'LAW WATCH' VIDEO GOES CPR CRAZY

My latest video is unfit for litigant in person consumption  but anyone can take a look.  It's about my pick of the latest Civil Procedure Rule amendments and Practice Direction 171. Some Fixed Recoverable Costs. Some Writs and Warrants of Possession. And a pinch of Brexit. Do click below.

COURT AND OTHER FEES: APPLYING FOR HELP CHANGES

I threatened a video on the big changes coming in on 23 November 2023. I'm as good as my word. Here it is. It won't sting or cost you a penny. Click below.

LATEST GOOD-TO-KNOW LAW - FEBRUARY 2023

My latest LawWatch video is up and running where you will find my face - sorry! - and these subjects covered

NEW MARRIAGE BAN

ADDRESSING THE JUDGE CHANGE

JUMPING FINANCIAL REMEDY QUEUE

MASTERCARD CLAIM LATEST

JAPANESE KNOTWEED TRAP

VISUAL INTRUSION AFTER TATE MODERN

COURT FUNDS INTEREST RATE UP

NEW CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES

MIXED WHIPLASH & NON-WHIPLASH CLAIMS

                    Do take a look. Just click here  

 

COVID-19: More Time For Order Compliance: England & Wales

The order says that unless you put in a defence/supply further information/pay a court fee/hand over specified documents/send the other side your witness statements etc etc etc, something terrible will happen like judgment will be given against you, your claim will be thrown out or you will be compelled to read Breaking Law from cover to cover.

If you had wanted more time to comply it was possible for an agreement between you and your opponent to be reached in writing allowing up to an extra 28 days so long as that extra time did not imperil an upcoming hearing. After all, no point in giving you an extra 28 days when the trial of the case was due to take place seven days after the agreement. This was all set out in rule 3.8 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (essential reading after 11pm). 

Yesterday, an emergency and temporary change was made on account of the coronavirus epidemic by the swingingly entitled Practice Direction 51ZA which increases the 28 days to 56 days and also applies to more time for compliance with what is provided for by a procedural rule or a Practice Direction as opposed to an order.   You still need consent of the other side to the extension. If more than 56 days are needed, even if the other side agrees to it, you must apply to the court for permission for that de luxe extension. And if the other side refuses to agree to you having any or sufficient extra time, you will have to apply for the extra time to the court. The application will be considered on paper, without a face to face or even a remote hearing. Should the application be refused on paper, you can apply for what is effectively a reconsideration. 

If you are already out of time to comply then you can apply to the court to be excused by asking for what is called ' relief from sanctions'.

The Practice Direction makes clear that on any application for more time or for relief from sanctions, the court will take into account the impact of the virus. It runs until 30 October 2020.

The time limits for starting court proceedings cannot generally be extended by agreement and still apply.

COVID-19: New Civil Practice Direction For Remote Hearings: England & Wales

Here is the practice direction under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 made on 24 March 2020 and covering video and audio civil court hearings during the pandemic.

116th UPDATE – PRACTICE DIRECTION AMENDMENTS The new Practice Direction 51Y supplementing the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is made by the Master of the Rolls under the powers delegated to him by the Lord Chief Justice under Schedule 2, Part 1, paragraph 2(2) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and is approved by the Lord Chancellor. The new Practice Direction comes into force on the day after the day on which it is approved. The Right Honourable Sir Terence Etherton Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice The Right Honourable Robert Buckland QC MP Lord Chancellor Date: 24th March 2020 

PRACTICE DIRECTION 51Y – VIDEO OR AUDIO HEARINGS DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 1) After Practice Direction 51X insert Practice Direction 51Y as set out in the Schedule to this Update. 

SCHEDULE PRACTICE DIRECTION 51Y – VIDEO OR AUDIO HEARINGS DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC 

This Practice Direction supplements Part 51 1. This practice direction, made under rule 51.2 of the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”), makes provision in relation to audio or video hearings. It ceases to have effect on the date on which the Coronavirus Act 2020 ceases to have effect in accordance with section 75 of that Act. 2. During the period in which this Direction is in force, where the court directs that proceedings are to be conducted wholly as video or audio proceedings and it is not practicable for the hearing to be broadcast in a court building, the court may direct that the hearing must take place in private where it is necessary to do so to secure the proper administration of justice. 3. Where a media representative is able to access proceedings remotely while they are taking place, they will be public proceedings. In such circumstances it will not be necessary to make an order under paragraph 2 and such an order may not be made. 4. Any hearing held in private under paragraph 2 must be recorded, where that is practicable, in a manner directed by the court. Where authorised under s.32 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 or s.85A of the Courts Act 2003 (as inserted by the Coronavirus Act 2020), the court may direct the hearing to be video recorded, otherwise the hearing must be audio recorded. On the application of any person, any recording so made is to be accessed in a court building, with the consent of the court. 

Civil Procedure Rules: Latest Updates

Have you got the strength for this? Three new updates of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 applying to England and Wales have just been issued.  Update 114 came rapidly into force on last Monday 24 February 2020 - at 11.00 am!- and deals with the civil money claims pilot scheme under CPR Practice Direction 51R. Update 115 deals with the  CPR Practice Direction 51 on the video hearing pilot and comes into force on 02 March 2020. Boring. And the more extensive update 113 principally gets going on 06 April 2019. Here are the sexiest of the changes.

The statement of truth which has to be included in claims forms, particulars of claim, defences, application notices and similar documents is extended with the following words having to be included-

‘I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.’

As from 06 April 2020, claim forms, particulars of claim and defences which lack the new wording can be struck out by the court and other documents which need to be verified by a statement of truth but are not verified by the extended wording can be ordered to be so verified.  This will also apply to online possession claims. Because of the already effective update 114, the extended wording must already be used for civil money claims pilot cases in relation to the claim form, response form and paper response form. Money claims on line - litigants in person will normally use this online scheme - are not to be affected but this may well change as from October 2020.

There is an important change to the rules on witness statements which will catch statements made on or after 06 April 2020. Each statement is to disclose the process by which it has been prepared: for example, face-to-face, over the telephone and/or through an interpreter. 

Good luck.

CPR Changes From March/April 2020

This is for civil procedure anoraks in England and Wales and anyone who has been told by the court that their acknowledgment of service of the claim form or defence was sent in too late and so the claimant has obtained a default judgment against them.

Here's a snapshot of changes to be made to our civil procedure rules by the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020 (SI 2020/82). From 6 April 2020, an acknowledgment of service or defence sent in to the court late will still bar the claimant obtaining judgment in default when requested after its receipt .  Assume, for example, that you had to put in your defence by 6 February 2020 but failed to put it in until 13 February 2020 and on 24 February 2020 the claimant asked the court to enter a judgment against you for £10m because your defence had been received by the court after the deadline. It's  now clear that from 6 April 2020 the court will have to tell the claimant to get on their bike and that your defence will be valid. Say that a similar situation arises before 6 April 2020. There are conflicting court decisions as to what should happen although my guess is that the position should be the same. The issue is due to be decided by the Court of Appeal later this year.

Other changes coming into force on 30 March 2020. 

*Where on an appeal the court is deciding challenges to both the merits of a judgment and an order for costs made along with that judgment. it will be open for both challenges to be dealt with together and for offers made under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules to be mentioned. A bit technical that one!

* The accelerated procedure for a landlord to obtain possession of a house or flat will no longer be available for demoted assured shorthand tenancies or where any of the tenancy agreements under which the tenant has occupied have not been in writing. And the procedure will not be available unless the tenancy was entered into before 28 February 1997. The landlord will still be entitled to bring proceedings where accelerated possession is unavailable but the procedure will take longer. 

*The pilot scheme for charging order applications  to be dealt with by non-judges is made permanent. A non-judge decision can be challenged to a district judge within 14 days of notification of the decision and the district judge will now be able to direct a hearing of the challenge.

Wake up!!!!

Very Latest Civil Procedural Rules

Two more updates to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (applying to England and Wales) have been issued. This will save you having to read them. Switch on your yawnometer if you do. It could peak at 12 million before sending you completely into deep sleep. 

Update 110 amends Practice Direction 51O which is about the electronic working pilot scheme allowing for online commencement of proceedings and lodging documents. The scheme was extended  to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court on 01 January 2019 and  to out of London Business and Property Court centres on 25 February 2019. As from 07 October 2019 it will apply to proceedings in the Senior Courts Costs Office started on or after that date including requests for detailed assessment and applications issued on or after that date. Lawyers and litigants in person can take advantage. As from 20 January 2020 lawyers must use the scheme. 

Update 111 which came into force last Monday o9 September 2019 (at 11am) will be of interest to litigants in person. Honest. that's because it only relates to you. It concerns a pilot scheme for online civil claims by litigants in person for specified claims for money which do not exceed £10,00 and which, if contested, will almost always be dealt with as 'small claims'. New features have been introduced to the scheme for testing. These include parties being able to complete online the directions questionnaire - this is for contested cases and solicits information to assist the court in deciding when and where to list the final hearing and what procedural directions to give for it. And more cases which are suitable will be referred for mediation under the free small claims mediation scheme. Up until now , they have only been referred where the parties agreed. In future they will be referred where the parties say nothing about wanting mediation: they will be presumed to agree to it. But mediation is still not made compulsory. Silly not to take advantage of it. The scheme is extended to 30 November 2021.

There is another pilot scheme running for lawyers only. It is the swingingly called online civil money claims pilot and it offers a digital service for specified and unspecified claims on an invitation-only basis. The scheme is also extended to  30 November 2021.

Told you!

The Very Very Latest Court Procedure Rule Changes

It could be said that if you take a deep interest in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR), you are some sort of judicial pervert. Nonsense. These rules govern how you go about pursuing or defending civil court proceedings in England and Wales and how the courts will deal with them.  They are as dry as old boots but, whether you be a lawyer or a litigant in person, you need to know what they say or you could find that your case is killed off by a judge because you have failed to follow them. You'll get a pretty good idea of what they say from reading my book Breaking Law (this guy will write anything to collect a few bob in royalties) and the rules, like everything in the book, are updated here FREE!

The rules themselves and the practice directions which supplement them are updated at least twice a year. They've just issued update 109. Yeh, really cool. Which takes me to this post. A warning. You could fall asleep before you finish the post. Perhaps, get someone to pinch your toes every five seconds. And, if you want to fall asleep before you begin, you can take a look at the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 3) Rules 2019 (SI 2019/1118) on which part of the update is based.

Everything summarised comes into force on 01 October 2019 bar one thing. Here goes with the best bits. 

Costs budgeting  Practice Direction 3E  is clarified to make it clear that the costs of and including the first costs management conference will be incurred costs so that they will not be open to adjustment by the court at the budgeting stage.
Reviewing the situation  The pre-action protocol for judicial review is amended - as from 17 September 2019 - to specify to where the letter before claim should be sent when the Treasury Solicitor acts for the intended defendant and has already been involved or where a decision of HM Revenue & Customs is involved.
Small but beautiful  A hearing of a small claim (that usually means a claim that has been valued at £10,000 or less) will generally take place in public at a county court. That means that your arch enemies, next door neighbour, local newspaper reporter and former Latin teacher can all turn up and enjoy the proceedings. In practice, it is very rare indeed for anyone to be present apart from the judge, the parties, any legal representatives or McKenzie Friends and the witnesses, so don't worry. But just occasionally someone else might attend. Practice Direction 27 has been amended to clarify that the fact the parties agree the hearing should be in private will not of itself be a sufficient ground for the judge to direct a private hearing. The only situations in which a private hearing can be ordered are set out in rule 39.2 of the CPR. They include that publicity would defeat the object of the proceedings or that the hearing involves confidential information, including information relating to personal financial matters, and publicity would damage that confidentiality.

Aha, Aarhus  A claim under the Aarhus Convention is an environmental judicial review or statutory review and the Convention was devised to see that the public has access to proceedings which challenge public authorities over environmental issues and that these proceedings are not prohibitively expensive. The latest update tweaks the CPR at rule 45.41(2)(a). This will bring statutory reviews relating to national environmental law within the environmental cost protection regime.

Media Mad Unless agreed by the parties in writing, the county court lacks jurisdiction to deal with claims for libel or slander (although it can deal with claims for malicious false hood - see Breaking Law  for more info on them). That’s s15 of the County Courts Act 1984 and  Practice Direction 7A. A new para 2.9A provides that, subject to this, any media and communications claim, including business within the media and communications list, can be started in the county court or High Court and the £1000,000 threshold to claim in the High Court will no longer apply. But to the High Court the claimant must go if they believe that a High Court judge is needed on account of value and/or complexity and /or public importance. Also, the pre-action protocol for defamation cases is replaced by one for media and communication cases.

What a Business A new Practice Direction, swingingly entitled 57AA and devoted to he Business and Property Courts, will only come into force if we Brexit without a deal - along with a million other pieces of legislation. Help!!!!

That's yer lot

New Civil Procedural Rules: MORE!

I've provided you with the first dose of the new civil procedural rules coming into force next month. Please digest http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/2019/03/new-civil-procedural-rules-open.html with a glass of cold water but not on an empty stomach. Here's some more to be taken with your evening meal.

Summary assessment of costs This is only likely to interest you if you are a lawyer,  professional litigant. or slightly eccentric. On 01 April 2019 a pilot scheme for the summary assessment of costs is introduced. It doesn't matter when the claim was started. If the assessment is to take place on or after that date then the party who will be asking for costs can use a new form instead of the current N260 and can utilise an electronic spreadsheet. For an interim application, use new form N260A: for an assessment which is going up to and including trial, use new form N260B. You''ll find the new forms with CPR update 104. With that update, you will also find a new budget discussion report form for multi-track cases which must be used as from 25 April 2019.

What did the judge say? The court hearing will have been recorded and you can request a transcript of what was said. If the judge raised their eyebrows during the hearing or your jaw dropped a few feet when you heard the judge's decision then that, of course, will not show up on the transcript! The cost of the transcript has to be borne by whoever asked for it. It can be high. The longer the hearing, the longer the transcript and the costlier it will be. If you want the transcript for an appeal then the likelihood is that only the judgment - the judge's announcement of their decision and why they have reached it - will be needed. However, judgments can be lengthy and, for a variety of reasons, there can be delays in the transcript being produced for you. This can hold up the appeal. A new provision in the procedural rules which will come into force on 01 April 2019 encourages the judge to assist a party, and particularly a litigant in person, to give directions for the compilation and sharing of any note or other informal record of the hearing which has been made by another party or their lawyer or, indeed, by the judge. This is to be welcomed and should accelerate the determination of any appeal.

New Civil Procedural Rules: Open Hearings & Copying in Opponent on Communications with Court

New procedural rules are coming into force next month for civil court cases in England and Wales. You'll find them in the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2019 SI 2019/342 and practice directions made under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. Chapter and verse of the practice directions can be found  at https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil or, if you prefer a quiet life and are not averse to a bit of cheek here and an insult there, stick around and allow me to guide you through the more important changes, especially if you are without a lawyer, in the coming weeks.

Hearings  - including those by telephone and video - are opening up. As from 6 April 2019, cases which are currently now heard in private at court - so no media, no members of the public resting their feet between Primark and Tesco, no nosey neighbours -  will be open to all and sundry. This will include claims for repossession of homes by mortgage lenders, claims for repossession of homes by landlords on account of rent arrears and enforcement applications for such things as charging orders and third party debt orders, all of which now start off and almost invariably continue as being in private. But a party to the proceedings can ask for the hearing to be in private although it will initially be listed to be in public. The court must allow privacy if, for example, the court decides this to be necessary in the interests of justice or the hearing involves confidential information and publicity would damage it. The court is also given power to order that the identity of a party to the case or a witness should not be disclosed if that is necessary in order to secure the proper administration of justice (sounds very grand) and protect their interests. Where the court orders that a hearing should become private or a party or witness should not be  identified, then its order must be published at www,judiciary.uk and someone who is not a party to the proceedings (perhaps the editor of the Daily Mail!) can apply to attend the hearing and make submissions or apply to cancel the order.

An important scheme is introduced about communications to the court.  They're trying to put an end to one party writing to the court slagging off the other party but without supplying a copy of the communication to that other party. It happens a lot. It's going to stop. As from 6 April 2019, any communication  which contains reference to some matter of substance or procedure must be disclosed to the other side and the court told this has been done. Otherwise, the communication will be bounced back by the court and where there is a serious breach of the scheme or there are repetitive breaches, the court could impose a severe sanction against the sender like striking out their claim or defence. But this will not apply to communications that are routine, uncontentious and administrative (like 'Here's my court fee.') And it will also not apply if there is a compelling reason for withholding a copy of the communication from the other side and that reason is explained to the court in the communication. The court won't be lightly satisfied that a compelling reason really does exist.

More to follow.

New CPR Updates: Boring

I'll be frank with you. Unless you are a lawyer, enjoy watching paint dry, are asked to participate in a digital pilot scheme for small claims or just plain crazy, this post will bore the screen off your television set. Even if you fall into one of those categories, you may want your money back for reading the post. Oh, I forgot. You get this for nothing (but you could always buy my book, out of shame).

This is about updates to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 number 102 which came into force on 01 January 2019 before you got up and 103 which came into force today (14 January 2019).

Update 102 brought in a capped costs scheme for cases with a value of up to £250,000 in proceedings in the London Circuit Commercial Court and the Business and Property Courts based in Leeds and Manchester, there covering Chancery, Circuit Commercial and Technology and Construction Court business. The scheme is voluntary and will run for two years.

Update 103 extends the scope of the pilot scheme for online civil money claims for less than £10,000 which is open only to litigants in person. 

I told you! I told you!

New Civil And Family Procedure Rules

Some of this is a bit technical so don't throw a brick through my computer if you don't dig it!

The civil procedure update number - wait for it -101 comes, into force on 08 November 2018. Nothing over exciting unless you are likely to be involved in an application to set aside judgment in the county courts at Birmingham or Manchester. Any such applications there could be dealt with by way of  video link under a 12 month pilot scheme which will be the forerunner to more extensive video hearings. But, under the pilot, only if both sides agree. Though the parties will be in the bath or lounging on the sofa during these video hearings, it will be open to any member of the public to view what is going on at the court. See you there? OK, so you're your filing your fingernails until 08 November 2019.

Also dealt with by the latest civil update are the powers of legal advisers to make decisions which are normally made only by judges. At present, they can deal with consent applications to grant permission for the filing of a counterclaim after a defence has gone in. In future, they will be able to deal with applications of this kind even though there is an absence of consent so long as the counterclaim limitation period has not expired.

Over in the family jurisdiction, the Family Procedure (Amendment No 2 ) Rules 2018 SI/2018/1171 come into force on 10 December 2018. The main change there  is that appeals to the High Court in family cases are likely to be in public rather than in private. The reason for the change is that these appeals used to go to the Court of Appeal where they were in public even though they had been in private in the courts below. But those appeals were generally rerouted to the High Court in October 2016. The unintended consequence of this is that the public hearing was lost. The change addresses this situation. The court can be expected to impose reporting restrictions on any public appeal hearings when children are involved.

And if you are Welch, then the other change will burst you open with excitement. Following the recent lead in civil cases, the Welsh language will be getting recognition in family cases too. In family proceedings in Wales, the Welsh language will be used by any person who desires it and any document placed before the court in family proceedings in or having a connection  with Wales can be in English or Welsh. 

New Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Directions

The 100th Civil Procedure Rules update comes into force on 1 October 2018  or 01 January 2019 and incorporates changes made by the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 3) Rules 2018 SI2018/975. What happened to the 99th update? It was revoked just after it has seen the light of day.

The changes?

• See http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/2018/09/eviction-u-turn-update.html as to abolition of need to apply for permission to obtain a warrant of possession for breach of a monetary condition attached to a suspended order. In force on 01 October 2018.
• Confirmation of the principle that the Welsh language has official status in Wales and that the language may be used in legal proceedings there. An unnumbered practice direction on the subject is substituted. In force on 01 October 2018.
• Introduction of a two-year disclosure pilot in the Business and Property Courts which is aimed at speeding up litigation there and making disclosure more proportionate to the issues involved in cases. There's a new practice direction PD51U. In force on 01 January 2019.
• Extension of the electronic working pilot scheme to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court.  Practice direction PD51O is substituted. In force on 01 January 2019.
• Clarification that district judges have jurisdiction to hear committal proceedings for breach of an anti-social behaviour injection without prior consent of a designated civil judge. In force on 01 October 2018.

Don't get too excited.

The Business and Property Courts: Hello and Welcome!

The Business and Property Courts (BPC) began trading today which may turn you on if you are a lawyer or are about to start a civil case involving, say, the most difficult building dispute known to man which only a judge who breaths, eats and sleeps nails, foundations and pylons could ever understand. They have been created as a single umbrella for these specialist courts across England and Wales - the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court, the Chancery Division Courts and the Technology and Construction Court which will continue to operate out of Rolls Building in London's Fetter Lane and is the largest specialist centre in the world for financial, business and property litigation. 

But not just Rolls Building. The BPC's work will also be dealt with at regional centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester. All work in and out of London will be divided into courts or lists, namely the Admiralty Court, the Business List (with Pensions and Financial Services and Regulation as sub-lists), the Commercial Court, the Circuit Commercial Courts (formerly the Mercantile Court), the Competition List, the Financial List, the Insolvency and Companies List, the Intellectual Property List (with the Patents Court and the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court being sub-lists), the Property, Trusts and Probate List, the Revenue List and the Technology and Construction Court. A claimant without a listing allergy must choose which BPC court, list or sub-list into which they should issue, based on the principal subject matter of the dispute as well as the appropriate location in which to issue. The claims will be given a claim number with a prefix reflecting the court, list or sub-list of issue. Existing claims will retain their numbers. The new arrangements are designed to make it easier to transfer claims between the Rolls Building and the regions.

Claims issued in the county court at Central London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Preston (or, presumably, sent or transferred there) and relating to specialist work of the type undertaken in the BPC will be marked ‘Business and Property Work’ by the court on allocation if not already so marked by the claimant and will be managed and heard only by specialist judges. And those judges must spend at least 20% of their time handling the county court specialist work or BPC work. Among the excluded work will be building claims (other than adjudication claims) worth under £75,000, invoice and other straightforward business claims worth under £75,000, land trust claims not combined with other specialist claims, boundary and easement disputes involving no conveyancing issues and Inheritance Act claims.

The present procedural rules will still apply to the BPC and with claims being started under Parts 7 or 8 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR). A new Practice Direction is being issued which is devoted to BPC work and will form part of the CPR 92nd update.

Those of you who are litigants in person, do bear in mind that the BPC is intended for the really big and complicated stuff. However, it may be that a county court claim demands the knowledge and experience of a specialist judge and, in that event, you may wish to start it  at or have it transferred to one of the county court centres mentioned above.

Civil Procedure Rules; Latest Amendments

I October 2017. That's when the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2017 SI 2017/889 - sexy title, eh?- come into force. Unlikely to raise your blood pressure with excitement but will be of some interest to lawyers and their staff if they can stay awake before they come to the end of them - or this post.

Here's a tour around them -

• The upper limit for a claim under the European Small Claims Procedure - cross-border low value money claims dealt with on paper between litigants in EU member states - is raised from 2,000 to 5,000 euros.
• Where an application for a European Order for Payment is contested - this is a simplified procedure which allows a creditor who has a claim for a specific amount of money to apply to their court for an order which can be enforced against the so-called debtor in other EU member states - then the application will be transferred over to the European Small Claims Procedure.
• Where a complex case in the High Court calls for consideration of legal points which would normally be dealt with by different divisions - for example, a matrimonial property case involving both family law and trust law which are the preserve of the Family Division and the Chancery Division of the High Court respectively - then there will now be an express power for a judge from each of the appropriate divisions to sit together to deal with the case in what is called a Divisional Court.
• It is made clear that when an appeal court grants permission to appeal it can go on to deal with the substantive appeal at the same hearing: rolling the two together.
• The Business and Property Courts were recently created bringing together the specialist courts and lists of the High Court including the Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court, the Mercantile Court, the Technology Court and the courts of the Chancery Division. As part of the drive to simplify and clarify the names of these specialist courts, the Mercantile Court is being renamed the Circuit Commercial Court. Cool!

I told you!