An “earth-moving” series of changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) came into force on 6 April.
Writing in NLJ this week, District Judge Stephen Gold relates the key changes on costs budgets, and charging and attachment applications.
He advises that the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016 (SI 2016/234) on multi-track costs management now “effectively forbid completion of anything but the first page summary of precedent H where the value of the claim as stated on the claim form is less than £50,000 (so don’t certify the value at not exceeding £50,000 unless you suffer from costs managementitis)”.
Costs management is now disapplied in relation to litigants in person where the claimant is a child or where the court otherwise orders.
Gold reports that “there is a new creature on the block—the agreed budget discussion report”. This is to be filed no later than seven days before the first case management conference in the event that precedents H have gone in.
On charging and attachment, all new non-high court applications from 6 April must be made to the County Court Money Claims Centre, and other amendments to the regime also apply. Should the judgment debtor or anyone else served wish to challenge the making of a final charging order then they must file and serve written evidence stating the grounds of objection within 28 days after service of the interim order.
Meanwhile a two year pilot has commenced as from 1 April 2016 for insolvency express trials which will run in the Bankruptcy and Companies Court of the High Court.
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