Three threads came together in 2026 to reshape how civil disputes move through the courts of England and Wales: rising claim volumes, structural reorganisation, and a long-running fight over how litigation gets funded.
Record volumes
Civil justice statistics for April to June 2026 recorded 571,250 new claims lodged at the county court — an 11% increase on the same quarter the previous year, and the highest quarterly total since 2009. Whatever else changes procedurally, capacity pressure on the system is the backdrop against which every other reform has to be read.
A new Business and Property Division
On 2 June 2026, the Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor modernised the High Court by establishing the Business and Property Division, consolidating the former Business and Property Courts under a single renamed structure. For litigators, this is primarily a matter of routing and administration rather than substantive law, but it reflects a broader push to make specialist commercial litigation more coherent.
More transparency, cautiously
From 1 January 2026, a two-year pilot scheme in the Commercial Court and Financial List has given the public access to certain court documents used in open hearings — a modest but real step toward open justice in a jurisdiction historically criticised for how hard it is to actually read what happens in commercial litigation.
PACCAR and litigation funding
The Ministry of Justice confirmed it intends to bring forward a bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s PACCAR decision, which had disrupted the litigation funding market by classifying certain funding agreements as damages-based agreements subject to strict regulatory requirements. The bill will follow recommendations from the Civil Justice Council’s review of third-party litigation funding, though timing depends on parliamentary time becoming available.
AI and court documents
The Civil Justice Council’s consultation on AI use in preparing court documents found broad agreement that no additional formal rules are currently needed beyond existing professional responsibility frameworks — the existing duties on legal professionals are considered sufficient, for now. A working group continues to look specifically at AI use in witness statements, with a report expected later in 2026.
Sources: Record number of claims lodged at the county court, Legal Futures; Civil Justice Council news, Courts and Tribunals Judiciary; 2026 litigation outlook, Penningtons Manches Cooper.
This is a summary of publicly reported developments, not legal advice. MD Tanvir Shahriar is a Bar course graduate and student member of Lincoln’s Inn; he is not a solicitor or a practising barrister and this article does not create a professional relationship. If you are involved in a live dispute, take advice from a qualified, regulated solicitor or barrister.