Chancery Guide October 2013 Chancery Guide Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introductory 5 Section A: General civil work 7 Chapter 2 Starting proceedings, allocation and statements of case 7 Chapter 3 The court’s case management powers 11 Chapter 4 Disclosure of documents and expert evidence 15 Chapter 5 Applications 18 Chapter 6 Listing arrangements 28 Chapter 7 Preparation for hearings 35 Chapter 8 Conduct of a trial 43 Chapter 9 Judgments, orders and proceedings after judgment 45 Chapter 10 Appeals 49 Chapter 11 Costs 52 Chapter 12 Chancery business outside London 56 Chapter 13 County courts 61 Chapter 14 Use of information technology 63 Chapter 15 Miscellaneous matters 68 Chapter 16 Suggestions for improvement and Court Users’ Committees 71 Chapter 17 Alternative dispute resolution 73 Setion B: Specialist work 74 Chapter 18 Introduction to the specialist work of the Chancery Division 74 Chapter 19 The Bankruptcy Court 76 Chapter 20 The Companies Court 79 Chapter 21 Mortgage claims 84 Chapter 22 Partnership claims and receivers 85 Chapter 23 The Patents Court and intellectual property claims etc 86 Chapter 24 Probate and inheritance claims 87 Chapter 25 Trusts 90 Appendix 1: addresses and other contact details 95 1 Chancery Guide Appendix 2: Guidelines on statement of case 101 Appendix 3: Case Management Directions 102 Appendix 4: Judge’s Application Information Form 109 Appendix 5: Correspondence with Chancery Masters – Practice Note 110 Appendix 6: Guidelines on bundles 111 Appendix 7: Guidelines on skeleton arguments, chronologies, indices and reading lists 114 Appendix 8: Delivery of documents in Chancery Chambers 115 Appendix 9: Guidelines on witness statements 116 Appendix 10: A guide for Receivers in the Chancery Division 118 Appendix 11: Lloyd’s Names’ Estate Applications: Forms 123 Appendix 12: Practice Note: Remuneration of Judicial Trustees 125 Appendix 13: Transfer of cases to Chancery Trial Centres 126 Appendix 14: Guidelines on drafting orders 128 Appendix 15: Chancery business at Central London Civil Justice Centre 130 Appendix 16: Chancery business in the North East 148 2 Chancery Guide Abbreviations used in this Guide Civil Procedure Rules CPR HM Courts & Tribunals Service HMCTS Practice Direction supplementing a Civil Procedure Rule PD Rules of the Supreme Court 1965 RSC Pre-trial review PTR Part 1 means CPR Part 1 Rule 1.1 means CPR Part 1 rule 1.1 PD 52 means the PD supplementing CPR Part 52 The Civil Procedure Rules (comprising rules, practice directions, pre-action protocols and forms) are published by the Stationery Office. They are also published on the Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmcts/index.htm. This Guide will also be found on the Chancery Division section of the Justice website: www.justice.gov.uk/courts/rcj-rolls- building/chancery-division. 3 Chancery Guide Preface This is the seventh edition of the Chancery Guide. Its preparation was initiated by Sir Andrew Morritt, my predecessor as Chancellor, who retired as head of the Division in January 2013 after heading the Division with conspicuous distinction for the previous 12 years. This edition has been produced under the supervision of Sir Launcelot Henderson. Revision of the Guide is a time consuming task, requiring considerable patience and dedication over a lengthy period. I am extremely grateful to Sir Launcelot for bringing this edition to completion. He has been assisted by many others, including, in particular, the Chancery judges and specialist circuit judges, Chief Master Winegarten and Master Teverson, Chief Registrar Baister and Registrar Barber, Steven Rogers (Associate), Vicky Bell (HMCTS), Doug Bell (Chancery Clerk of the Lists), Matt Smith (HMCTS), and the Chancery Bar Association (especially Malcolm Davis-White QC, Katherine McQuail and Mark West). The publication of this edition follows the move of the Division, together with the Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court, to the purpose built Rolls Building. As the largest business court complex in the world, with 31 court rooms, 55 conference rooms, and modern high quality facilities, it is an appropriate contemporary venue for conduct of the national and international work of the Division. This new edition of the Guide contains changes reflecting the move to the Rolls Building. Other notable changes concern the use of IT, the new scheme for electronic filing of most skeletons for hearings in the Rolls Building, points of practice and procedure relating to applications, particularly in the Applications Court, the practice and procedure before Masters and in the Bankruptcy and Companies Courts, Tomlin Orders, appeals, litigants in person, the Central London Civil Justice Centre, and Chancery business outside London. Other important procedural changes will affect the practice and work of the Division in the foreseeable future. In particular, aspects of Sir Rupert Jackson’s Civil Justice review will shortly come into effect. Furthermore, it seems entirely appropriate, following the Division’s move to the Rolls Building, to have a thorough review of the current practices and procedures for the conduct of business in the Chancery Division, to ensure that those procedures are appropriate for current times. I have, therefore, asked Mr Justice Briggs to take charge of such a review (the Chancery Modernisation Review). He will be assisted by Mr Justice Newey and will have the benefit of an expert advisory panel. It is anticipated that the review will be completed, following public consultation, by the end of this year. Sir Terence Etherton Chancellor of the High Court 4 Chancery Guide Chapter 1 Introductory About the Chancery Division 1.1 The Chancery Division is one of the three parts, or Divisions, of the High Court of Justice The other two are the Queen’s Bench Division and the Family Division. The head of the Chancery Division is the Chancellor of the High Court (“the Chancellor”). There are currently 18 High Court judges attached to the Division. In addition, in the Royal Courts of Justice, Rolls Building, in London, there are six judges who are referred to as Masters (one of whom is the Chief Master), and five judges who are referred to as Bankruptcy Registrars (one of whom is the Chief Registrar). In the District Registries (see Chapter 12) the work done by Masters in London is performed by District Judges. References in this Guide to a Master include, in the case of proceedings in a District Registry, references to a district judge. Deputies sit on a regular basis for both judges and Masters. Any reference to a judge or Master in the Guide includes a reference to a person sitting as a deputy. 1.2 The Chancery Division undertakes civil work of many kinds, including specialist work such as companies, patents and contentious probate. The range of cases heard in the Chancery Division is wide and varied. The major part of the case-load today involves business or property disputes of one kind or another. Often these are complex and involve substantial sums of money. 1.3 Judges of the Chancery Division also sit as judges of the Court of Protection; in the Upper Tribunal (particularly the Tax Chamber); and in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. This Guide does not cover any of those courts or tribunals. 1.4 In many types of case (e.g. claims for professional negligence against solicitors, accountants, valuers or other professionals) the claimant has a choice whether to bring the claim in the Chancery Division or elsewhere in the High Court. But there are other types of case which, in the High Court, must be brought in the Chancery Division including claims (other than claims in the Commercial Court) relating to the application of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the equivalent provisions in the Competition Act 1998. The specialist work of the Chancery Division is dealt with in section B of this Guide. There are also certain claims which must be started in the Chancery Division either in the High Court or in a District Registry where there is a Chancery District Registry or in the Central London Civil Justice Centre (Chancery List). About this Guide 1.5 The aim of this Guide is to provide additional practical information not already contained in the CPR or the PDs supplementing them. Litigants and their advisers are expected to be familiar with the CPR and the PDs. This Guide should be used in conjunction with them. It is not the function of this Guide to summarise the CPR or the PDs, nor should it be regarded as a substitute for them. 1.6 This Guide does not have the status of a practice direction. So it does not have the force of law. But failure to comply with this Guide may influence the way in which the court exercises its powers under the CPR, including the making of adverse costs orders. In case of any conflict between this Guide and a rule or practice direction, the rule or practice direction prevails. 1.7 This Guide is published as part of a series of guides to various civil courts. Where information is more readily available in another guide, this Guide may simply refer to it. A separate book contains Practice Forms for use in the Chancery Division and in the Queen’s Bench Division. Some of the forms most commonly used in the Chancery 5 Chancery Guide Division are found in the Appendices to this Guide. Forms may also be downloaded from the Justice website and may be found in the main procedural reference books. 1.8 Section A of this Guide is concerned with general civil work. Section B deals with specialist work. Some subjects are covered in more detail in the Appendices, and Appendix 1 sets out some contact details which may be useful.