Changing Times Within The Courts

Before the recent economic downturn, it was rapists and murdered who took centre stage in the courts but since then they have been surpassed by an ever increasing amount of property developers, bankers and businessmen as the Commercial Court takes centre stage and the business world is catapulted into the spotlight by the merciless procedures and publicity generated by the Commercial Court.

Unfortunately, with the ever increasing amount of debt related claims being processed, the courts are struggling to cope with the high levels of cases being sent their way.

For example, from January to May, 192 cases were admitted to the Commercial Court, compared to 243 for the whole of last year and earlier this week the Court, headed by High Court judge Peter Kelly, reached a new record when it ‘celebrated’ the largest ever number of feuding parties seeking entry to its list.

As the caseload hitting the courts shows no sign of slowing down, anticipation is high that the courts will be coming under further pressure in the upcoming months as the recession deepens, deals collapse, debts fall due and more companies go to the wall.

In London, there is no entry threshold for commercial cases, but what constitutes a commercial claim is strictly defined.

Possession and debt collection, which are a major feature of the Irish Commercial Court’s day-to-day activities, are generally dealt with elsewhere in the chancery division of the English courts.

In Ireland, separate High Court lists are also allocated to deal with issues such as bankruptcy and examinership, and perhaps it is just a sign of the times that debt currently dominates the Commercial Court.

Some are even daring to ask if the award-winning, ‘cards on the table’ court is becoming a victim of its own success and whether it has enough judges to manage the caseloads it faces.

Others question whether some of the cases should be dealt with elsewhere in the courts system.

“There is a risk that the Commercial Court is becoming a debt-collection court. Many of the cases there are not truly commercial in nature at all,” said one partner in a leading Dublin law firm.

“Foreign clients can not believe how inefficient our debt-collection system is. Debt recovery should be routine but our laws are so antiquated that people seek out efficiency and that is why they seek judgment in the Commercial Court.