Explaining the Commercial Court

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Created: Monday, March 28 2011 14:46

The Commercial Court is a specialised commercial division of the High Court which deals with a full range of commercial disputes, generally involving claims exceeding €1,000,000.

The main aspect of the Commercial Court is that it provides litigants with a speedier, more effective resolution to proceedings.

An application to have an action entered in the Commercial Court can be made at any time prior to the close of pleadings. Commercial proceedings are commenced as usual in the High Court and then transferred to the Commercial Court. The normal practice is to apply to have the proceedings transferred at the earliest possible opportunity.

The first hearing in the Commercial Court is an initials directions hearing. At the initial hearing, the Judge can make directions to facilitate the speedy advance of proceedings. The Judge in the Commercial Court demands full compliance with the directions made, and failure to adhere to the directions may result in a costs penalty against the offending party.

Cases admitted to the Commercial Court are subject to very close case management to ensure that the proceedings are advanced in a just, expeditious and cost effective manner.

A pre-trial conference is held before any commercial case is listed for trial. At this conference, the Judge establishes what steps remain to be taken to prepare the case for hearing, whether any special technological arrangements may be required and the likely length of the hearing. When the Judge is satisfied that the proceedings are ready, he will fix a trial date. The parties must lodge detailed booklets of papers with the Judge in advance of every application before the Commercial Court. This ensures that the parties are properly prepared for every procedural hearing, and also that the Judge can become familiar with the issues beforehand.

If the Judge considers it desirable that the proceedings are sent for mediation, conciliation or arbitration, he may adjourn the proceedings for a limited period of time so that the parties can pursue one or more of such processes.

At present, there are a large number of applications for entry into the Commercial Court, given the increase in litigation associated with the economic collapse. However, the Commercial Court has provided a modern framework within which to conduct business related litigation.