Last week, Lindsay Collett of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP reported on Edwards-Stuart J’s presentation on e-working in the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) to the TeCSA and TECBAR annual joint conference. Akenhead J, the Judge in charge of the TCC, also reported more generally at the conference on TCC news.
The TCC’s new home
Akenhead J explained that construction and fitting-out of the Rolls Building on Fetter Lane is nearing completion, and the TCC will be moving into its brand new home in the autumn.
The TCC will share the Rolls Building with the Commercial Court and the Chancery Division. Many commentators have speculated about whether the coming together of these different cultures in one building will lead to any changes in the TCC. Akenhead J was quick to scotch the rumours of any sort of merger between the three courts. He stressed that the TCC will retain its separate status and its separate specialist judges.
The move to the new building gives the TCC the opportunity to consolidate its growing reputation and stature in the global market for legal dispute resolution. Akenhead J reported that the TCC is keen to encourage more international work.
Changes at the TCC
Akenhead J advised that the last of the Senior Circuit Judges (SCJs) sitting in the TCC, HHJ Wilcox, is retiring in spring 2012. He will be replaced by a new High Court judge, yet to be appointed.
This means that the TCC will lose some of the small value work that has previously been dealt with by the SCJs. Instead, this work will be dealt with by the County Courts (in particular, on the TCC list at the Central London County Court).
However, the TCC will retain adjudication cases. The TCC has developed a speedy procedure for dealing quickly with adjudication enforcement claims and other adjudication business. The TCC judges are keen to continue to build an homogenous body of case-law on adjudication.
Recent developments in the TCC
Akenhead J reported that technology continues to be a growth area for the TCC. Over the past ten years there has been an increase in substantial IT disputes and telecommunications cases coming to the TCC. In the past, some of those cases might have gone to the Commercial Court; instead they are now coming to the TCC.
Another growth area is in the field of public procurement. Most of these cases will continue to be heard in the TCC after the move to the Rolls Building. However, Akenhead J reported that the advantage of having several jurisdictions together in the new Rolls Building is that those coming to court urgently following the announcement of the outcome of a tender process will be able to have their applications heard quickly, as judges from the other courts will be made available at short notice if the TCC judges are unavailable.
E-disclosure working group
The TCC has established a working group (comprising barristers and solicitors with experience of e-working) to report on how best to manage disclosure in substantial and complex cases that involve huge amounts of documents. Different options are being explored. One line of enquiry is whether there is an alternative to standard disclosure under CPR 31 in those kinds of cases, where standard disclosure may be disproportionate.
The future
Akenhead J signposted some important changes ahead. The last decade has seen huge sea-changes in the TCC, and in the perception of the TCC. The move to the new Rolls Building will be the important final step in the TCC achieving parity with the Commercial Court and Chancery Division.
