50. Appeals

This chapter considers the structure of non-family civil appeals. It covers routes of appeal; permission to appeal; time for appealing; procedure on appealing; respondent’s notice; applications within appeals stay; striking out appeal notices and setting aside or imposing conditions; hearing of appeals; appeal court’s powers; appeals by way of case stated; and appeals to the Supreme Court.

47. Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting

Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) provides costs protection to claimants in personal injuries claims. If the claimant wins, the defendant should be ordered to pay the claimant’s costs in the usual way. However, if the claimant loses, under QOCS while the claimant remains liable to pay its own lawyers’ costs, and may be ordered to pay the successful defendant’s costs, the claimant will be protected against actually having to pay those costs to the defendant. This chapter discusses cases where QOCS applies; the effects of QOCS; and loss of QOCS protection.

42. Interim Injunctions

This chapter discusses the rules on interim injunctions. Interim injunctions are temporary orders made with the purpose of regulating the position between the parties to an action pending trial. Such an order is particularly useful where there is evidence that the respondent’s alleged wrongdoing will cause irreparable damage to the applicant’s interests in the period between issue of process and trial. The chapter covers judges able to grant injunctions; pre-action applications for interim injunctions; applications during proceedings; principles for the granting of interim injunctions; defences and bars to relief that may be raised on an application for an interim injunction; interim injunction orders; and effect of not applying for interim relief.

40. References to the Court of Justice of the European Union

An English court faced with a question of EU law may sometimes decide it itself, or may refer it to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg for a preliminary ruling. If a reference is made, the English proceedings will be stayed pending the ruling of the CJEU. Once it is made, the ruling is binding on the English court, but it is only a preliminary ruling, in that the English court is left to apply the ruling to the facts of the case and to give judgment. This chapter discusses the questions which may be referred to the CJEU; mandatory references; discretionary references; procedures in England; procedure in the CJEU; and costs of the parties in seeking a ruling from the CJEU.

38. Listing and Pre-Trial Reviews

Claims that are not compromised and which do not end through striking out or summary or default judgment, have to be determined by the court at trial. Listing is the process whereby the court gives a date for the trial. This chapter discusses listing for trial; pre-trial reviews; listing in the Royal Courts of Justice; and adjournments.

33. Hearsay

This chapter considers the admissibility of and procedural matters relating to hearsay evidence in civil cases. Hearsay evidence is where a witness gives evidence of facts they have not personally experienced for the purpose of proving the truth of those facts. Hearsay may be written or oral, and may be first-hand, second-hand, etc. Evidence is no longer excluded in civil cases solely on the ground that it is hearsay. However, in practice, trial judges give limited weight to hearsay evidence.

28. Fast Track

The fast track provides a ‘no-frills’ procedure for medium-sized cases that do not justify the detailed and meticulous preparation appropriate for complex and important cases. Instead, cases allocated to this track will be progressed to trial within a short timescale after the filing of a defence. The fast track covers the majority of defended claims within the £10,000 to £25,000 monetary band. It also deals with non-monetary claims such as injunctions, declarations, and claims for specific performance which are unsuitable for the small claims track and do not require the more complex treatment of the multi-track. This chapter covers directions for cases allocated to the fast track; standard fast track timetable; agreed directions; varying the directions timetable; listing for trial; fast track trial; and costs in fast track cases.

18. Requests for Further Information

A party may sometimes take the view that the statement of case provided by the other side is not as clear as it should be, or fails to set out the other side’s case with the precision that would be expected. In such cases a request may be made for further information about the facts on which the other side’s case is based. This chapter discusses the rules on requests for further information; the response; objecting to requests; orders for responses; requests in freezing injunctions; and collateral use.

4. Overriding Objective and Human Rights

This chapter discusses the sources of procedural law, the general principles relevant to civil procedure established by the overriding objective, the European Convention on Human Rights, and some rules on how the courts approach construing the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR). The CPR and practice directions (PDs) are the procedural rules governing civil proceedings. The most important rule is the ‘overriding objective’ of dealing with claims justly and at proportionate cost. The most important Convention rights in civil litigation are the right to a fair trial, the right to respect for private and family life, and the right to freedom of expression.

35. Experts

This chapter discusses the principles governing the use of expert evidence in civil claims. It covers the admissibility of expert evidence; control of evidence; choice of expert; privileged nature of experts’ reports; disclosure of experts’ reports; written questions to experts; examinations by experts; experts’ immunity from suit; and use of experts’ reports after trial.