King’s Speech: 37 bills announced
The King’s Speech yesterday was notable as much for what was not in it as what was included.
Significant omissions included the promised litigation funding bill, beefed-up the law on SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation), and legislative underpinning to switch the supervision of lawyers’ anti-money laundering (AML) activities to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The proposed legislation of particular interest to the profession that was in the speech – such as the Courts Modernisation Bill, Immigration and Asylum Bill, and Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill – were all expected.
In December, the government announced it would legislate to reverse the Supreme Court’s 2023 PACCAR ruling, which has brought huge uncertainty to the litigation funding market. It then confirmed that it would introduce a new regulatory framework for funders.
Robert Wheal, a partner in the London office of White & Case, commented: Given that the government recognised that uncertainty caused by the PACCAR ruling risked undermining the competitiveness of England and Wales as a global hub for commercial litigation and arbitration, it is disappointing that time has not been found for the necessary legislation.
“The ongoing uncertainty is unhelpful and will not be welcomed by the litigation funding community.”
Jeremy Marshall, chief investment officer of Winward Litigation Finance, added: “The lack of action by the government highlights its misunderstanding of what increased uncertainty means in practice for the litigation funding industry and our appetite to invest in the UK’s legal economy.
“Uncertainty is unhelpful for any investor and litigation funding is no different. We take pride in the UK being the Rolls-Royce standard for legal services in the world, but they come with Rolls-Royce prices, which makes the need for funding legal actions brought by consumers and businesses in the UK even greater.”
There has been pressure to strengthen the law on SLAPPs, which currently only applies to matters involving economic crime, including from Labour MPs.
Nik Williams, co-chair of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, said: “We are deeply disappointed by the lack of any legislative commitment to address SLAPPs in the King’s Speech.
“This omission effectively means efforts to tackle this issue remain stalled, despite previous commitments by government officials to the contrary, and crucially leaves too many people vulnerable to being silenced for speaking out in the public interest.
“However, considering there is strong cross-party and cross-chamber support, we hope other MPs or peers will take the step the government has not and move to stamp out SLAPPs and protect democracy.”
The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for both issues, told Legal Futures that legislation could still be brought forward even if not mentioned in the speech, but it declined to comment any further.
Nick Henderson-Mayo, head of compliance at compliance e-learning provider VinciWorks, said the lack of specific legislation to make the FCA the single professional services regulator for AML left the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other professional body supervisors in “an awkward holding pattern”.
He said: “The government has previously pointed to a major overhaul of AML supervision, but the King’s Speech provides no clear timetable or dedicated legislative vehicle. The open question is whether this reform is now delayed, quietly deprioritised, or slipped into a broader bill, such as the Regulating for Growth Bill.”
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