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| 12.1 |
Many Chancery cases are heard outside London. There are eight Chancery District Registries: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Preston. High Court or Circuit Chancery judges sit regularly at all of these centres.
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| 12.2 |
Outside London, county courts have exclusive jurisdiction in bankruptcy, and proceedings in bankruptcy must therefore be brought in the relevant county court which has bankruptcy jurisdiction rather than in the District Registries.
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Judges
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| 12.3 |
Two Chancery judges supervise the arrangements for the hearing of Chancery cases out of London. Mr Justice Hart is the Chancery Supervising judge for the Western, Wales and Chester, and Midland Circuits. Mr Justice Patten, as Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, is concerned with Chancery hearings on the Northern and North Eastern Circuits. Both these judges regularly take substantial Chancery matters for hearing outside London. Mr Justice Hart sits regularly in Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, but if appropriate will sit elsewhere on the relevant circuit, for example in Chester. Mr Justice Patten sits regularly in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle, and may sit in Preston or in other court centres on either circuit (e.g. Carlisle or Sheffield) if business so requires.
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| 12.4 |
There are also Specialist Circuit judges who have the authority to exercise the powers of a judge of the Chancery Division (under section 9 of the Supreme Court Act 1981Acts, therefore known as section 9 judges) and who normally sit out of London. They exercise a general Chancery jurisdiction, subject to exceptions. Those exceptions are proceedings directly concerning revenue, and proceedings before the Patents Court constituted as part of the Chancery Division under section 96 of the Patents Act 1977Acts.
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| 12.5 |
Currently the Circuit judges who sit regularly in Chancery matters out of London are:
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Judge Weeks QC (Bristol)
Judge Norris QC (Birmingham)
Judge Wyn Williams QC (Cardiff)
Judge Howarth (Manchester, Liverpool and Preston)
Judge Behrens (Leeds and Newcastle)
Judge Kaye QC (Leeds and Newcastle)
Judge Hodge QC (Manchester, Liverpool and Preston)
Judge Gilliland QC (who normally sits in Salford hearing Technology and Construction cases), Judges Kershaw QC and Hegarty QC (who are the local Mercantile judges based in Manchester and Liverpool) and Judge Raynor QC also assist in the disposal of Chancery business on the Northern Circuit. So also, on the North-Eastern Circuit, does Judge Langan QC who is the Mercantile judge for Leeds and Newcastle. The Chancery, Mercantile and TCC judges assist each other in Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff as well.
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| 12.6 |
In addition certain other Circuit judges and some Queen's Counsel are authorised to take Chancery cases on the same basis.
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| 12.7 |
If a Chancery case is proceeding in any District Registry other than a Chancery District Registry, the case should normally be transferred to the appropriate Chancery District Registry upon the first occasion the case comes before the court.
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| 12.8 |
The venue of a Chancery trial out of London will normally be one of the centres mentioned above. However in appropriate circumstances (e.g. because of the number or age of local witnesses, the need for a site visit, or travel problems) arrangements can be made for a Chancery judge to sit elsewhere.
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| 12.9 |
In cases of great difficulty or importance the trial may be by a High Court judge. Arrangements can also be made in exceptional circumstances for a High Court judge to deal with any of the matters excepted from the jurisdiction of an authorised Circuit judge. Such a judge may be one of the Chancery judges other than Hart or Patten JJ.
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| 12.10 |
Where it is desired that a case be heard by a specialist Chancery judge outside one of the normal Chancery Centres, or be taken by a High Court judge, inquiries should normally be made in the first instance to the Listing Officer for the nearest Chancery District Registry on the relevant circuit . If the need arises, inquiries can also be made to the clerk to Mr Justice Hart or the clerk to Mr Justice Patten, as the case may be. If no relevant clerk is available, inquiries should be made to the Chancery Listing Officer at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The clerks' contact numbers are in Appendix 1.
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| 12.11 |
Subject to the following paragraphs any application should normally be made to a District Judge (unless it relates to a matter which a District Judge does not have power to hear).
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| 12.12 |
A District Judge may of his or her own initiative (for instance because of the complexity of the matter or the need for specialist attention) direct that an application be referred to a High Court judge or an authorised Circuit Judge.
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| 12.13 |
If all or any of the parties consider that the matter should be dealt with by a judge (High Court or Circuit), the parties or any of them may arrange that the matter be listed on one of the ordinary application days (see paragraph 12.14 below). The District Judges, who will consult where necessary with one of the Chancery judges (High Court or Circuit), are usually available by post or telephone to give guidance on procedural matters, for example the court before which the matter should come or whether the matter may be dealt with in writing.
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| 12.14 |
Applications days are listed regularly before a judge, when applications and short appeals, including all interim matters are heard. Normally all matters will be called into court at the commencement of the day in order to work out a running order. Matters will be heard without the court going into private session unless good reason is shown. Rights of audience are unaffected. Applications days in Newcastle are subject to the Newcastle telephone application pilot scheme (see PD 23B), and many applications there are dealt with by telephone hearings.
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| 12.15 |
Applications days are: Monday in Birmingham, Thursday in Bristol and Friday in Cardiff. In Manchester and Liverpool application days are on Friday of each week alternating between Manchester and Liverpool. In Leeds and Newcastle Chancery and Mercantile application days are combined. In Leeds applications are heard most Fridays. In Newcastle there is at least one application day each month, on a Friday. An application which needs to be heard urgently may be made, by telephone or in person, on a day other than the regular applications day: the Listing Officer for the relevant centre should be approached as soon as possible when the need for an urgent hearing arises.
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| 12.16 |
These are governed by the general rules, save that in the case of applications out of hours, the party applying should contact the relevant court office. The main relevant contact numbers are set out in Appendix 1. In case of difficulty, contact the Royal Courts of Justice, on the number given in Appendix 1.
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| 12.17 |
Normally a hearing will not be necessary. The procedure is as in the general rules.
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| 12.18 |
A judge is unlikely to agree to more than two consent adjournments of an interim application. Applications to vacate a trial date will require substantial justification and a hearing, normally before the trial judge.
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| 12.19 |
Listing arrangements may vary at different centres, depending on availability of judges and courtrooms. The current details are described below.
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| 12.20 |
The Shared List
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The shared list is primarily for use by the three specialised lists of the Birmingham District Registry -- those operated by the Chancery, Mercantile and Technology and Construction Courts.
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The shared list is in addition to the normal lists of those courts and allows better use to be made of judicial time. Given the settlement rate of trials in the three divisions, two additional cases, the fourth and fifth fixtures, will be listed at any one time, in addition to the three cases listed before the three specialist courts. Those two additional cases will be taken by any of the section 9 judges who become available. Cases are only entered into the shared list if there is a very strong expectation that they will be heard on the day fixed.
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In order, therefore, for a case to enter the shared list it must be suitable for hearing before any of the section 9 specialist judges.
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Suitability for listing a case in the shared list may be suggested by the District Judge at directions stage, or by the parties when applying for the case to be listed. It is likely that 4th and 5th fixtures will be allocated an earlier trial date than a case which has to be heard by the appropriate specialist judge.
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The final decision to list a case in the shared list will lie with Judge Norris QC for Chancery cases, Judge Alton for Mercantile cases, and Judge Kirkham for Technology and Construction cases.
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| 12.21 |
In order to make available earlier hearing dates than would otherwise be possible, a reserve list is operated for Chancery cases listed to be heard in the Bristol District Registry. Cases in the reserve list are given a fixed date, usually as a second fixture. A second fixture will only be given when there is a very strong expectation of the case being heard on that date. Other judges are called upon in the event of both first and second fixtures being effective.
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| 12.22 |
Judge Wyn Williams QC sits both as a Chancery judge and a judge of the Technology and Construction Court. His list contains both categories of case. All cases are allocated a fixed starting date but some are first and some reserve fixtures. Other judges are called upon in the event of both first and reserve fixtures being effective. All the judges who sit at the Cardiff Civil Justice Centre (Judges Price QC, Masterman, Chambers QC and Hickinbottom) are authorised to sit as Chancery judges. Any discussions concerning listing should be with the Chancery Listing clerk in Cardiff.
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| 12.23 |
The Shared List
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When sitting at the same court centre, Judge Howarth and Judge Hodge QC will assist each other in the disposal of their respective daily lists. If necessary and if they are available at the relevant court centre, Judge Kershaw QC and Judge Hegarty QC (who are the local Mercantile judges), and other circuit judges will assist in the disposal of business. Listing for all Chancery matters in Manchester, Liverpool and Preston is dealt with from Manchester.
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Second Fixtures
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Given the very high settlement rate, most cases will be given a second fixture date as well as a first fixture date. Parties to second fixtures are notified in advance of the hearing date if the case will not be reached on that date. The amount of notice depends on the circumstances of the case. In some cases it may not be until the previous working day but it is usually farther ahead, and longer may be guaranteed in the case of particular difficulties.
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| 12.24 |
When sitting at the same time in Leeds or Newcastle Judge Behrens, Judge Langan QC and Judge Kaye QC will assist each other in the disposal of their respective daily lists. The Chancery and Mercantile Court lists are run on a shared basis in both Leeds and Newcastle. Second fixtures are used in the same way as on the Northern Circuit, and on the same basis.
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