HM Government is to build a new court at London's Fleetbank House site which will judge cases of cybercrime, fraud and other economic crime, closing a civil court, the existing City of London Magistrates' Court and The Mayor's and City of London Court (a County Court in all but name) in the process.

One part of the plan - which does nothing for the UK's reputation for judicial independence - is the inclusion of a police station in the purpose-built court complex, presumably to show the world that the executive branch of the Government wishes to remind the judicial branch to behave.

Strutting and fretting on the world stage

The Lord Chancellor hopes that this new complex will, in his words, add lustre to the UK’s reputation as a world-leading legal centre. There are to be 18 courtrooms and the completion date is 2025. The Employment Appeal Tribunal that operates at Fleetbank House will move to the Rolls Building.

The real aim of the project, if the Government's promotional literature is to be believed, is to attract judicial business to London. Global corporate civil disputes, high-profile HNW divorce cases - especially featuring Russians - and 40% of the world's arbitration cases are already being resolved in the City. The language of the Ministry of Justice's press release on the subject is that often found in propaganda from offshore centres. It bandies the words 'flagship' and 'iconic' about and praises the Government for court reforms that have nothing to do with the project in hand, namely a paperless system to process cases of fare-dodging, an online filing system for staff in various courts and an online plea system for careless drivers. Online claims for small amounts of money, probate and divorces are also possible.

The project is also not as dedicated to cyber/economic crime as the press release initially suggests. It will also "deal with business and property work," whatever that might mean, and the usual range of civil cases.

A money-laundering expert speaks

Compliance Matters asked Neil Swift, a partner at the City law firm of Peters & Peters, to comment on the plan. He gave it a cautious seal of approval.

"Overall, the proposal is to be welcomed. In trials of heavyweight fraud and serious economic crime, both the nature of the evidence and developments in the way it is presented highlight the limitations of the existing court estate.

"Although the handling and presentation of large amounts of electronic material is a feature of most serious fraud cases, the substantial investment in court infrastructure needs to go hand in glove with a similar increase in resources available to investigate and prosecute. In order for the new building to be the world-leading centre it aims to be, it has to have the work to do. That means properly resourcing investigations now, so that the court opens to a full workload. Otherwise, the risk of the court becoming a ‘white elephant’ is very real.

"Whether or not there is at present a sufficiently high volume of cybercrime investigation and prosecution is debatable, but the court system does need to anticipate future demands. The problems of cybercrime enforcement, and in particular its multi-jurisdictional nature, are not going to be solved by a new court building with new technology alone."

* Neil Swift can be reached on +44 20 7822 7763 or at nswift@petersandpeters.com