So
What's New? The objective of the new culture is to enable the
Courts to "deal with cases justly" (although one wonders
whether this implies there was no prior justice !) The principles are:
- To ensure that
all parties are on an equal footing; To save expense; To deal with
the case in ways that are proportionate to the amount of money
involved, its importance, its complexity, and to the parties
financial position; To ensure the case is dealt with fairly and
expeditiously Apportion each case an appropriate share of the
Court's resources
The above principles are stated, however there are other aims:
- To make the
courts a place of 'last resort' in settling a disputeparties being
expected to attempt to settle the dispute first through mediation or
arbitration; To ensure that all parties stick to the timetable laid
down by the Court, with little sympathy for non-observance;
It is intended that the Court will control and monitor all
procedural steps to trial, case management becoming an important
issue. Additional and increased Court fees act as a further
disincentive.
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What
are the 3 "tracks"? The CPR has introduced three "tracks" for bringing cases to trial. Depending upon the amount involved, cases
will be allocated to the appropriate track when the defence is received:
- Small Claims
Track: Replaces arbitration, similar procedurally; costs remain
unrecoverable. Issued only in the County Court and for claims less
than £ 5,000. There is an additional fee for allocation to the
track upon receipt of defence.
- Fast Track for
claims of £ 5,000 to £ 15,000 where the trial will not
last longer than one day. Issued only in the County Court.
- Multi-Track for claims over £ 15,000, issued in the High Court and the
County Court. Also for claims where the Small Claims Track of Fast
Track do not apply.
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The Effects
- Pre-Action
Protocol This entails setting out the claim in full to the
Defendant, and attempting to negotiate a settlement. Protocols were
previously only applied to personal injury cases. Failure to
co-operate with pre-action may lead to cost penalties, regardless of
whether the case is won or lost. The hope is that fewer formal
actions will arise, putting an emphasis on co-operation to identify
the main issues. As a party should be ready to go to trial before
proceedings are actually issued, the effect will almost certainly be
to front-load costs.
- Timetables:
A stringent timetable for exchange of evidence is now set by the
Court, particularly in Fast Track and Multi-Track cases - this
includes witness statements and relevant documents; the Court also
now has the power to restrict this evidence, with the objective of
minimising issues and saving time. An application to extend will
fail if the timetable has not been adhered to.
- Trial Window: When the defence has been received, a three week "Trial Window" is allocated, which will not be changed. The trial may come on at
any time during this period, and the window should be within thirty
weeks from initial directions given by the Court upon issue. Such
directions may be wide ranging dependent upon the issues of the
case, its complexity, value and inmportance.
- Penalties:
there are cost penalties for failing to meet any date set by the
Court; the Court may also refuse to award costs, or make an order
for payment of the other party's costs, possibly within 14 days.
- Updates: The
CPR are being updated constantly, and the above is designed as an
overview only.
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