Civil Procedure Act 1997

Section 1.

SCHEDULE 1Civil Procedure Rules

Matters dealt with by the former rules

1Among the matters which Civil Procedure Rules may be made about are any matters which were governed by the former Rules of the Supreme Court or the former county court rules (that is, the Rules of the [S.I. 1965/1776.] Supreme Court (Revision) 1965 and the [S.I. 1981/1687.] County Court Rules 1981).

Exercise of jurisdiction

2Civil Procedure Rules may provide for the exercise of the jurisdiction of any court within the scope of the rules by officers or other staff of the court.

Removal of proceedings

3(1)Civil Procedure Rules may provide for the removal of proceedings at any stage—

(a)within the High Court (for example, between different divisions or different district registries), or

(b)between county courts.

(2)In sub-paragraph (1)—

(a)“provide for the removal of proceedings” means—

(i)provide for transfer of proceedings, or

(ii)provide for any jurisdiction in any proceedings to be exercised (whether concurrently or not) elsewhere within the High Court or, as the case may be, by another county court without the proceedings being transferred, and

(b)“proceedings” includes any part of proceedings.

Evidence

4Civil Procedure Rules may modify the rules of evidence as they apply to proceedings in any court within the scope of the rules.

Application of other rules

5(1)Civil Procedure Rules may apply any rules of court which relate to a court which is outside the scope of Civil Procedure Rules.

(2)Any rules of court, not made by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee, which apply to proceedings of a particular kind in a court within the scope of Civil Procedure Rules may be applied by Civil Procedure Rules to other proceedings in such a court.

(3)In this paragraph “rules of court” includes any provision governing the practice and procedure of a court which is made by or under an enactment.

(4)Where Civil Procedure Rules may be made by applying other rules, the other rules may be applied—

(a)to any extent,

(b)with or without modification, and

(c)as amended from time to time.

Practice directions

6Civil Procedure Rules may, instead of providing for any matter, refer to provision made or to be made about that matter by directions.

Different provision for different cases etc.

7The power to make Civil Procedure Rules includes power to make different provision for different cases or different areas, including different provision—

(a)for a specific court or specific division of a court, or

(b)for specific proceedings, or a specific jurisdiction,

specified in the rules.