Interpretation.

(1)A court the practice and procedure of which is governed by Civil Procedure Rules is referred to in this Act as being “within the scope” of the rules; and references to a court outside the scope of the rules are to be read accordingly.

(2)In this Act—

“enactment” includes an enactment contained in subordinate legislation (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978), and

“practice directions” means directions as to the practice and procedure of any court within the scope of Civil Procedure Rules.

Minor and consequential amendments.

Schedule 2 (which makes minor and consequential amendments) is to have effect.

Short title, commencement and extent.

(1)This Act may be cited as the Civil Procedure Act 1997.

(2)Sections 1 to 10 are to come into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor may by order made by statutory instrument appoint, and different days may be appointed for different purposes.

(3)This Act extends to England and Wales only.

The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

[26th April 1999]

(extract)

PART 1

OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE

The overriding objective

1.1—(1) These Rules are a new procedural code with the overriding objective of enabling the court to deal with cases justly.

(2) Dealing with a case justly includes, so far as is practicable—

(a)ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing;

(b)saving expense;

(c)dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate—

(i)to the amount of money involved;

(ii)to the importance of the case;

(iii)to the complexity of the issues; and

(iv)to the financial position of each party;

(d)ensuring that it is dealt with expeditiously and fairly; and

(e)allotting to it an appropriate share of the court’s resources, while taking into account the need to allot resources to other cases.

Application by the court of the overriding objective

1.2 The court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it—

(a)exercises any power given to it by the Rules; or

(b)interprets any rule.

Duty of the parties

1.3 The parties are required to help the court to further the overriding objective.

Court’s duty to manage cases

1.4—(1) The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases.

(2) Active case management includes —

(a)encouraging the parties to co-operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings;

(b)identifying the issues at an early stage;

(c)deciding promptly which issues need full investigation and trial and accordingly disposing summarily of the others;

(d)deciding the order in which issues are to be resolved;

(e)encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution (GL) procedure if the court considers that appropriate and facilitating the use of such procedure;

(f)helping the parties to settle the whole or part of the case;

(g)fixing timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the case;

(h)considering whether the likely benefits of taking a particular step justify the cost of taking it;

(i)dealing with as many aspects of the case as it can on the same occasion;

(j)dealing with the case without the parties needing to attend at court;

(k)making use of technology; and

(l)giving directions to ensure that the trial of a case proceeds quickly and efficiently.

PART 2

APPLICATION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RULES

Application of the Rules

2.1—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Rules apply to all proceedings in—

(a)county courts;

(b)the High Court; and

(c)the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.

(2) These Rules do not apply to proceedings of the kinds specified in the first column of the following Table (proceedings for which rules may be made under the enactments specified in the second column) except to the extent that they are applied to those proceedings by another enactment—

Proceedings Enactments

1. Insolvency proceedings

Insolvency Act 1986(2), ss.411 and 412

2. Non-contentious or common form probate proceedings

Supreme Court Act 1981(3), s.127

3. Proceedings in the High Court when acting as a Prize Court

Prize Courts Act 1894(4), s.3

4. Proceedings before the judge within the meaning of Part VII of the Mental Health Act 1983(5)

Mental Health Act 1983, s.106

5. Family proceedings

Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984(6), s.40

The glossary

2.2—(1) The glossary at the end of these Rules is a guide to the meaning of certain legal expressions used in the Rules, but is not to be taken as giving those expressions any meaning in the Rules which they do not have in the law generally.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), words in these Rules which are included in the glossary are followed by “(GL)”.

(3) The words ‘counterclaim’, ‘damages’, ‘practice form’ and ‘service’, which appear frequently in the Rules, are included in the glossary but are not followed by “(GL)”.