Practical Law

Ramsey J gave the keynote speech at the joint TeCSA/TECBAR conference on 28 June 2010, which was attended by around 80 solicitors and barristers.

(To read what Akenhead J had to say about early neutral evaluation at the conference, see Michelle Metham’s post.)

New Judge in Charge of the TCC

Ramsey J announced that Akenhead J will be taking over as Judge in Charge of the TCC with effect from 1 September 2010. Ramsey J has served his term as Judge in Charge at a time when the TCC has seen a rise in business and secured a move to the prestigious new Rolls Building.

Increase in business in the TCC

Ramsey J reported that the TCC is in good health. The year to September 2009 saw the highest number of claims being issued for a number of years in both London and the regional centres. There was increased adjudication enforcement, but also a significant number of substantial TCC litigation cases.

He also reported that by 2012, the high court TCC in London will consist of only high court judges. Arrangements are being made for changes to the way in which the court will deal with TCC cases which do not merit a high court judge. There was no further detail available at the moment about those arrangements, and practitioners will no doubt be keen to hear how the TCC intends to deal with the lower value cases traditionally assigned to the senior circuit judges at the TCC.

Revised TCC Guide

The current TCC Guide, second revision, is to be revised. Draft changes will go out for consultation in July 2010, with the revisions coming into effect in October 2010. Those changes will include:

• Cost orders where pleadings or witness statements merit them.
• A reminder that lists of issues should concentrate on main issues.
• A provision for supplementary witness evidence.
• Incorporation of electronic working practice.
• Incorporation of the Court Settlement Process.
• Transfer provisions.
• The way in which small cases are allocated.
• Changes to procedures for sending papers to the court and allocating judges.

The changes to the transfer provisions will be particularly welcome, as the current provisions have caused some confusion and difficulty.

A recent example of this was CFH Total Document Management Ltd v OCE (UK) Ltd and another [2010] EWHC 541 (TCC), where an application for the transfer of a software dispute from the Mercantile Court in Bristol to the TCC in London was turned down. Edwards-Stuart J held that the question of whether the case should be listed before a high court judge was considered a matter best reserved to the mercantile judge in Bristol.

Amendments to the Pre-Action Protocol

Ramsey J also reported that there is a working party (including representatives of TeCSA and TECBAR) currently reviewing the Pre-Action Protocol for Construction and Engineering disputes. Practitioners will welcome clarification on the TCC’s plans for the Protocol given the changes proposed in Jackson LJ’s costs report.

There has been a division of opinion about the value and benefits of the Protocol, as evidenced by the widely divergent views expressed by TCC practitioners in previous consultations. In particular, in consultations for the costs report, the TCC judges were less than enthusiastic about the Protocol.

Ramsey J reported that it has been decided that the Protocol should be maintained for now, but reviewed when the TCC moves with other jurisdictions to the new Rolls Building. Later this year a questionnaire will be circulated to seek views on the future of the Protocol.

Electronic working in the TCC

The TCC was the first jurisdiction in which an electronic claim was issued, and it continues to lead in the use of electronic working. Every case issued in the TCC since 20 July 2009 has been scanned in, even if the claim was not commenced electronically. This means that most TCC cases are available for electronic working. At the conference, Leigh Hunter of Brown Bread Consulting, who is a key member of the Ministry of Justice’s E-working team, outlined the recent updates to the E-working facilities.

A new home in the Rolls Building

Ramsey J announced that the TCC will move into the new Rolls Building in Fetter Lane in around Easter 2011. This move will bring together the TCC’s high court judges with the Commercial and Admiralty Court and the Chancery Division. The new building will include several sizes of court, including “supercourts”, which will allow large cases to be tried without the need to relocate elsewhere.

The TCC is going to host an international construction and technology law conference on 26 September 2011 as part of the opening celebrations.

TCC in safe hands

In his years in charge of the TCC, Ramsey J has overseen a lot of change which will benefit TCC users for many years to come, including E-working, better court facilities, increases to the number of high court judges and equal billing with other high court divisions in the new Rolls Building. The profile, reputation and success of the TCC continues to grow.