Stephen Baister Writes On... Re-branding the Chancery Division

In June 2026 the Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor announced that the High Court was to be modernised through by establishing a new Business and Property Division which will replace the Chancery Division and “stand alongside” the King’s Bench and Family Divisions. The Chancellor will acquire a new title: he (or she) will become the President of the Business and Property Division. Among the many advantages this modernisation will bring are, it is said, that it will make it easier for court users to understand where to bring their cases, improving clarity and access to justice; it will strengthen the international reputation of the Business and Property Courts by creating a single, coherent divisional structure; it will simplify governance arrangements for business and property work in the High Court; and it will support flexible judicial deployment.
 
Plainly there will be some advantages to some of the changes, notably in listing and judicial deployment; but it is more difficult to understand what will  be easier for court users or how  the international reputation of our courts be enhanced. I have never come across a court user who has had a strong (or any) view on the division of the High Court in which their claim is to be issued, or who has cared about its name. I am not wedded to the venerable term “Chancery,” but no one I know has ever claimed to have suffered as a result of its use. Oddly, it seems that the King’s Bench Division remains untouched.

Stephen Baister (Consultant)