The English language dominates the landscape when it comes to international commercial contracts. Whatever the historical reasons for this may be, the pre-eminence of the English language in the commercial world has gone hand in glove with the decision of those drafting cross-border commercial contracts to incorporate clauses which provide that these contracts will both be governed by English law, and also be under the jurisdiction of the English courts, if a dispute arises.

Research undertaken recently by Portland has revealed that the number of commercial cases heard by the London Commercial Court grew significantly in 2018. The Portland report disclosed that the number of different nationalities and litigants using the London Commercial Court, and the number of judgments handed down by the court, were at record highs when compared with the previous five years. This, of course, is in spite of the decision made by the United Kingdom in June 2016, following a referendum, to leave the European Union, otherwise known as ‘Brexit’.