The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2023
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Year | 2023 |
| Citation | SI 2023/788 |
2023 No. 788 (L. 8)
Senior Courts Of England And Wales
County Court, England And Wales
The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2023
Made 11th July 2023
Laid before Parliament 14th July 2023
Coming into force in accordance with rule 1
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee, having power under section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act 19971to make rules under section 1 of and Schedule 1 to that Act and section 67B(1) of the Courts Act 20032, and after fulfilling the requirements of section 2(6) of the Civil Procedure Act 1997 and section 67C of the Courts Act 2003, makes the following Rules.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2023 and, except as provided in paragraph (2), come into force on 1st October 2023 immediately after the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 20233.
(2) Rules 3(1), (3) and (4), 4, 6, 7(1), 16(2) and 29 to 34 of these Rules come into force on 14th August 2023.
(3) 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 19984.
Amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998
2. The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are amended in accordance with rules 3 to 34 of these Rules.
Amendment of Part 3
3.—(1) In the Table of Contents to the Part, in the entry for rule 3.5A, for “County Court Money Claims Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”.
(2) In rule 3.3—
(a)
(a) after paragraph (6) insert—
“
7 An application under paragraph (5)(a) shall be considered at an oral hearing unless the court decides and states in an order that the application is totally without merit.
8 If the court decides under paragraph (7) that the application is totally without merit, an application under paragraph (5)(a) may be made for reconsideration without an oral hearing.
”; and
(b)
(b) paragraph (7) is renumbered as paragraph (9).
(3) In rule 3.5A, in the heading and in paragraph (1), for “County Court Money Claims Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”.
(4) In rule 3.6A(c), for “County Court Money Claims Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”.
Amendment of Part 7
4. In rule 7.4(4), for “County Court Business Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”.
Amendment of Part 12
5.—(1) In rule 12.3(3)(c)(ii), for “filed” to “time to pay” substitute “admitted liability to pay all the money claimed but has requested time to pay”.
(2) In rule 12.12(6)(d), for “returned” to “rule 14.6” substitute “admitted liability to pay all the money claimed and requested time to pay”.
Amendment of Part 13
6. In rule 13.4(1B)(b), for “County Court Money Claims Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”.
Amendment of Part 14
7.—(1) In the following places in Part 14, for “County Court Money Claims Centre” substitute “Civil National Business Centre”5—
(a)
(a) in the Table of Contents to the Part, in the entry for rule 14.7A;
(b)
(b) in the heading to rule 14.7A; and
(c)
(c) in rule 14.7A(1).
(2) For Part 14 substitute Part 14 as set out in Schedule 1 to these Rules.
Amendment of Part 16
8. In rule 16.3(2)(b), for paragraphs (iii) and (iv) substitute—
“
(iii)
(iii) more than £25,000 but not more than £100,000; or
(iv)
(iv) more than £100,000; or
Amendment of Part 18
9. In rule 18.1—
(a) in paragraph (3)(a), for “his” substitute “their”; and
(b) in the first set of words in parentheses at the end of the rule, before “response” insert “statement of case, including a”.
Amendment of Part 19
10. In rule 19.4(10)—
(a) for “will usually” substitute “shall”; and
(b) at the end insert “unless the court decides otherwise,”.
Amendment of Part 20
11. In rule 20.3, for paragraph (4) substitute—
“
4 Part 14 (admissions) applies to a counterclaim, but only rules 14.2(1), (4) and (5) and 14.4(1) apply to other additional claims.
Amendment of Part 21
12. In rule 21.5(2)(b), for the words after “proceedings” substitute “on the defendant’s behalf”.
Amendment of Part 22
13.—(1) In rule 22.1—
(a)
(a) for paragraph (1) substitute—
“
1 The following documents must be verified by a statement of truth—
(a) a statement of case;
(b) a witness statement;
(c) an acknowledgement of service in a claim using the Part 8 procedure;
(d) a certificate of service;
(e) a contempt application under Part 81; and
(f) any other document where a rule or practice direction requires.
”;
(b)
(b) omit the words in parentheses after paragraph (2);
(c)
(c) in paragraph (3)—
(i) for “his” substitute “their”; and
(ii) for “the application notice” substitute “it”;
(d)
(d) for paragraphs (4) and (5) substitute—
“
4 A statement of truth is a statement that the maker believes the facts stated in the document to which the statement refers are true.
5 If a party has a litigation friend, the statement of truth in a statement of case or an application notice is a statement that the litigation friend believes the facts stated in it are true.
”;
(e)
(e) in paragraph (6)(a), for “response” substitute “notice of objections to an account being taken by the court”; and
(f)
(f) after paragraph (8) insert—
“
9 Where a document containing a statement of truth is to be signed by a person who is unable to read or sign the document other than by reason of language alone—
(a) it must contain a certificate made by an authorised person (who is able to administer oaths and take affidavits but need not be independent of the parties or their representatives); and
(b) the authorised person must certify that—
(i) the document has been read to the person approving it;
(ii) that person appeared to understand it and approved its content as accurate;
(iii) the declaration of truth has been read to that person;
(iv) that person appeared to understand the declaration and the consequences of making a false declaration; and
(v) that person signed or made their mark in the presence of the authorised person.
(2) In rule 22.2(1), for “his” substitute “their”.
(3) In rule 22.3, for “the witness statement” substitute “it”.
(4) In rule 22.4—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (1), for “verify the document” substitute “do so”; and
(b)
(b) after paragraph (2) insert—
“
(Rule 32.14 states that verifying a statement of case containing a false statement without an honest belief in its truth may result in proceedings for contempt of court.)
Amendment of Part 23
14.—(1) In the Table of Contents to the Part—
(a)
(a) in the entry for rule 23.1, for “Meaning of “application notice” and “respondent”” substitute “Definitions”;
(b)
(b) in the entry for rule 23.8, for “dealt with” substitute “decided”;
(c)
(c) in the entry for rule 23.9, after “of” insert “order and”; and
(d)
(d) in the entry for rule 23.12, for “Dismissal of totally without merit applications” substitute “Applications that are totally without merit”.
(2) In rule 23.1—
(a)
(a) in the heading, for “Meaning of “application notice” and “respondent”” substitute “Definitions”;
(b)
(b) in the definition of “application notice”—
(i) for “his” substitute “their”; and
(ii) omit “and” at the end of the definition; and
(c)
(c) after the definition of “application notice” insert—
“
“hearing” means the occasion on which any interim or final decision is or may be made 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
(3) In rule 23.2—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (4)—
(i) for “paragraph (4A)” substitute “paragraph (5)”;
(ii) for “it is likely” to “will be” substitute “the claim is most likely to be”;
(b)
(b) paragraph (4A) is renumbered as paragraph (5), and in paragraph (5) as so renumbered, for “provides” substitute “states”; and
(c)
(c) paragraph (5) is renumbered as paragraph (6), and in paragraph (6) as so renumbered, for “provides” substitute “states”.
(4) For rules 23.3 and 23.4 substitute—
“
Application notice to be filed
23.3. An applicant must file an application notice unless—
(a) a rule or practice direction states otherwise; or
(b) the court dispenses with the requirement.
Notice of an application
23.4. A copy of the application notice must be served on each respondent unless a rule, practice direction or court order permits otherwise.
(5) In rule 23.5, for “so made” substitute “made in time”.
(6) In rule 23.6, in the words in parentheses at the end of the rule, for “his” substitute “the”.
(7) In rule 23.7—
(a)
(a) for paragraph (1) substitute—
“
1 A copy of the application notice must be served—
(a) as soon as practicable after it is filed; and
(b) at least 3 days before the court is to deal with the application unless a different time limit is stated in a rule, practice direction or court order.
”;
(b)
(b) in paragraph (2)—
(i) for “he files” substitute “they file”; and
(ii) for “written evidence in support” substitute “supporting written evidence”;
(c)
(c) in paragraph (3)—
(i) in sub-paragraph (a), for “written evidence in support” substitute “supporting written evidence”; and
(ii) in sub-paragraph (b), for “his” substitute “the”;
(d)
(d) in paragraph (4), before “hear” insert “may”; and
(e)
(e) in paragraph (5), omit the words in parentheses at the end of the paragraph.
(8) For rule 23.8 substitute—
“
Applications which may be decided without a hearing
23.8.—(1) The court may deal with an application without a hearing if—
(a)
(a) the parties agree the terms of the order sought;
(b)
(b) the parties agree to dispense with a hearing; or
(c)
(c) the court does not consider that a hearing would be appropriate.
(2) If the parties agree to dispense with a hearing, a...
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