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| Abbreviations used in this Guide: | ||
| Civil Procedure Rules | CPR | |
| HM Courts Service | HMCS | |
| 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 Department of Constitutional Affairs' website: www.dca.gov.uk. This Guide will also be found on the Chancery Division section of the Courts Service website: www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk.
As from October 2005, the effective head of the Chancery Division is the Chancellor of the High Court, formerly the Vice-Chancellor.
This is the fifth edition of the Chancery Guide. It is published ten years after the publication of the first. The changes made in the conduct of civil proceedings generally and in the Chancery Division in particular in the intervening period have been profound. The substitution of the old Rules of the Supreme Court with the Civil Procedure Rules is now virtually complete and amendments to the first editions of the Civil Procedure Rules are coming through.
As I wrote in the Preface to the fourth edition, the Chancery Guide is no substitute for the Civil Procedure Rules and associated Practice Directions. It seeks to give practical guidance on the conduct of cases in the Chancery Division within the framework of those rules and practice directions.
This edition has been produced under the supervision of Sir Lawrence Collins. I am very grateful to him for undertaking the task. The amount of work involved is considerable. It is additional to the normal workload of a judge of the Chancery Division and, in his case, to the editorial responsibility for Dicey and Morris on the Conflict of Laws. He has been assisted with regard to various topics by many others to whom I send my thanks too. It is always dangerous to mention them by name lest someone is inadvertently omitted; nevertheless I would like to pay particular tribute to: Chief Master Winegarten; Master Bragge; Registrar Derrett; Mrs V C Bell; Mr A D Parkinson; Miss R Warner; Mr J Smethurst; Mr S Adamyk.
The pattern of the last ten years has been for a new edition to appear every two to three years. The proposals for changes to civil litigation now under consideration suggest that this pattern, at least, will continue in the future. In the meantime I hope and believe that this edition will be of considerable use to all those who, in whatever capacity, have occasion to participate in litigation in the Chancery Division.
Andrew Morritt
Chancellor of the High Court
October 2005