Dealing with the disputes of today and tomorrow

The Commercial Court continues to be at the forefront of developing commercial litigation. At the moment it frequently deals with disputes arising from such subjects as digital commerce and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Commerce

The Court frequently engages with issues arising from digital commerce, including Smart Contracts and digital assets or currency and transactions involving NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens). The Court has addressed:

The status of cryptocurrencies in the context of applications for freezing order relief in AA v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 3566 (Comm) (external link) and Wang v Darby [2021] EWHC 3054 (Comm) (external link);
Applications for information from cryptocurrency exchanges in Fetch.ai Ltd v Persons Unknown Category A [2021] EWHC 2254 (Comm) (external link)
The quantification of damages in Bitcoin trading in Ramona Ang v Reliantco Investments Ltd [2020] EWHC 3242 (Comm) (external link)
NFTs in Soleymani v Nifty Gateway LLC [2022] EWHC 773 (Comm) (external link).

COVID-19 BII cases

The Court heard the FCA test case (FCA v Arch [2020] EWHC Comm 2448, [2021] UKSC 1 (external link)) within three months of the issue of proceedings; the leapfrogged appeal to the Supreme Court was completed within nine months of issue. Both cases have been central to the consideration of the issues arising out of business interruption insurance around the world.

A number of other COVID-BII claims are being heard under the sub-list directed by Butcher J (with Cockerill J’s support).

Find out more about the latest active cases (external link).