BCCI reforms

On 1 February, new rules were introduced in the Commercial Court for a trial six-month period in an endeavour to avoid a repetition of the protracted proceedings in the BCCI litigation. The changes were announced in a report ‘Report and recommendations of the Commercial Court long- trial working party’ produced under the chairmanship of Aikens J after endorsement by the other judges of the court and the Committee of Users of the Commercial Court. Introducing the reforms Aikens J said: ‘Many of our proposals have been designed specifically to ensure that cases remain manageable not just for judges, but also, critically, for clients who rightly feel that aspects of the process of heavy and complex litigation have become too expensive and drawn out.’ The recommendations include: