What are the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR)?

Civil Procedure Rules are the rules which govern civil litigation i.e. cases not involving criminal law. Both the claimant and defendant are bound by these rules, and the courts must adhere to them too. Under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Right (incorporated by the Human Rights Act in the UK), a fair trial must given and complying with civil procedure rules helps the courts achieve this.

There are separate rules for criminal cases known simply as the Criminal Procedure Rules.

How are the rules structured?

The Civil Procedure Rules are divided into 74 parts. Each part contains rules and practice directions, which assists in the interpreting the rules and properly implementing them into court hearings.

What do the rules require?

Under Part 1 Rule 1 of the CPR, the courts are required to deal with cases justly. This is a very important rule, which helps to define the overall tone and objectives of the CPR. ‘Just’ in the context of the CPR means treating both parties to disputes equally; spending a proportionate amount of time and allocating appropriate resources on cases according to their nature and complexity; saving costs where possible, and generally applying the law fairly.

Other important Parts of the CPR include:

Part 3 – rules concerning the service of court documents

Part 6 – what claims forms are and what they must contain

Part 7, 10,14,15,16 – how to properly commence proceedings

How are proceedings ‘properly’ commenced?

All claims must start with a form stating what the claim is, the remedies sought and whether the claimant wishes to claim monetary compensation. All claims must be verified by a statement of truth.

The claim form must be copied and a copy given to the defendant. This must be done within four months of the form being issued.

Once the claim form has been served on the defendant, he must respond to it. Under Part 10, the defendant can choose to acknowledge the claim within 28 days, serve an admission (Part 14) or file a defence within 14 days (Parts 15 & 16). If the defendant fails to respond, under Part 12 the claimant can obtain a Judgement in Default.

If the defendant file a defence, they must state which claims they accept and which claims they deny, and the defence must be verified with a statement of truth.

What’s a statement of truth?

A statement of truth is a signed document which asks the claimant and defendant to verify the truth of their claims. A statement of truth must be worded as follows:

“I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report are within my own knowledge and which are not. Those that are within my own knowledge I confirm to be true. The opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete professional opinions on the matters to which they refer.”

What are pre-action protocols?

The protocols accompany the rules and are designed to give courts and parties involved in disputes more specific guidance on how rules should be implemented in certain areas of law and encourage parties to settle disputes as quickly as possible without going to trial.