The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023
These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132) by—Substituting for references to “Queen’s” and “Her Majesty’s”, in Parts 2, 4, 19, 26, 30,40, 53, 54, 58, 61, 65, 77, 81, 83 and 87 and in Schedule 1, references to “King’s” and “His Majesty’s” in consequence of the accession of King Charles III;amending Parts 17, 19, 20, 21 and 38 (together with consequential amendments in particular to cross-references of numbers of rules in, or practice directions under, those Parts) pursuant to the Civil Procedure Rule Committee’s statutory duty under s. 2(7) of the Civil Procedure Act 1997 to try to make rules which are both simple and simply expressed;amending Parts 2, 3, 8, 25, 26 and 66 to change references to “Part 20 claim” (a term no longer used) to refer to counterclaims or other additional claims;amending Parts 6, 22, 24, 26, 27, 40 and 45 to make consequential amendments to reflect changes in terminology introduced as part of the implementation of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016;amending Part 12 to align the wording of paragraph (3) of rule 12.3 with that of paragraphs (1) and (2) of that rule;amending Parts 15, 54 and 56 to correct errors identified by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments in its Fourteenth Report of Session 2022-23;amending rule 44.14 (effect of qualified one-way costs shifting)—to allow the court in cases falling within the scope of the qualified one-way costs regime to order that the parties’ costs liabilities be set-off against each other, Ho v Adelekun[2021] UKSC 43 having previously found that this rule, properly construed, did not allow the court to do so; andto include within this rule, as well as deemed orders, agreements to pay damages or costs, so to allow the off-setting of costs orders made in favour of a defendant and ensure that offers made under Part 36, and, for example, settlements concluded by way of a Tomlin Order, come within the rule;amending Parts 52 and 54 to add to the list of qualifications for authorised court officers who may perform certain functions of the court the new qualification of CILEX lawyer;substituting for rule 54.7A a revised rule in consequence of the provisions of section 2 of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022;amending Part 61 (Admiralty claims)—by amending rule 61.2 so that, by reference to the circumstances set out in Practice Direction 61, personal injury claims which do not require the expertise of the Admiralty Court may be issued in the County Court; andby amending rule 61.4 (which makes provision relating to collision claims), first to remove the requirement that all parties must have electronic track data in their control before parties are required to provide copies or permit early inspection of that data and, secondly, to ensure proper particularisation of statements of case;making minor amendments in various places to correct minor errors such as typographical errors or incorrect cross-references.