County Courts Act 1984

Part I — Constitution and Administration

County courts and districts

Officers of court not to act as legal representatives in that court.

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Places and times of sittings of courts

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• (1) Sittings of the county court may be held, and any other business of the county court may be conducted, anywhere in England and Wales.

• (1A) Sittings of the county court at any place may be continuous or intermittent or occasional.

• (2) Sittings of the county court may be held simultaneously to take any number of different cases in the same place or different places, and the court may adjourn cases from place to place at any time.

• (2A) The places at which the county court sits, and the days and times at which it sits in any place, are to be determined in accordance with directions given by the Lord Chancellor after consulting the Lord Chief Justice.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a judicial office holder (as defined in section 109(4) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under this section.

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• (1) Where, in any place in which a sitting of the county court is to be held or a sitting of the family court is held, there is a building, being a town hall, court-house or other public building belonging to any local or other public authority, that building shall, with all necessary rooms, furniture and fittings in it, be used for the purpose of holding the sitting of the court, without any charge for rent or other payment, except the reasonable and necessary charges for lighting, heating and cleaning the building when used for that purpose.

• (2) Where any such building is used for the purpose of holding sittings of the county court, the sittings of the court shall be so arranged as not to interfere with the business of the local or other public authority usually transacted in the building or with any purpose for which the building may be used by virtue of any local Act.

• (3) This section shall not apply to any place in which a building was erected before 1st January 1889 for the purpose of holding and carrying on the business of a county court.

Judges

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• (1) A person is a judge of the county court if the person—

• (a) is a Circuit judge,

• (b) is a district judge (which, by virtue of section 8(1C), here includes a deputy district judge appointed under section 8), or

• (c) is within subsection (2),

...

• (2) A person is within this subsection (and so, by virtue of subsection (1)(c), is a judge of the county court) if the person—

• (a) is the Lord Chief Justice,

• (b) is the Master of the Rolls,

• (c) is the President of the Queen's Bench Division,

• (d) is the President of the Family Division,

• (e) is the Chancellor of the High Court,

• (f) is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal (including the vice-president, if any, of either division of that court),

• (g) is the Senior President of Tribunals,

• (h) is a puisne judge of the High Court,

• (i) is a deputy judge of the High Court,

• (j) is the Judge Advocate General,

• (k) is a Recorder,

• (l) is a person who holds an office listed—

• (i) in the first column of the table in section 89(3C) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 (senior High Court masters etc), or

• (ii) in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to that Act (High Court masters etc),

• (m) is a deputy district judge appointed under section 102 of that Act,

• (n) is a Chamber President, or a Deputy Chamber President, of a chamber of the Upper Tribunal or of a chamber of the First-tier Tribunal,

• (o) is a judge of the Upper Tribunal by virtue of appointment under paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007,

• (p) is a transferred-in judge of the Upper Tribunal (see section 31(2) of that Act),

• (q) is a deputy judge of the Upper Tribunal (whether under paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 to, or section 31(2) of, that Act),

• (r) is a District Judge (Magistrates' Courts),

• (s) is a person appointed under section 30(1)(a) or (b) of the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1951 (assistants to the Judge Advocate General),

• (t) is a judge of the First-tier Tribunal by virtue of appointment under paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 2 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007,

• (u) is a transferred-in judge of the First-tier Tribunal (see section 31(2) of that Act), or

• (v) is a member of a panel of Employment Judges established for England and Wales or for Scotland.

District judges and deputy district judges

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• (1) Her Majesty may, on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, appoint district judges.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) A reference in any enactment or other instrument to the district judge for a district or of a county court is—

• (a) if the context permits, a reference to the county court, and

• (b) otherwise is a reference to a judge of the county court.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) A district judge is to be paid such salary and such allowances as may be determined by the Lord Chancellor with the concurrence of the Treasury.

• (6) A salary payable under this section may be increased but not reduced by a determination or further determination under this section.

• (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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• (1) If it appears to the Lord Chief Justice that it is expedient to do so in order to facilitate the disposal of business in the county court or any other court or tribunal to which a person appointed under this subsection may be deployed, he may appoint a person to be a deputy district judge.

• (1ZA) A person is qualified for appointment under subsection (1) only if the person—

• (a) is qualified for appointment as a district judge, or

• (b) holds, or has held, the office of district judge.

• (1ZB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (1ZC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (1A) Any appointment of a person as a deputy district judge must not be such as to, or be extended so as to, extend beyond the day on which the person attains the age of 75.

• (1B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (1C) A deputy district judge appointed under this section ... has ... the same powers as if he were a district judge other than a district judge's power to act in a district registry of the High Court.

• (1D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) The Lord Chancellor may pay to any person appointed under this section as deputy district judgesuch remuneration and allowances as he may, with the approval of the Treasury, determine.

• (3A) A person appointed under this section may be removed from office as a deputy district judge—

• (a) only by the Lord Chancellor with the agreement of the Lord Chief Justice, and

• (b) only on—

• (i) the ground of inability or misbehaviour, or

• (ii) a ground specified in the person's terms of appointment.

• (3B) Subject to subsections (1A) and (3C), the term of a person's appointment under this section (including a term already extended under this subsection) must be extended by the Lord Chancellor before its expiry.

• (3C) Extension under subsection (3B)—

• (a) requires the person's agreement,

• (b) is to be for such term as the Lord Chancellor thinks fit, and

• (c) may be refused on—

• (i) the ground of inability or misbehaviour, or

• (ii) a ground specified in the person's terms of appointment,

but only with any agreement of the Lord Chief Justice, or a nominee of the Lord Chief Justice, that may be required by those terms.

• (3D) Subject to the preceding provisions of this section, a person appointed under this section is to hold and vacate office as a deputy district judge in accordance with the terms of the person's appointment, which are to be such as the Lord Chancellor may determine.

• (3E) The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a senior judge (as defined in section 109(5) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise the Lord Chief Justice's functions under subsection (1) or (3A)(a).

• (4) The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a judicial office holder (as defined in section 109(4) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under subsection ... (1B).

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No person shall be appointed a district judge, . . . . . . unless he satisfies the judicial-appointment eligibility condition on a 5-year basis.

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• (1) This subsection applies to the office of district judge.

• (2) Subject to the following provisions of this section ..., a person who holds an office to which subsection (1) applies shall vacate his office on the day on which he attains the age of 75.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) A person appointed to an office to which subsection (1) applies shall hold that office during good behaviour.

• (5) The power to remove such a person from his office on account of misbehaviour shall be exercisable by the Lord Chancellor , but only with the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice.

• (6) The Lord Chancellor may , with the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice, also remove such a person from his office on account of inability to perform the duties of his office.

Officers of court not to act as legal representativesin that court.

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• (1) The Lord Chancellor may by regulations made by statutory instrument provide for the keeping of records of and in relation to proceedings of the county court.

• (2) Any entry in a book or other document required by the said regulations to be kept for the purposes of this section, or a copy of any such entry or document purporting to be signed and certified as a true copy by a judge of the county court, shall at all times without further proof be admitted in any court or place whatsoever as evidence of the entry and of the proceeding referred to by it and of the regularity of that proceeding.

• (3) The Lord Chancellor must consult the Lord Chief Justice before making regulations under this section.

• (4) The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a judicial office holder (as defined in section 109(4) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under this section.

Miscellaneous provisions as to officers

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• (1) A fee-paid part-time judge of the county court may not act as a judge of the court in relation to any proceedings in the court in which—

• (a) the judge,

• (b) a partner or employer of the judge,

• (c) a body of which the judge is a member or officer, or

• (d) a body of whose governing body the judge is a member,

is directly or indirectly engaged as legal representative or agent for any party ....

• (2) Every person who contravenes this section shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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• (1) If any person assaults an officer of the county court while in the execution of his duty, he shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both; or

• (b) on an order made by the court in that behalf, to be committed for a specified period not exceeding 3 months to . . . prison . . . or to such a fine as aforesaid, or to be so committed and to such a fine,

and an officer of the court may take the offender into custody, with or without warrant, and bring him before the court.

• (2) The judge may at any time revoke an order committing a person to prison under this section and, if he is already in custody, order his discharge.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part II — Jurisdiction and Transfer of Proceedings

Actions of contract and tort

Money recoverable by statute.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2), the county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any action founded on contract or tort ....

• (2) The county court shall not, except as in this Act provided, have jurisdiction to hear and determine—

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) any action in which the title to ... any toll, fair, market or franchise is in question; or

• (c) any action for libel or slander.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action for the recovery of a sum recoverable by virtue of any enactment for the time being in force, if—

• (a) it is not provided by that or any other enactment that such sums shall only be recoverable in the High Court or shall only be recoverable summarily; . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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• (1) Where a plaintiff has a cause of action for more than the county court limit in which, if it were not for more than the county court limit, the county court would have jurisdiction, the plaintiff may abandon the excess, and thereupon the county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the action, but the plaintiff shall not recover in the action an amount exceeding the county court limit.

• (2) Where the court has jurisdiction to hear and determine an action by virtue of this section, the judgment of the court in the action shall be in full discharge of all demands in respect of the cause of action, and entry of the judgment shall be made accordingly.

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If the parties to any action, other than an action which, if commenced in the High Court, would have been assigned to the Chancery Division or to the Family Division or have involved the exercise of the High Court’s Admiralty jurisdiction, agree, by a memorandum signed by them or by their respective legal representatives, that the county court ... shall have jurisdiction in the action, that court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the action accordingly.

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Recovery of land and cases where title in question

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• (1) The county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any action for the recovery of land . . ..

• (2) The county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any action in which the title to any hereditament comes in question, . . .

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) Where a mortgage of land consists of or includes a dwelling-house and no part of the land is situated in Greater London then, subject to subsection (4), if the county court has jurisdiction by virtue of this section to hear and determine an action in which the mortgagee under that mortgage claims possession of the mortgaged property, no court other than the county court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine that action.

• (4) Subsection (3) shall not apply to an action for foreclosure or sale in which a claim for possession of the mortgaged property is also made.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) In this section—

• “dwelling-house” includes any building or part of a building which is used as a dwelling;

• “mortgage” includes a charge and “mortgagor” and “mortgagee” shall be construed accordingly;

• “mortgagor” and “mortgagee” includes any person deriving title under the original mortgagor or mortgagee.

• (8) The fact that part of the premises comprised in a dwelling-house is used as a shop or office or for business, trade or professional purposes shall not prevent the dwelling-house from being a dwelling-house for the purposes of this section.

• (9) This section does not apply to a mortgage securing an agreement which is a regulated agreement within the meaning of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

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Equity proceedings

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The county court shall have all the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear and determine—

• (a) proceedings for the administration of the estate of a deceased person, where the estate does not exceed in amount or value the county court limit;

• (b) proceedings—

• (i) for the execution of any trust, or

• (ii) for a declaration that a trust subsists, ...

• (iii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

where the estate or fund subject, or alleged to be subject, to the trust does not exceed in amount or value the county court limit;

• (c) proceedings for foreclosure or redemption of any mortgage or for enforcing any charge or lien, where the amount owing in respect of the mortgage, charge or lien does not exceed the county court limit;

• (d) proceedings for the specific performance, or for the rectification, delivery up or cancellation, of any agreement for the sale, purchase or lease of any property, where, in the case of a sale or purchase, the purchase money, or in the case of a lease, the value of the property, does not exceed the county court limit;