Changes to civil procedure practice directions—1 July 2019

The Ministry of Justice circulated the 109th practice direction updates on 1 July 2019, these update the practice directions used in conjunction  with the civil procedure rules or CPR. While many of the changes come into force later in the year, three came into force on Monday 1 July 2019.

These were:

CPR PD 7D and claims for the recovery of taxes and duties—to enable parity for Wales. The Welsh Revenue Authority can use the simplified procedure provided for in CPR PD 7D for the recovery of devolved taxes in the same way as HMRC is able to use it for reserved taxes.

CPR PD 27 and the Small Claims Track—is consequential on the changes made in the 104th Update and the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019 (SI 2019/342) which amended Part 39 and Practice Direction 39A, which now contain consolidated provision about when hearings are to be in public or in private. Currently, PD27 para 4.1(2)(a) states that the judge may decide to hold the hearing in private in a small claims track case if the parties agree. Although the judge is not bound to accept that the parties' agreement is a sufficient basis for deciding to hold the hearing in private, para 4.1(2)(a) suggests that the judge could decide that was a sufficient basis. Even before the recent amendments to CPR 39.2, that was not the law. The parties cannot combine to defeat the public's right to open justice except in cases where the court is satisfied that one of a number of criteria apply and, in addition, that a private hearing is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice. This amendment therefore removes that inaccurate paragraph to address the issue of when hearings are in public or in private.

CPR PD  51O and The Electronic Working Pilot Scheme—extends the existing pilot scheme so that, where electronic working applies, it is mandatory from 1 July 2019 for a party who is legally represented to use electronic working (CE Filing) to start and/or continue any relevant claims or applications within the Central Office of the Queen’s Bench Division.

The specific changes to the practice directions are set out in this document:

109th practice direction updates

This information was first published on Lexis^®PSL Dispute Resolution on 1 July 2019. For a free trial, click here.