Common Law Procedure Act 1852
(15 & 16 Vict.) C A P. LXXVI.
[30th June 1852]
'WHEREAS the Process, Practice, and Mode of Pleading in the Superior Courts of Common Law atWestminster may be rendered more simple and speedy:' Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I Commencement of Act.
I. The Provisions of this Act shall come into operation on the Twenty-fourth Day ofOctober in the Year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
And with respect to the Writs for the Commencement of Personal Actions in the said Courts against Defendants, whether in or out of the Jurisdiction of the Courts, be it enacted as follows:
II Personal Actions how to be commenced.
II. All Personal Actions brought in Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Common Law, where the Defendant is residing or supposed to reside within the Jurisdiction of the said Court, shall be commenced by Writ of Summons in the Form contained in the Schedule (A.) to this Act annexed, marked No. 1., and in every such Writ and Copy thereof the Place and County of the Residence or supposed Residence of the Party Defendant, or wherein the Defendant shall be or shall be supposed to be, shall be mentioned; and such Writ shall be issued by any One of the Officers of the said Courts respectively by whom like Process hath been heretofore issued from such Court, or by such other Officer as the Court shall direct.
III Form, &c. of Action need not be mentioned.
III. It shall not be necessary to mention any Form or Cause of Action in any Writ of Summons, or in any Notice of Writ of Summons, issued under the Authority of this Act.
IV Writ to state Names of all Defendants, &c.
IV. Every Writ of Summons shall contain the Names of all the Defendants, and shall not contain the Name or Names of any Defendant or Defendants in more Actions than One.
V How Writ to be dated and tested.
V. Every Writ of Summons shall bear Date on the Day on which the same shall be issued, and shall be tested in the Name of the Lord Chief Justice or Lord Chief Baron of the Court from which the same shall issue, or in case of a Vacancy of such Office, then in the Name of a Senior Puisne Judge of the said Court.
VI Writ to be indorsed with Name and Abode of Attorney,or a Memorandum that Writ has been sued by Plaintiff in Person.
VI. Every Writ of Summons shall be indorsed with the Name and Place of Abode of the Attorney actually suing out the same, and in case such Attorney shall not be an Attorney of the Court in which the same is sued out, then also with the Name and Place of Abode of the Attorney of such Court in whose Name such Writ shall be taken out; and when the Attorney actually suing out any Writ shall sue out the same as Agent for an Attorney in the Country, the Name and Place of Abode of such Attorney in the Country shall also be indorsed upon the said Writ; and in case no Attorney shall be employed to issue the Writ, then it shall be indorsed with a Memorandum expressing that the same has been sued out by the Plaintiff in Person, mentioning the City, Town, or Parish, and also the Name of the Hamlet, Street, and Number of the House of such Plaintiff's Residence, if any such there be.
VII Attorney to declare if Writ issued by his Authority, &c.
VII. Every Attorney whose Name shall be indorsed on any Writ issued by Authority of this Act shall, on Demand in Writing, made by or on behalf of any Defendant, declare forthwith whether such Writ has been issued by him or with his Authority or Privity; and if he shall answer in the Affirmative, then he shall also, in case the Court or a Judge shall so order and direct, declare in Writing, within a Timeto be allowed by such Court or Judge, the Profession, Occupation, or Quality, and Place of Abode of the Plaintiff, on pain of being guilty of a Contempt of the Court from which such Writ shall appear to have been issued; and if such Attorney shall declare that the Writ was not issued by him, or with his Authority or Privity, all Proceedings upon the same shall be stayed, and no further Proceedings shall be taken thereupon without Leave of the Court or a Judge.
VIII Indorsement of Debt and Costs on Writ and Copy ofWrit for a Debt, with Notice that Proceedings will be stayed on Payment withinFour Days.
VIII. Upon the Writ and Copy of any Writ served for the Payment of any Debt the Amount of the Debt shall be stated, and the Amount of what the Plaintiff's Attorney claims for the Costs of such Writ, Copy, and Service, and Attendance to receive Debt and Costs, and it shall be further stated that upon Payment thereof within Four Days to the Plaintiff or his Attorney, further Proceedings will be stayed; which Indorsement shall be written or printed in the following Form or to the like Effect:
'The Plaintiff claims for Debt, and for Costs, and if the Amount thereof be paid to the Plaintiff or to his Attorney within Four Days from the Service hereof further Proceedings will be stayed.'
But the Defendant shall be at liberty, notwithstanding such Payment, to have the Costs taxed, and if more than One Sixth shall be disallowed, the Plaintiff's Attorney shall pay the Costs of Taxation.
IX Concurrent Writs may be issued.
IX. The Plaintiff in any such Action may, at any Time during Six Months from the issuing of the original Writ of Summons, issue One or more concurrent Writ or Writs, each concurrent Writ to bear Teste of the same Day as the original Writ, and to be marked with a Seal bearing the Word ‘concurrent,’ and the Date of issuing the concurrent Writ; and such Seal shall be provided and kept for that Purpose at the Offices of the Masters of the said Courts, and shall be impressed Upon the Writ by the proper Officer of the Court out of which the original Writ issued: Provided always, that such concurrent Writ or Writs shall only be in force for the Period during which the original Writ in Such Action shall be in force.
X From Commencement of this Act certain Provisions of 2W. 4. c. 39. repealed.
X. From the Time when this Act shall commence and take effect, so much of a certain Act of Parliament passed in the Second Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, intituled An Act for Uniformity of Process in Personal Actions in His Majesty's Courts of Law at Westminster, as relates to the Duration of Writs, and to alias and pluries Writs, and to the Proceedings necessary for making the First Writ in any Action available to prevent the Operation of any Statute whereby the Time for the Commencement of any Action may be limited, shall be repealed, except so far as may be necessary for supporting any Writs that have been issued before the Commencement of this Act, and any Proceedings taken or to be taken thereon.
XI Renewal of Writs of Summons to save the Statute ofLimitation, and for other Purposes.
XI. No original Writ of Summons shall be in force for more than Six Months from the Day of the Date thereof, including the Day of such Date; but if any Defendant therein named may not have been served therewith, the original or concurrent Writ of Summons may be renewed at any Time before its Expiration, for Six Months from the Date of such Renewal, and so from Time to Time during the Currency of the renewed Writ, by being marked with a Seal, bearing the Date of the Day, Month, and Year of such Renewal, such Seal to be provided and kept for that Purpose at the Offices of the Masters of the said Superior Courts, and to be impressed upon the Writ by the proper Officer of the Court out of which such Writ issued, upon Delivery to him by the Plaintiff or his Attorney of a Prcipe in such Form as has heretofore been required to be delivered upon the obtaining of an alias Writ; and a Writ of Summons so renewed shall remain in force and be available to prevent the Operation of any Statute whereby the Time for the Commencement of the Action may be limited, and for all other Purposes, from the Date of the issuing of the original Writ of Summons.
XII Renewal of Writs issued before this Act.
XII. Where any Writ of Summons...
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