The Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) 2011

Made: 24th February 2011

Coming into operation: 25th March 2011

The Northern Ireland Court of Judicature Rules Committee[^f00001] makes the following Rules in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 55 and 55A of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978[^f00002].

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Rules may be cited as the Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) 2011 and shall come into operation on 25th March 2011.

• (2) In these Rules an Order or Form referred to by number or an Appendix referred to by letter means the Order or Form so numbered or the Appendix so lettered in the amended Rules.

Amendments

2

The Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) 1980[^f00003] are amended as follows—

• (1) in the Arrangement of Orders—

• (a) in the entry for Order 1, after “Judicature”, insert “and Mediation”;

• (b) in the entry for Order 71, for “Reciprocal enforcement of judgments, enforcement of European Community judgments and European Order for Payment Procedure”, substitute “Reciprocal enforcement of judgments, enforcement of European Community judgments, European Order for Payment Procedure and Mediation Directive”; and

• (c) after the entry relating to Order 124, insert—

(125) Coroners and Justice Act 2009 – Exploitation Proceeds Orders

• (2) in Order 1—

• (a) in the heading, after “JUDICATURE”, insert “; MEDIATION”;

• (b) after rule 11(m), insert—

(n) applications under Part 7 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009[^f00004] – Exploitation Proceeds Orders.

; and

• (c) after rule 18, insert the new rules set out in Schedule 1;

• (3) in Order 66, rule 5, after paragraph (4), insert—

(5) No document— (a) relating to an application under Order 71, rule 47(1) for a mediation settlement enforcement order; (b) annexed to a mediation settlement enforcement order made under Order 71, rule 47(6); (c) relating to an application under Order 71, rule 49(1) or otherwise for disclosure or inspection of mediation evidence; or (d) annexed to an order for disclosure or inspection made under Order 71, rule 49 or otherwise, may be inspected without the leave of the Court.

• (4) in Order 71—

• (a) for the heading, substitute “RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS, ENFORCEMENT OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITY JUDGMENTS, EUROPEAN ORDER FOR PAYMENT PROCEDURE AND MEDIATION DIRECTIVE”; and

• (b) after rule 44, insert the new rules set out in Schedule 2;

• (5) after Order 124, insert new Order 125 as set out in Schedule 3.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

SCHEDULE 3

Signed

Declan Morgan — W R B Stephens — John Gillen — F P Girvan — Paul Maguire — Tony Caher — Dated 21st February 2011

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 55A(3) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978, I allow these Rules.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Justice on 24th February 2011

David Ford — Minister of Justice

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Rules amend the Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) 1980 (S.R. 1980 No. 346) (‘the principal Rules’) to:

• make provision enabling the transposition of article 5 (recourse to mediation), article 6 (enforceability of agreements resulting from mediation) and article 7 (confidentiality of mediation) of Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 (“the Directive”) on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters; and

• prescribe the procedure relating to applications for, or in relation to, an exploitations proceeds order under Part 7 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (‘the 2009 Act’).

In particular, the Rules insert a new Part III in Order 1, make consequential amendments to Order 66, insert a new Part V in Order 71 and a new Order 125.

The new Part III of Order 1 makes provision for mediation in general and allows the Court to adjourn proceedings or extend the time for compliance with a court order or a provision in the principal Rules in order to facilitate the parties using a mediation process.

The new Part V of Order 71 pertains to the Directive in particular and includes provision on the scope of the part and interpretation (rule 45), rules in relation to article 6 of the Directive (rules 48 and 49) and rules in relation to article 7 (rules 50 and 51).

New Order 125 prescribes the procedures in relation to; an application for an exploitation proceeds order under section 161 of the 2009 Act (rule 4); an application to discharge an exploitation proceeds order following the conviction on which it was based being quashed (rule 5); a repeat application for an exploitation proceeds order against a defendant (rule 6); and an application for, or in relation to, an additional proceeds reporting order (rule 7).

Footnotes

[^f00001]: The Northern Ireland Supreme Court Rules Committee was renamed the Northern Ireland Court of Judicature Rules Committee in accordance with section 59(3) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4).

[^f00002]: 1978 c.23; to which the most recent relevant amendments were made by paragraphs 29 and 30 of Schedule 5 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4) and by Article 15 of and Schedule 17 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010 No. 976).

[^f00003]: S.R. 1980 No. 346. The Rules of the Supreme Court (Northern Ireland) 1980 were re-named in accordance with paragraph 3 of Schedule 11 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4). The most recent relevant amendments were made by S.R. 2009 No.207, 230 and 345.

[^f00005]: OJ No. L136, 24.05.2008.

[^f00006]: 2009 c.25