K-Zine

New Commercial Court to take commercial litigation into the 21st Century

The new Commercial Court commenced work on the 12th January 2004. It has a general value threshold of €1 million. This court will cater for amongst others, intellectual property cases and judicial reviews.

The essential aim of this new court is to provide for more effective case management before a matter in dispute is finally heard. The intention according to Mr. Justice Finnegan, President of the High Court is to protect litigants from the long Irish tradition of litigation "by ambush".

Lawyers must prepare what Justice Finnegan has referred to as "a must read bundle of documents", which should ensure that there is greater clarification of issues in dispute in advance of the commencement of the court hearing which, in turn should result in shorter trials.

One of the most fundamental aspects of the new Commercial Court is its reliance on electronic evidence which will allow more efficient identification of the core issues and the type of evidence required.

Witness statements will have to be exchanged in advance and these can be used in evidence once verified in an Affidavit. Expert reports will have to be furnished and exchanged in advance and expert witnesses will be obliged to confer with each other prior to the hearing to see what points of agreement can be identified. The parties to the litigation will also be obliged to set out their case in writing, thus avoiding the lengthy opening statements by Counsel.

Court facilities will allow for computer access by the litigants and their legal team. The Court also caters for electronic filing of documents, video conferencing and real time stenography.

Justice Finnegan hopes that the new Court shall lead to reduced costs by encouraging settlement of commercial disputes. It remains to be seen whether this proves to be the case in practice.