A long overdue project to computerise London's principal commercial court named its preferred supplier today. Thomson Reuters is to install a case management and electronic filing solution across the jurisdictions operating in the Rolls Building in Fetter Lane, which forms part of the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ).
The deadline for go-live is the end of 2015 - to coincide with the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
The Rolls Building, famed as the venue for the legal battle between Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, opened in 2012 yet still handles its casework on paper.
Thomson Reuters said it won the deal after an extensive procurement exercise by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The contract was valued at £5m.
A spokesman for the judiciary said: "The new IT will place the Rolls Building jurisdictions in the forefront of modern court technology on the world stage consistent with the high standard and international reputation of London as a business dispute resolution centre. The IT system will provide for online filing of claims 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from anywhere in the world. It will also provide for the subsequent electronic filing of statements of case and other documents, electronic listing capability and production of orders."
"The contract provides for the new IT to be in place by end of 2015, to be celebrated with the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and the modern national and international place of English law."
Picture: Michael Cross
