If you are involved in a dispute you need to know: what options there are for resolving the dispute; what litigation involves; the steps from the start of proceedings to trial; what parties to proceedings have to do; the fundamentals of court procedure; how to use legal advisers efficiently and cost effectively; and what happens after judgment.
The civil justice rules, which had been developed over centuries, were discarded in 1999 and replaced by new rules of court procedure. These rules are known as the Civil Procedure Rules ("CPR"). The aim of the CPR is to make civil justice more accessible, fair and efficient. The CPR are not just another set of rules tacked on to an existing way of doing things: since their inception they have demanded a completely new code of behaviour and attitude to dispute resolution. In particular there is an emphasis on the need to focus on investigating and preparing the case at an early stage of the dispute, and commit management resources to the resolution of the dispute.
In April 2013, following a review of the CPR by Lord Justice Jackson, the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013 (LASPO) was enacted. This has resulted in major changes affecting many areas including costs, delays and documentary and factual evidence. All of these changes including all revisions made up to and including January 2019 have been incorporated into this note. For cases being heard in the High Court there are, in addition to the CPR, court guides for each of the divisions. These provide further guidance on procedure as well as, from time to time, Practice Notes which practitioners are required to follow.
All cases which proceed to litigation are subject to the “overriding objective” brought in by the CPR (see below "The overriding objective").
To read the full in brief please click 'download files'.
