The Civil Courts Order 1983

Made: 11th May 1983

Laid before Parliament: 12th May 1983

Coming into Operation: 1st August 1983

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 99(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1981; by section 29(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1982; by section 1(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1967; by section 55 of the County Courts Act 1959; by section 96 of the Bankruptcy Act 1914 and section 218(5) of the Companies Act 1948; and by section 67(1) and (2) of the Race Relations Act 1976; hereby makes the following Order:—

1

This Order may be cited as the Civil Courts Order 1983 and shall come into operation on 1st August 1983.

District Registries of the High Court

2

The district registry of the High Court at Builth shall be closed.

3

A district registry of the High Court shall be established at Brecon.

4

• (1) There shall be a district registry of the High Court at each of the places specified in the first column of Schedule 1 to this Order.

• (2) The name of every place so specified shall be the name of the district registry at that place, except that the name of the district registry at Brecon shall be the Brecknock District Registry, the name of the district registry at Chatham shall be the Medway District Registry and the name of the district registry at Margate shall be the Thanet District Registry.

• (3) A district registry which is appointed a Chancery district registry by the Rules of the Supreme Court 1965[^f00001] is denoted by the words “(Chancery)” beneath the name of the place at which the district registry is situated.

• (4) The district of each district registry shall be the area comprising the districts for the time being of the county courts named in the second column of Schedule 1 to this Order opposite the name of the place at which the district registry is situated.

County Courts

5

• (1) The holding of the Bromsgrove, Builth, Didcot, Leek, Louth, East Retford, Thame, Uttoxeter, Whitchurch and Witney County Courts shall be discontinued.

• (2) The county courts mentioned in column 2 of Schedule 2 to this Order shall have jurisdiction in proceedings commenced before this Order comes into operation in the courts mentioned opposite thereto in column 1.

• (3) No process shall be invalid only because the court is described therein by the name by which it was known prior to the coming into operation of this Order.

6

• (1) There shall be a county court at each of the places mentioned in the first column of Schedule 3 to this Order.

• (2) The name of every place so specified shall be name of the county court at that place except where the contrary is specified in Schedule 4 to this Order.

• (3) The entries in respect of the City of London in Schedules 3 and 4 to this Order stem from section 42 of the Courts Act 1971 and are not made by virtue of section 29 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982.

• (4) The letters “D.R.” in the first column of Schedule 3 to this Order denote a district registry of the High Court.

7

For the purpose of section 1(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1967, where the word “Divorce” appears in the second column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite a place name in the first column, the county court at that place is hereby designated as a divorce county court and that county court is also designated as a court of trial.

8

For the purposes of section 55(1) of the County Courts Act 1959:—

• (a) where the word “Admiralty” appears in the second column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite a place named in the first column the county court at that place shall be appointed to have Admiralty jurisdiction;

• (b) the district of a county court not appointed to have Admiralty jurisdiction shall be assigned for Admiralty purposes to the Admiralty county court named in the third column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite the name of the place at which the court is situated.

9

For the purposes of section 96(2) of the Bankruptcy Act 1914 and of section 218(5) of the Companies Act 1948:—

• (a) the county court at a place named in the first column of Schedule 3 to this Order shall be excluded from having jurisdiction under those Acts if the word “Bankruptcy” does not appear in the second column of the Schedule opposite the name of the place;

• (b) the district of a county court excluded from having jurisdiction under those Acts shall be attached for the purposes of those jurisdictions to the Bankruptcy county court named in the fourth column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite the name of the place at which the court is situated.

10

For the purposes of section 67(1) and (2) of the Race Relations Act 1976:—

• (a) where the words “Race Relations” appear in the second column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite a place named in the first column the county court at that place shall be designated for the purposes of that Act;

• (b) the district of a county court not designated for the purposes of that Act shall be assigned for Race Relations purposes to the Race Relations county court named in the fifth column of Schedule 3 to this Order opposite the name of the place at which the court is situated.

11

The Orders specified in Schedule 5 to this Order are hereby revoked.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2 — COURTS HAVING JURISDICTION IN PROCEEDINGS PENDING IN CLOSED COURTS

SCHEDULE 3

SCHEDULE 4

1

The name of the county court at Aldershot shall be the Aldershot and Farnham County Court.

2

The name of the county court at Ashton-under-Lyne shall be the Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge County Court.

3

The name of the county court at Axminster shall be the Axminster and Chard County Court.

4

The name of the county court at Barrow-in-Furness shall be the Barrow-in-Furness and Ulverston County Court.

5

The name of the county court at Bletchley shall be the Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard County Court.

6

The name of the county court at Bloomsbury shall be the Bloomsbury and Marylebone County Court.

7

The name of the county court at Brecon shall be the Brecknock County Court.

8

The name of the county court at Camborne shall be the Camborne and Redruth County Court.

9

The name of the county court at Chatham shall be the Medway County Court.

10

The name of the county court for the City of London shall be the Mayor's and City of London Court.

11

The name of the county court at Colchester shall be the Colchester and Clacton County Court.

12

The name of the county court at Grimsby shall be the Great Grimsby County Court.

13

The name of the county court at Margate shall be the Thanet County Court.

14

The name of the county court at Neath shall be the Neath and Port Talbot County Court.

15

The name of the county court at Redhill shall be the Reigate County Court.

16

The name of the county court at West Kensington shall be the West London County Court.

SCHEDULE 5

Signed

Hailsham of St. Marylebone. C — Dated 11th May 1983

Explanatory note

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order consolidates the District Registries Order 1980, as amended; the County Court Districts Order 1970, as amended; The Divorce County Courts Order 1978, as amended; the County Courts (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Order 1971, as amended; the County Courts (Bankruptcy and Companies Winding-up Jurisdiction) Order 1971, as amended; and the County Courts (Race Relations Juridication) Order 1968 as amended.

This Order also transfers the district registry of the High Court at Builth to Brecon on the closure of the county court and office at Builth.

This Order also closes the county courts at Bromsgrove, Builth, Didcot, Leek, Louth, East Retford, Thame, Uttoxeter, Whitchurch and Witney.

This Order confers Admiralty jurisdiction on the Birmingham and Leeds County Courts and assigns the district of every county court which does not have Admiralty jurisdiction to a court which does, including those not previously assigned.

This Order also transfers the assignment of the district of the Todmorden County Court from the Manchester County Court to the Leeds County Court for Race Relations purposes.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: as amended by Rules of the Supreme Court (Amendment No. 2) 1982 (S.I. 1982/1111).