The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2024
These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132) by—amending Part 1 (overriding objective), with additional amendments in Parts 3, 28 and 44, to promote the use of alternative dispute resolution in response to the decision of the Court of Appeal in Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil CBC [2023] EWCA Civ 1416;amending Part 2 (application and interpretation of the Rules) to remove the distinction between a Master or District Judge on one hand and a “judge” on the other, so that Masters and District Judges come within the definition of “judge”;amending Part 3 (court’s case management powers) and Part 44 (general rules about costs) to provide that, where a claim is struck out under rule 3.7A1 (sanction for non-payment of trial fee), the claimant will be liable for the defendant’s costs in accordance with rule 44.9(1) (cases where costs orders deemed to have been made), which is amended to provide that where the claim is one to which Part 27 (small claims track) or Part 45 (fixed recoverable costs) would otherwise apply, the costs shall be determined in accordance with those Parts;amending Part 7 (how to start proceedings - the claim form) to correct a cross-reference as between rules 7.1A and 7.1B;amending Part 26 (case management - preliminary stage) by inserting additional words in rule 26.15 (assignment within the fast track), Table 1, complexity band 3(e), to better distinguish other claims for a sum of money from “defended debt claims” in complexity band 1(b);amending Part 28 (the fast track and intermediate track) to remove now superseded cross-references in rules 28.7 and 28.14;amending Part 45 (fixed costs)—to provide for the recoverability of VAT, in addition to fixed recoverable costs, under rules 45.8 (pre-action and interim applications), 45.15A (restoration proceedings) and new Section X (fixed costs determination) of Part 45, and disbursements in restoration proceedings under rule 45.15A, which in respect of rules 45.8 and 45.15A was previously provided for in Practice Direction 45;to provide in rules 45.48 and 45.51 (preliminary issue or separate trial in the fast track and intermediate track, respectively) that, where a costs order is made in respect of a preliminary issue, and the court is unable at that stage to quantify the total fixed costs specified in Tables 12 or 14 respectively, the court shall, unless there is good reason not to do so, order the payment of those costs which are specified in Tables 12 or 14 and may order a payment on account of that element of the costs which are calculated as a percentage of the damages;to ensure consistency of language between certain rules in Section IX (disbursements), so in each case making clear the court’s discretion, regarding claims for disbursements under Section IV (pre-action protocols for low value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents and employers liability and public liability personal injury claims), Section VI (fast-track) and Section VIII (noise induced hearing loss claims) in Part 45;by inserting new Section X (fixed costs determination) to provide a bespoke procedure for, and fixing the recoverable costs of, the summary determination of fixed recoverable costs following a hearing, and where both before and after proceedings have started, the parties agree on all issues except costs;by making minor amendments to rules 45.6 and 45.40 (and also in Part 46 (costs special cases), in rules 46.7 and 46.14) consequential upon the introduction of the fixed costs determination procedure;amending Part 52 (appeals) to insert a new rule 52.3B providing for a deadline for seeking permission from the Court of Appeal to appeal to the Supreme Court, the deadline being 28 days after the date of the decision of the Court of Appeal which the appellant wishes to appeal, or such longer period as the Court of Appeal orders;amending Part 62 (arbitration claims) to update a cross-reference;inserting a new Part 68 to make provision in relation to references to higher courts and related interventions pursuant to sections 6A to 6C of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, concerning assimilated case law;amending Part 73 (charging orders, stop orders and stop notices) to make it possible for a Designated Civil Judge other than the Designated Civil Judge for Greater Manchester to consent to the exercise by legal advisers of specified jurisdiction of the court under Part 73, by substituting “relevant Designated Civil Judge” for “Designated Civil Judge for Greater Manchester”, aligning with the wording and approach taken in respect of legal advisers exercising jurisdiction under other Parts and practice directions;amending Part 77 (provision in support of criminal justice) to introduce a requirement for applications for Serious Crime Prevention Orders under the Serious Crime Act 2007 (c. 27) to be made to the Administrative Court;amending Part 81 (applications and proceedings in relation to contempt of court) to add to rule 81.4, which requires a committal application to give information to a respondent about rights including the right to silence, a requirement to warn of the risk of the court drawing adverse inferences from that silence if that right is exercised. This follows case law (Inplayer Ltd. and another v. Thorogood [2014] EWCA Civ 1511) and aligns with the criminal proceedings position);amending Part 83 (writs and warrants - general provisions) to clarify the operation of the notice of eviction procedure in rule 83.8A in relation to further notices of eviction following a previous failure to effect an entire eviction.