BVC Civil Procedure

An Introduction to Civil Procedure

Books

• The White Book (Sweet & Maxwell)

• The Green Book (Butterworths)

• Sime (OUP)

• O’Hare and Browne (Sweet and Maxwell)

• Blackstone’s Civil Practice (OUP)

• Civil Litigation In Practice (NLP)

What Is Civil Procedure?

• The system used to sue (“bring claims”) in English Law

• How tort and contract law works in practice

• Governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR)

What are the CPR?

• “to deal with cases justly (CPR 1.1)

• Rules - Overriding objective (CPR 1)

• Application and interpretation (CPR 2)

• Practice Directions (PDs)

• Pre Action Protocols

• Glossary

• Schedules (Old Rules)

Costs

• General rule - CPR 44.3(2) (a)“the unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party but (b) the court may make a different order”

• Various circumstances will be taken into account - in particular compliance with Pre Action Protocols

The Courts

• House of Lords (appellate court)• Court of Appeal (appellate court)• High Court (including the Specialist

Courts)• County Courts - Civil Trial Centres

County Courts - Feeder Courts• See White Book Volume 2 Section 11

Which Court?

• High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991(White Book Section 9)

• Money claims for £15,000 or less must be commenced in a county court.

• Money claims of more than £15,000 may be commenced in the High Court.

• Personal injury claims for less than £50,000 must be commenced in a county court.

Which Court?

• Personal injury claims for £50k or more may be commenced in the High Court. Clinical negligence claims do not fall within this bracket. Rather the ordinary £15,000 threshold applies

• Some orders can only be made by the High Court (eg search orders - CPR 2)

Concurrent Jurisdiction

• PD 7 paragraph 2.4

• May be transferred - see criteria in CPR 30.3

• Sanctions for issuing in the wrong court - could lose up to 25% of costs or be struck out - SCA 1981 s51 (8) & (9), (CCA 1984 s40(1) (b) & s42 (1) (b

• Restick v Crickmore [1994] 1 WLR 420

Which Court?

• CPR 26.2 - automatic transfer

• “defendant’s home court”

• if the defendant is an individual and the claim is for a specified sum of money it shall be transferred there

• Active Case Management

Case Management(www.dca.gov.uk)

• Judicial (as opposed to by the parties)

• A new procedural code - “dealing with cases justly” - “putting parties on an equal footing” (Maltez v Lewis 04/05/99)

• “the spirit of the rules” - a new approach to interpretation (old case law to be used with caution

Judges

• Procedural Judges

• High Court - District Judges/Masters

(“Sir/Madam/Master”)

• County Court - District Judges (“Sir/Madam”)

Judges

• Trial Judges• High Court - High Court Judge

(“My Lord/Lady”)• County Court - Circuit Judge

(“Your Honour”)• The above can sit as procedural judges also• District Judges/Masters have limited trial

jurisdiction (see the rules)