Legislation round-up

12 Dec 2008; 1 Jan 2009; and 6 April 2009

High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction (Amendment) Order 2008 (SI 2008/2934)

Amends the High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order 1991 (SI 1991/724) to give the county court jurisdiction in relation to Council Reg 1896/2006/EC of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure.

Also gives the county court jurisdiction in relation to Council Reg 61/2007/EC of 11 July 2007 establishing a European small claims procedure so that applications under Art 4 of the ESCP Regulation must be commenced in a county court.

If the claim is worth £15,000 or less it will have to be commenced in a county court but if worth more than £15,000 it can be commenced in either the High Court or a county court. This requirement is necessary in order to allow litigants to be able to apply for the issue of a European order for payment on precisely the same jurisdictional basis that they can currently issue claims for