The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2019/342 |
| Year | 2019 |
2019 No. 342 (L. 3)
Senior Courts Of England And Wales
County Court, England And Wales
The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019
Made 17th February 2019
Laid before Parliament 25th February 2019
Coming into force 6th April 2019
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee, having power under section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act 19971to make rules under section 1 of that Act and after consulting in accordance with section 2(6)(a) of that Act, makes the following Rules.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019 and come into force on 6th April 2019.
(2) In these Rules, a reference to a Part or rule by number alone means the Part or rule so numbered in the Civil Procedure Rules 19982.
Amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998
2. The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are amended in accordance with rules 3 to 16 of these Rules.
Amendment of Part 5
3. In the table of contents to Part 5, after the entry for “Register of claims”, insert—
“Supply of documents to Attorney-General from court records |
Rule 5.4A”. |
Amendment of Part 21
4. In rule 21.12—
(a) in paragraph (1A)—
(i) after “Costs recoverable”, insert “in respect of a child”;
(ii) in sub-paragraph (a), omit “incurred by or on behalf of a child and”; and
(iii) in sub-paragraph (b), omit “by or on behalf of a child”; and
(b) in paragraph (8), for “Except in a case in which the costs payable to a child or a protected party are fixed by these rules” substitute “Except in a case to which Section II, III or IIIA of Part 45 applies, and a claim under rule 45.13 or 45.29J has not been made”.
Amendment of Part 27
5. In rule 27.2(1), in sub-paragraph (h), after “(general rule – hearing to be in public)” insert “and rule 39.8 (communications with the court)”.
Amendment of Part 39
6. In the table of contents to Part 39, after the entry for “Impounded documents”, insert—
“Communications with the court |
Rule 39.8 |
Recording and transcription of proceedings |
Rule 39.9 |
Discontinuance and settlement |
Rule 39.10”. |
7. For rule 39.1 substitute—
“39.1.—(1) In this Part—
(a)
(a) “hearing” means the making of any interim or final decision by a judge at which a person is, or has a right to be, heard in person, by telephone, by video or by any other means which permits simultaneous communication; and
(b)
(b) “judge” has the same meaning as in rule 2.3(1).
(2) This Part is subject to rule 62.10 (hearings in arbitration claims).”.
8. In rule 39.2—
(a) for paragraphs (1) and (2) substitute—
“1 The general rule is that a hearing is to be in public. A hearing may not be held in private, irrespective of the parties’ consent, unless and to the extent that the court decides that it must be held in private, applying the provisions of paragraph (3).
2 In deciding whether to hold a hearing in private, the court must consider any duty to protect or have regard to a right to freedom of expression which may be affected.
2A The court shall take reasonable steps to ensure that all hearings are of an open and public character, save when a hearing is held in private.”;
(b) in paragraph (3)—
(i) for “may be in private if” substitute “must be held in private if, and only to the extent that, the court is satisfied of one or more of the matters set out in sub-paragraphs (a) to (g) and that it is necessary to sit in private to secure the proper administration of justice”; and
(ii) for sub-paragraph (g) substitute—
“(g)
“(g) the court for any other reason considers this to be necessary to secure the proper administration of justice.”; and
(c) for paragraph (4) substitute—
“4 The court must order that the identity of any party or witness shall not be disclosed if, and only if, it considers non-disclosure necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of that party or witness.
5 Unless and to the extent that the court otherwise directs, where the court acts under paragraph (3) or (4), a copy of the court’s order shall be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales (which may be found at www.judiciary.uk). Any person who is not a party to the proceedings may apply to attend the hearing and make submissions, or apply to set aside or vary the order.”.
9. After rule 39.7, insert—
“Communications with the court
39.8.—(1) Any communication between a party to proceedings and the court must be disclosed to, and if in writing (whether in paper or electronic format), copied to, the other party or parties or their representatives.
(2) Paragraph (1) applies to any communication in which any representation is made to the court on a matter of substance or procedure but does not apply to communications that are purely routine, uncontentious and administrative.
(3) A party is not required under paragraph (1) to disclose or copy a communication if there is a compelling reason for not doing so, and provided that any reason is clearly stated in the communication.
(4) A written communication required under paragraph (1) to be copied to the other party or parties or their representatives, must state on its face that it is being copied to that person or those persons, stating their identity and capacity.
(5) Unless the court directs otherwise, a written communication which does not comply with paragraph (4) will be returned to the sender without being considered by the court, with a brief explanation of why it is being returned.
(6) In addition to returning a communication under paragraph (5), where a party fails to comply with paragraph (1) the court may, subject to hearing the parties, impose sanctions or exercise its other case management powers under Part 3.
(7) Paragraph (1) does not apply to communications authorised by a rule or practice direction to be sent to the court without at the same time being provided to the other party or parties or their representatives.
Recording and transcription of proceedings
39.9.—(1) At any hearing, whether in the High Court or the County Court, the proceedings will be tape recorded or digitally recorded unless the judge directs otherwise.
(2) No party or member of the public may use unofficial recording equipment in any court or judge’s room without the permission of the court. (To do so without permission constitutes a contempt of court under section 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 19813.)
(3) Any party or person may require a transcript or transcripts of the recording of any hearing to be supplied to them, upon payment of the charges authorised by any scheme in force for the making of the recording or the transcript.
(Paragraph 6(2) of Practice Direction 52C (Appeals to the Court of Appeal) deals with the provision of transcripts for use in the Court of Appeal at public expense.)
(4) Where the person requiring the transcript or transcripts is not a party to the proceedings and the hearing or any part of it was held in private under rule 39(2), paragraph (3) of this rule does not apply unless the court so orders.
(5) At any hearing, whether in public or in private, the judge may give appropriate directions to assist a party, in particular one who is or has been or may become unrepresented, for the compilation and sharing of any note or other informal record of the proceedings made by another party or by the court.
Discontinuance and settlement
39.10.—(1) Where a claim is discontinued or settled after a date...
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