporting evidence

Times

3 days ago

The commercial court is to pilot a scheme that will make publicly available 'the documents considered by the judge to be critical to understanding a case': skeleton arguments, written submissions, witness statements and expert reports.
Subject to ministerial approval, Mrs Justice Cockerill told the London Solicitors Litigation Association, the documents will be placed on the public section of the court case management system. The process, she said, will be done 'cheaply, quickly' and 'risk free', removing the need for the press or the public to make applications to view them.
Cockerill said the scheme is designed to bridge the 'big transparency gap' between the criminal and civil courts that prevents the press and public from understanding cases in the latter. All evidence and arguments in criminal trials are made orally, and documents are read out, meaning that observers 'will understand it perfectly', the judge said. In civil cases, where witnesses' evidence is introduced by written statements not available to the public and almost no documents are read out loud, 'a member of the public has no chance of following what goes on in court'.
The Judicial Appointments Commission must pay half of the costs incurred by Kate Thomas, a barrister and part-time district judge, who challenged the fairness of the selection process after she wasn't promoted to the circuit bench in 2021.
The Court of Appeal's ruling a fortnight ago was a bit of a score draw. Reflecting Thomas's partial victory the court has ruled that the taxpayer-funded appointment body should pay 50 per cent of her legal costs, which is likely to land it with a £100,000 bill. And it is thought that the commission's legal bill will be steep too — officials instructed three barristers, led by Sir James Eadie KC, who since 2009 has been the first treasury counsel.
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The University of Hertfordshire's law school has a novel boast — senior staff are convinced that its full-scale replica crown court is 'probably the most filmed courtroom setting in the UK's film and TV industry'.
Over the past two years the imitation courtroom has hosted four scenes for EastEnders, and one each for Holby City, a BBC documentary, an ITV series and a Netflix film. Three other documentary-makers have booked the venue, and it has been used by police forces, the Environment Agency, and the local county council for staff training.
Students are involved in external training days for organisations as they act as legal counsel — occasionally kitted out in full wig and gowns.