Ministry of Justice written statement – made at on 2 June 2026.
David Lammy
Deputy Prime Minister, The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government is pleased to support a judiciary-led initiative to modernise the structure of the High Court through the establishment of a new Business and Property Division. This historic modernisation will ensure the UK remains a global hub for corporate litigation.
It will bring together the current Business and Property Courts into a single division, which will replace the Chancery Division.
The Business and Property Courts are a collection of specialist civil courts which deal with high-value, complex disputes, including commercial, business, property, technology and intellectual property cases. These courts play a significant role in supporting the UK’s legal services sector and wider economy, with a substantial proportion of cases involving international parties.
At present, these courts are situated across both the Chancery Division and the King’s Bench Division. This arrangement can create challenges for users in navigating the system and leads to overlapping governance responsibilities.
Relevant Business and Property Courts will be transferred into the Chancery Division, which will be renamed the Business and Property Division. Leadership of the new Division will rest with the current Chancellor of the High Court, who will assume the title of President of the Business and Property Division.
The new Business and Property Division will stand alongside the King’s Bench and Family Divisions of the High Court. The individual courts and lists that make up the new Division will continue their work as they do now, keeping their existing jurisdictions, identities and areas of expertise.
This reform is intended to deliver a number of benefits:
Changes will be made through an Order in Council which will be laid in Parliament in due course, alongside updates to the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions, and associated court materials.
Further updates will be provided to the House as this work progresses.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
patents (for inventions), trade marks, protected designs, and copyrights; see http://www.patent.gov.uk
The Chancellor - also known as "Chancellor of the Exchequer" is responsible as a Minister for the treasury, and for the country's economy. For Example, the Chancellor set taxes and tax rates. The Chancellor is the only MP allowed to drink Alcohol in the House of Commons; s/he is permitted an alcoholic drink while delivering the budget.
