Harnessing English law for economic growth

Recommendation 1: Internal coordination within the sector There should be a clearer distinction between the role of government and the private sector in the marketing of English law and legal services in future. At present government largely repeats the messages of the sector rather than articulating the overall strategic case for English law as an umbrella for the wider promotion of UK interests. Within the sector, central coordinating observatories could be established within relevant existing organisations, to lead on systemic/strategic priorities.

Recommendation 2: Coordination beyond the sector At present, promotional efforts tend to focus on legal services or dispute resolution services rather than English law. This means that there is little reason for other sectors to promote the legal sector, as opposed to their own work. However, if the emphasis of promotional activity is shifted to English law, others would then be incentivised to engage. Efforts should be made to raise awareness in other sectoral bodies of the key differentiating characteristics of English law. Thematic conferences and events about the law in significant sectors of interest could be used in future both to raise awareness and gather intelligence on the need for further updates to the law.

Recommendation 3: Cross Whitehall approach The power of English law needs to be more widely understood across Whitehall, not just to secure the necessary investment in the sector for the future, but also to ensure that legal aspects of new arenas of economic activity can be identified and dealt with more quickly than at present. This is relevant to departments including DBT, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), as well as many of the Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) that feed into them. This should be built into further follow-up work on the Modern Industrial Strategy223. For DBT, the FCDO and Overseas Posts, English law is a tool that can be influential in a range of bilateral relationships and in engagement with international institutions. English law is a tool that can be used to further UK interests with the WTO and World Bank, as well as in relationships with governments in key emerging markets.

Recommendation 4: Cross-jurisdictional collaboration Whilst it is tempting to see competitor jurisdictions with English law as part of a zero-sum game, the reality is more complex. The provision of services is a more collaborative exercise than the export of goods and given that a growing number of centres using English law exist, the UK should promote greater networking and collaboration between them, to promote the common law ecosystem. SIFoCC is an ideal actor to lead in this area.

Recommendation 5: Invest in legal and judicial infrastructure Delays in resolving disputes cost money. As earlier sections of this report have illustrated, the efficiency of the courts directly affects the cost of doing business. As courts become more congested, money is tied up for longer, the value of tangible assets to be “The functioning of courts is recovered is likely to depreciate, and the endogenous to the state of the costs of doing business go up. economy” This also links with other aspects of access to Mueller, Busy Bankruptcy Courts justice which find their way into international and the Cost of Credit, Journal of rule of law indices. The UK eventually pays Financial Economics more in the end through the additional costs that the whole economy pays through the knock-on effects that these indices can have on rating agencies, for example. Investing in improvements in legal certainty gives a clear payback for the UK economy.

Recommendation 6: Improve visa access for foreign lawyers and arbitrators The UK is losing competitiveness against other dispute resolution hubs that can offer more certainty to practitioners about their ability to obtain a timely work visa. Greater clarity in this area would help the UK to regain competitiveness.

Recommendation 7: Prioritise and target the talent pipeline The future international success of English law depends on maintaining the attractiveness of England and Wales as a destination for study and qualification. This depends on wider policy around higher education, but where there are measures that can be taken to support the legal talent pipeline, these should be taken. Actions that recognise the future importance of international law students to the UK economy include higher foreign student caps for professional law courses, and schemes to allow law graduates from overseas to remain on graduate visas in the UK for longer, to facilitate qualification.

Recommendation 8: Recognise and promote the wider ecosystem The depth and extent of the wider ecosystem that supports English law have never been fully described or promoted. A central portal which links all of the resources that English law has at its disposal would help to communicate the sheer depth and sophistication that it offers. This would also help organisations improve synergies and cooperation across the sector. Professional associations and business services bodies in related sectors, such as accountancy, construction, insurance, financial services, technology, etc., that are offering qualifications internationally should be encouraged to explain the role that English law plays in their sectors and highlight the benefits of English law governed contracts.

Recommendation 9: Align where useful with the EU As the UK seeks a rebalancing in its relationship with the EU, there are certain areas relating to the law that could figure in this:

• Joining the Unified Patent Court, as originally intended, would be helpful.
• Revisiting the arguments around the Lugano Convention with the Commission might be difficult but could be framed as beneficial to the EU rather than simply a UK ask.
• Engaging EU policymakers in a longer-term, high-level discussion about how the law might evolve to meet new challenges, especially financial services and technology is critical work that needs to be done in collaboration with other UK stakeholders.

Recommendation 10: Invest in keeping the law updated Although there is a well-developed law reform infrastructure, more work needs to be done to keep the law up to date in a timely manner. In addition to more support for the Law Commission, there should be an annual symposium on the law to raise awareness of how it is evolving as a body of work, and to help to identify possible emerging gaps.

Recommendation 11: Secure standards for the future English law continues to be the default in areas like complex finance, energy, and trade contracts because of the density of English precedent and its predictability, but also because it is the path of least resistance. We should learn from the examples of GAFTA, ISDA and IUA that the production of templates, model contracts and clause libraries helps to embed English law as a default law of choice in new areas. This will need the input of the sector to ensure that the most promising option is chosen but technology would be a good starting point.

Recommendation 12: Make England and Wales the sector preference for innovative finance and climate transition Sector preferences are important as a mechanism for embedding choices of governing law. The UK should be aiming to make English law the preferred sector law in key areas like innovative finance and climate transition.