English Commercial Court remains a good choice

Chris Grieveson and Ben Williams, of Wikborg Rein, maintain the English Commercial Court is still a strong choice despite the introduction of new fees

The cost of commencing proceedings in the English Commercial Court has recently increased. Despite this, however, there are still real advantages of having the Commercial Court as a forum for commercial disputes. The maximum issuing fee was previously £1,920 for a claim of £300,000 or above. The fee for claims of between £10,000 and £200,000 is now 5% of the amount claimed, eg £5,000 for a claim worth £100,000 and £10,000 for claims of £200,000 and for unspecified amounts. The purpose of the increase is to help fund the English courts and to contribute to their ongoing modernisation and improvement. Yet there is a danger, as noted by English judges, the fees will be seen, by international standards, as a high entry price to begin a commercial case within English jurisdiction.