The Master of the Rolls and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice have approved the 176th Practice Direction (PD) Update to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). The amendments come into force on 19 November 2024. The 176th PD update provides an extension of the operative period of CPR PD 51ZC (Small Claims Paper Determination Pilot) until 31 October 2025 for the purposes of completing the evaluation exercise of the pilot.

The Master of the Rolls and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice have approved the 177th Practice Direction (PD) update to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). The amendments are in force from 5 November 2024 at 11am. The 177th PD update contains amendments to CPR PD 51ZE (Small Claims Track Automatic Referral to Mediation Pilot Scheme) and CPR PD 51R (Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) Pilot Scheme) to clarify that previous amendments made by the 174th PD update are only to apply to claims that are made on or after the in-force date/time.

The Master of the Rolls and the Minister of State for Justice have signed the 178th Practice Direction (PD) update to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).  The amendments came into force on 5 December 2024 at 11am. The 178th PD update contains amendments to CPR PD 51R (Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) to allow for the deployment and use of new features known as ’case progression’ in OCMC for the litigant in person journey in several pilot courts.  The ‘case progression’ feature will enable the post-allocation order stages of the proceedings to take place online within the OCMC, up to and including the final hearing.  This feature will make a more streamlined and simplified online process available for users. The 178th update also makes amendment to CPR PD 51R and CPR PD 51ZB (the Damages Claims Pilot (DCP)) explaining where and how to submit a document if it cannot be uploaded or submitted to the OCMC or DCP portals.

The 179th Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 6 April 2025. The Master of the Rolls and the Courts Minister have signed the Practice Direction Update, which contains a suite of amendments in support of the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025, SI 2025/106. Key changes include the revocation of CPR PD 25A and CPR PD 25B (with some provisions being incorporated into a revised CPR 25), amendments to CPR PD 27B concerning claims under the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Below the Small Claims Limit in Road Traffic Accidents, a new CPR PD 49H relating to powers of the Competition and Markets Authority to enforce consumer law directly and two new pilot schemes have been introduced (CPR PD 51ZG1 and CPR PD 51ZG2) to give effect to recommendations from the Civil Justice Council’s Costs Report introducing proportionate cost budgeting procedures. Additionally, amendments are made to the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review and the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Below the Small Claims Limit in Road Traffic Accidents Protocol (‘the RTA Small Claims Protocol’). The amendments to the RTA Small Claims Protocol come into force on 6 April 2025 and the amendments to the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review came into force on 22 January 2025.

The 180th Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 13 February 2025. This update introduces changes to the Damages Claims Pilot (DCP) (CPR PD 51ZB) and the Online Civil Money Claims Pilot (OCMC) (CPR PD 51R). Under the revised CPR PD 51ZB, HMCTS legal advisers are now authorised to consider and decide on digital applications made through the DCP where all parties have legal representation. This change aligns the DCP with the OCMC for digital applications prior to a direction order. Additionally, the update to CPR PD 51R increases the claim value threshold for legal advisor review and directions orders from £1,000 to £10,000.

The 181st Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 27 February 2025. This update introduces changes to the Online Civil Money Claims pilot under CPR PD 51R (OCMC), the Damages Claims pilot under CPR PD 51ZB (DCP) and the Small claims track automatic referral to mediation pilot scheme under CPR PD 51ZE. The main changes to CPR PD 51R and CPR PD 51ZB  relate to the progression of  claims in the intermediate track and multi-track in the OCMC and DCP respectively. The changes to CPR PD 51ZE are made for greater clarity and efficiency without altering the substantive operation of the mediation scheme in the OCMC.

The 182nd Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 20 March 2025. This update introduces changes to the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) pilot under CPR PD 51R, enabling litigants in person to make general applications—aligning with the legal representatives journey for making applications. Other small changes are made including to add signposting to improve navigation.

The 183rd Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 6 April 2025. This update introduces PD51ZG3, a pilot scheme for cost budgeting in High Court qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) cases at the District Registries in Manchester and Birmingham. This new Practice Direction applies to relevant claims issued on or after 6 April 2025 and before 6 April 2028. It also amends operational dates for PD51ZG1 and PD51ZG2, ensuring all three pilot schemes start on the same date (6 April 2025). Additionally, it includes a drafting correction to PD27B related to personal injury claims below the small claims limit in road traffic accidents.

The 184th Practice Direction (PD) update amends CPR PD 51R (Online Civil Money Claims pilot scheme) and CPR PD 51ZB (Damages Claims Portal pilot scheme) to clarify the procedures for notifying the court when there is a settlement or discontinuance of the court proceedings. The amendments set out when and how parties must inform the court, the consequences of objections, and the process for transferring claims or incorporating settlement terms into court orders.

The Master of the Rolls and the Minister of State for Justice have signed the 185th Practice Direction (PD) update to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), which came into force on 18 July 2025. The update makes amendments to CPR PD 51R (Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC)) and CPR PD 51ZB (Damages Claims Pilot (DCP)), including the insertion of a new section dealing with fixed costs in CPR PD 51R. Both pilot schemes have also been extended by 12 months and will now run until 1 October 2026.

The Master of the Rolls and the Minister of State for Justice have approved the 186th and 188th updates to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), effective 1 October 2025. The updates contain a suite of amendments in support of the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2025, SI 2025/893 including: a new CPR PD 5C dealing with electronic filing (CE File) and case management to replace the existing pilot in CPR PD 51O; amendments in consequence of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; amendments to CPR PD 6B and CPR PD 34A to support reforms to improve the service provided to users of the Foreign Process Section; an updated hourly rate for litigants in person in CPR PD 46; amendments to CPR PD 64B to reflect practice in Beddoe applications; amendments to CPR PD 52C and CPR PD 54D to give effect to proposed changes in the judicial review process for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs); other tidying up amendments.

The 189th Practice Direction (PD) update comes into force on 12 August 2025. This update introduces changes to amend CPR PD 51R (the Online Civil Money Claims Pilot (OCMC) and CPR PD 51ZB (the Damages Claims Pilot). The amendments to CPR PD 51R will enable cases in the OCMC to remain online after a ‘Notice of Change’ is filed by a defendant’s legal representatives and make other minor changes. The amendments to CPR PD 51ZB are to remove paragraph 8.6 (relating to discontinuance), as was intended to be part of 184th Practice Direction update, but which was omitted in error.