These pages contain information about the work of the Admiralty, Commercial and London Mercantile court.

Each court is individual and governed by its own part within the Civil Procedure Rules.

Notes and guidance about each court are also available.

Admiralty Court

The Admiralty Court deals with shipping and maritime disputes, such as:

• collision

• salvage

• carriage of cargo

• limitation

• mortgage disputes

The Court has an in rem procedure (a claim relating to a ship itself). It can arrest vessels and cargoes and sell them within the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

The work of the Admiralty Court is governed by Part 61 of the Civil Procedure Rules

Commercial Court

The Commercial Court deals with complex cases arising out of business disputes, both national and international. There is particular emphasis on:

• international trade

• banking

• commodity

• arbitration disputes

The work of the Commercial Court is governed by Part 58 of the Civil Procedure Rules

The Admiralty and Commercial Courts Guide 9th Edition 2011 (PDF 0.84mb)

This guide largely reflects suggestions for improvement made by users since the publication of the 2009 edition. Most of the changes made are points of detail.

The Guide incorporates the recent Practice Directions on Arbitration Appeals, e-disclosure and the Electronic Working Scheme. It also reflects the recommendations made in the Jackson Report in relation to docketing.

On a practical level users should take note of the provisions relating to lists of issues (D6.1), skeleton arguments (Appendix 9.1 and 9.2(d)), core bundles (Appendix 10.4) and bundles of authorities (F13.4).

London Mercantile Court

The London Mercantile Court deals with business disputes, both national and international. It is designed to deal with claims of lesser value and complexity than the Commercial Court.

The Mercantile Court also sits at the following locations:

Birmingham
Bristol
Cardiff
Chester
Leeds
Liverpool and Manchester

The work of the London Mercantile Court is governed by Part 59 of the Civil Procedure Rules

London Mercantile Court Directions Template

Administration

In order to provide efficient service, all three courts are administered by one court office, located at:

Ground Floor
7 Rolls Building
Fetter Lane
London
EC4A 1NL

Listing Office - Ground Floor

• Fixing hearings and trials before Judges.

• Lodging Case Management Bundles, and other papers/bundles for hearings and trials before Judges.

• Updating Case Management Bundles and Hearing Bundles.

• Doing searches in the Register of Claims

• Lodging progress monitoring sheets, ADR reports and related correspondence.

• Lodging applications for and notifications of extensions of time and variations to timetables by letter

Registry - Ground Floor

• Issuing Claim Forms and applications.

• Issuing Warrants of Arrest for the arrest of vessels and lodging cautions against arrest or release.

• Entering default judgments.

• Lodging all other documents for filing.

• Lodging without notice applications, consent orders and draft orders for approval of judiciary, and collecting thereafter.

• Getting copies of approved orders sealed.

• Requesting certificates for use abroad. Inspection of documents and photocopying requests.

• Fixing hearings before Master Kay (the Admiralty Registrar) in Admiralty or Commercial cases unless the estimate is more than one day in which case apply to the Master himself.

• Lodging bundles for hearings before Master Kay. Paying setting down fees.

Rolls Commercial Registry

• Lodging payment schedules for payment out of funds in Court (Form200s).