The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2022

Made: 31st January 2022

Laid before Parliament: 3rd February 2022

Coming into force in accordance with rule 1

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee, having power under section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act 1997[^f00001] to make rules under section 1 of and Schedule 1 to that Act and after fulfilling the requirements of section 2(6) of that Act, makes the following Rules.

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Rules may be cited as the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2022 and come into force on 6th April 2022, except as provided by paragraph (2).

• (2) The amendments made by rules 6 and 7 apply only to claims made on or after 6th April 2022.

• (3) In these Rules, a reference to a Part or rule by number alone means the Part or rule so numbered in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998[^f00002].

Transitional and saving provision

2

The amendments made by rules 8, 9, 10 and 13 apply to claims where either—

• (a) the date on which the cause of action accrues; or

• (b) the date of knowledge of the person injured,

is on or after 6th April 2022.

Amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998

3

The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are amended in accordance with rules 4 to 17 of these Rules.

Amendment of Part 1

4

In rule 1.1(1), omit “new”.

Amendment of Part 2

5

In rule 2.3(1)—

• (a) for the definition of “filing” substitute—

• “filing”, in relation to supplying a document or information to the court, means delivering the document or information, by post or otherwise, to the court office;

; and

• (b) after the definition of “litigation friend” insert—

• “MyHMCTS” means the online case management tool managed by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service;

Substitution of Part 10

6

For Part 10, substitute Part 10 set out in Schedule 1 to these Rules.

Substitution of Part 12

7

For Part 12, substitute Part 12 set out in Schedule 2 to these Rules.

Amendment of Part 16

8

In rule 16.3—

• (a) in paragraph (3)—

• (i) for “paragraph (3A)” substitute “paragraphs (3A) and (3AA); and

• (ii) in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), for “£1,000” substitute “£1,500”; and

• (b) after paragraph (3A), insert—

(3AA) Where— (a) a claim for personal injuries arises from a road traffic accident; and (b) rule 26.6A applies to that claim, the claimant must state in the claim form whether the amount which the claimant expects to recover as general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity is— (i) not more than £1,000; or (ii) more than £1,000.

Amendment of Part 26

9

In rule 26.6(1)(a)(ii)(cc), for “£1,000” substitute “£1,500”.

Amendment of Part 27

10

In rule 27.1(2), in the words in parenthesis, in the second bullet point, for “£1,000” substitute “the relevant value specified in rule 26.6(1)(a)(ii)(aa), (bb) or (cc), being £5,000, £1,000 or £1,500, respectively”.

Amendment of Part 39

11

In rule 39.2(4), each time it appears, for “party or witness” substitute “person”.

Amendment of Part 42

12

In rule 42.2(3), for “The notice” substitute “Except in the case of notice filed at court using MyHMCTS, the notice”.

Amendment of Part 45

13

In rule 45.29E—

• (a) in Table 6C, in Section A, in the entry for “agreed damages”, in the second column, for “£1,000” substitute “£1,500”; and

• (b) in Table 6D, in Section A, in the entry for “agreed damages”, in the second column, for “£1,000” substitute “£1,500”.

Amendment of Part 47

14

In rule 47.3(1)(b)(ii)—

• (a) for “rule” substitute “rules”; and

• (b) at the end insert “and 47.14.(3) and (4) (sanction for delay in requesting a detailed assessment hearing)”.

Amendment of Part 52

15

In rule 52.10, after paragraph (1), in the words in parenthesis, for “Practice Direction 8C” substitute “Practice Direction 54D”.

Amendment of Part 54

16

In rules—

• (a) 54.22(3); and

• (b) 54.24,

for “Practice Direction 54E” substitute “Practice Direction 54D”.

Amendment of Part 65

17

• (1) In rule 65.18(1), after “court” insert “shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the respondent is aware of their entitlement to a reasonable opportunity to obtain legal representation and to apply for legal aid which may be available without any means test, and”.

• (2) In rule 65.43(2)—

• (a) at the end of sub-paragraph (b), omit “and”;

• (b) at the end of sub-paragraph (c), for the full stop substitute “; and”; and

• (c) after sub-paragraph (c), insert—

(d) must include a statement that the respondent is entitled to a reasonable opportunity to obtain legal representation and to apply for legal aid which may be available without any means test.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

Signed

The Right Honourable Sir Geoffrey Vos, MR — Lord Justice Birss — Mr Justice Kerr — Mr Justice Trower — His Honour Judge Jarman QC — Master Cook — Tom Montagu-Smith QC — Lizzie Iron — John McQuater

I allow these Rules

David Wolfson — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice — Ministry of Justice — 31st January 2022

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132) by—

• amending Part 1 to remove the word “new” from the opening words which describe the Rules as a “new procedural code”;

• amending Part 2 to revise the definition of “filing” and insert a new definition of “MyHMCTS” in relation to the introduction of a system to allow notices of change of solicitor (as defined in rule 6.2(d)) to be filed at the court online. Amendments are also made to rule 42.2(3) to accommodate this new online system;

• substituting Part 10 with a revised Part on acknowledgment of service;

• substituting Part 12 with a revised Part on default judgment;

• amending Part 26 to increase from £1,000 to £1,500 the small claims track limit for non-road traffic accident related personal injury claims and making consequential amendments to Parts 16, 27 and 45;

• amending Part 39 in response to the judgement in Brearley v Higgs & Sons (A Firm) [2021] EWHC 1342 (Ch) to extend the breadth of rule 39.2(4) to bring all instances in which the court may exercise a jurisdiction to anonymise under the same procedural provision;

• amending Part 47 to exclude from the powers of an authorised costs officer the power to impose a sanction for delay in requesting detailed assessment proceedings (the power to impose a sanction for delay in commencing detailed assessment proceedings is already excluded);

• amending Parts 52 and 54 in consequence of new Practice Direction 54D (Planning Court claims and appeals to the Planning Court), which consolidates provisions to be found elsewhere in practice directions regarding the Planning Court;

• amending Part 65 to include provision for ensuring that the respondent is made aware of the opportunity to obtain legal representation and to apply for legal aid.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1997 c. 12. Section 2(1) was substituted by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), section 15 and Schedule 4, Part 1. Section 1(3) was substituted by section 82(1) of the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39) and further amended by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, sections 15 and 146 and Schedule 4, Part 1, paragraphs 261 and 262 and Schedule 18. Section 1(1) was amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c. 22), section 17(5) and Schedule 9, Part 3, paragraph 67(a). Schedule 1 to the 1997 Act was amended by the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Act 2018 (c. 33), section 3, Schedule, Part 1 paragraph 19, the Crime and Courts Act 2013, section175, Schedule 9, Part 3, paragraph 67(b).

[^f00002]: S.I. 1998/3132. There are relevant amendments in S.I. 2001/256, S.I. 2002/2058, S.I. 2004/1306, S.I. 2013/262, S.I. 2019/342 and S.I. 2021/196.

[^f00003]: 1974 c. 39.

[^f00004]: 2013 c. 18. Section 6 was amended by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) section 251, Schedule 10, Part 2, paragraph 52.

[^f00005]: 1947 c. 44. References in section 18 were modified by S.I. 1991/2684 articles 4, 5 and Schedule 1.