Changes to the Civil Procedure Rules
For cases issued after 1 April 2013 a raft of changes have been introduced to the Civil Procedure Rules which affect the way in which cases are managed both by the Court and the Parties. The most noticeable changes are the introduction of Directions Questionnaires to replace Allocation Questionnaires, and changes to the procedure for the disclosure of documents. The well known “list of documents” is no more, rather parties instead have to file a disclosure report which in addition to setting out what documents the parties have, also require an estimate of the cost of disclosure. This is designed to help Judges in their new requirement to set a realistic budget for the case at an early stage. This will hopefully have the effect of keeping the costs of litigation under control, however the new forms are complex and are likely to baffle some litigants in person.
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