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The overriding objective
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| 1.1 |
The aim of the Civil Procedure Rules and the Practice Directions which supplement them is to remove excessive delay and expense, and to improve access to justice through quicker, cheaper and more proportionate justice. As an integral part of the process, cases are closely monitored through to trial by the judiciary.
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| 1.2 |
To achieve these aims, all procedural decisions under the CPR are guided by the overriding objective stated in rule 1.1. The court must deal with cases justly; dealing justly with a case includes, so far as practicable, ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing, saving expense, dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate to the sum at stake, to the importance of the case, to its complexity and to each party's financial position, ensuring expedition and fairness and allotting to each case an appropriate share of the court's resources.
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| 1.3 |
The Chancery Division is one of the three parts, or Divisions, of the High Court of Justice, the other two being the Queen's Bench Division and the Family Division. The effective head of the Chancery Division is the Chancellor of the High Court ("the Chancellor"). There are currently seventeen High Court judges attached to the Division. In addition, in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, there are six judges who are referred to as Masters (one of whom is the Chief Master), and six 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.
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| 1.4 |
In general, trials of claims are heard by the judges, as are interim applications involving injunctions (including applications for freezing and search orders), while the majority of other work, including most procedural work and most post-trial work (eg accounts and inquiries) is conducted by the Masters. Masters may, however, direct that a matter be listed before a judge although they have jurisdiction, for example in the case of lengthy inquiries as to damages (see paragraphs 3.2 and 9.20 below).
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| 1.5 |
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 disputes of one kind or another. Often these are complex and involve substantial sums of money.
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| 1.6 |
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 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty 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 Trial Centre (Chancery List).
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| 1.7 |
The aim of this Guide is to provide additional practical information not already contained in the CPR or the Practice Directions supplementing them. Litigants and their advisers are expected to be familiar with the CPR. It is not the function of this Guide to summarise the CPR, nor should it be regarded as a substitute for them.
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| 1.8 |
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 Division are found in the Appendices to this Guide. Forms may also be downloaded from the HMCS website and may be found in the main procedural reference books.
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| 1.9 | 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.
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| 1.10 |
Material which used to be contained in the Chancery Division Practice Directions and which remains relevant has been incorporated into either Section A or Section B of this Guide, as appropriate.
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| 1.11 |
A reference in this Guide to a Part is to that Part of the CPR, to a rule is to the relevant rule in the CPR, unless otherwise stated, and to PD [number] is to the PD supplementing the Part so numbered, the title being given if necessary to distinguish one from another. The PDpdp-43, pdp-48.about costs, supplementing Parts 43 to 48, is called the Costs PDpdp-43.
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| 1.12 |
This Guide states the position as at September 2005. During the currency of the Guide, and even in some cases before publication, there are likely to be changes in matters covered in the text, including room numbers and other contact details; these should be checked as necessary. The Guide will be kept under review in the light of practical experience and of changes to the rules and practice directions. Any comments on the text of the Guide are welcome and should be addressed to the clerk to the Chancellor.
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| 1.13 |
The text of the Guide is also to be found, together with other Court Guides
and other useful information concerning the administration of justice in the
Chancery Division and elsewhere, on the HMCS website. Amendments will
appear on the Guide on the website as appropriate:
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk.
The Guide is also printed in the main procedural reference books.
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