View from the bench | More, better rules in the latest CPD update

The 59th update to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR) came into effect on 1 October 2012, incorporating changes made by the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2012 SI 2012/2208. I have been eagerly awaiting it. Perhaps the most impressive part of it is the extension of powers of Masters of the Crown Office and the Administrative Court. Then there are amendments to CPR Part 80 (Terrorism) (applications by the Secretary of State), which are also unlikely to feature in my daily County Court list, and the introduction of the Patents' Court small claims track in Part 63.

There is also a wholly new Part 81 for Contempt of Court. The provisions which are familiar to those of you who have studied the RSC and CCR within schedules 1 and 2 to the CPR as dealt with contempt and the supplementing Practice Direction, have been moved over as revised to Part 81 and are procedural only.

The reworded provisions will apply to all applications made in relation to contempt and to contempt in the face of the court occurring after 1 October 2012. There are several consequential amendments to other rules, but these won't trouble me unless I am dealing with a contempt and then I will know I need to check each stage. As is frequently the case, Part 81 codifies existing good practice and draws together the rules already established in case law.

Familiar fundamentals

The fundamentals are familiar: for an order to be enforced by committal, it must have been served personally (unless the court orders otherwise) and it must contain warnings of the consequences of breach, although undertakings may be enforced as orders without the warning notice being displayed on the written undertaking, and undertakings may be served by handing them to the person at court.

The application is made under Part 23 and may be made against a person not party to the proceedings. It must set out the particulars of breach alleged, in full, separately and numerically with dates where known. Some applications require permission '“ committal for breach of a solicitor's undertaking or in relation to interference with the due administration of justice.

Contempt in the face of the court may, very simply, be dealt with as the court thinks fit if that court has power to commit for contempt. Committals in relation to false statements of truth or disclosure statements in the higher courts may only be made with the permission of the court or by the Attorney General, and in the County Court only with the permission of a single judge ?of the Queen's Bench Division or the Attorney General.

At the hearing, the respondent has a right to give evidence but may not be compelled to do so, and if the hearing is held in private the core decision must be announced publicly. A committal order may still be suspended: the order is for a warrant of committal to be issued and it may not be enforced more than two years after it is issued. An application to be discharged must be in writing.

There are parallel provisions for sequestration of property and for fines for disobeying a witness summons and for enforcing the penal provisions of the County Courts Act 1984, but I hope I can look those up when I need them.

There is some more basic stuff '“ amendments (among others) to forms N460, N117, N16(1),and N117.

CPR Part 52 (Appeals) has been revised to provide that a High Court judge, Designated Civil Judge and Specialist Circuit Judge considering a permission application on paper may direct that no oral hearing will be ?permitted. However, judicial review of refusals for permission to appeal made by the Upper Tribunal in immigration and asylum cases will now be allowed.

Allocation questionnaire

Of more immediate impact to the average district judge's day is the amendment to Part 26, following the completion of the pilot scheme, allowing us to make almost any order we think appropriate where any party fails to file an allocation questionnaire '“ without first making an unless order. Relief from sanctions imposed here will still be available but without any entitlement to the costs of the application. This is good news in terms of clearing work, but will have to be applied with caution where litigants are self represented '“ assuming we know they are.

Having completed one or two pilot schemes, there is another '“ PD51H '“ automatic referral to mediation of County Court Money Claims by Salford where the parties are willing. Many Western Circuit courts have been referring all small claims to HMCTS mediation service in order to boost the throughput of the service's work. This has demonstrated that even where a party says he does not want to go to mediation many cases can be resolved.

Two significant changes now brought into effect have already been the subject of comment in this Journal and so I only have to remember that they have come into effect: they are the amendments to the Charging Orders Act 1979 permitting a charging order to be made even though there has been no default, and the new Insolvency Proceedings Practice Direction.

The CPR, practice directions and a note will all be available on the Ministry of ?Justice website where the CPR are published as amended from the effective date. Happy reading!