The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

[F1 SECTION II - EUROPEAN SMALL CLAIMS PROCEDURE E+W

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 78 inserted (12.12.2008 for specified purposes) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2008 (S.I. 2008/2178), rule 1(3), Sch. 2

Scope of this Section and interpretation E+W

78.12.— (1) This Section applies to the European small claims procedure under Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European small claims procedure.

(2) In this Section—

(a) “ESCP Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 establishing a European small claims procedure. A copy of the ESCP Regulation can be found at Annex 2;

(b) “defendant’s response” means the response to the ESCP claim form;

(c) “ESCP” means the European small claims procedure established by the ESCP Regulation;

(d) “ESCP claim form” means the claim form completed and filed in the ESCP;

(e) “ESCP counterclaim” has the meaning given to counterclaim by recital 16 of the ESCP Regulation;

(f) “ESCP judgment” means a judgment given in the ESCP;

(g) “Member State” has the meaning given by article 2(3) of the ESCP Regulation;

(h) “Member State of enforcement” is the Member State in which the ESCP judgment is to be enforced;

(i) “Member State of judgment” is the Member State in which the ESCP judgment is given.

ESCP claims made in a court in England and Wales E+W

Filing an ESCP claim form E+W

78.13.   Where a declaration provided by the claimant in the ESCP claim form contains any deliberate false statement, rule 32.14 applies as if the ESCP claim form were verified by a statement of truth.

(An ESCP claim form is completed and filed in accordance with the ESCP Regulation, in particular article 4(1), and in accordance with this paragraph.)

Allocation of ESCP claims E+W

78.14.— (1) ESCP claims are treated as if they were allocated to the small claims track.

(2) Part 27 applies, except rule 27.14.

Transfer of proceedings where the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation – article 4(3) of the ESCP Regulation E+W

78.15.— (1) Where the court identifies that the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation, the court will notify the claimant of this in a transfer of proceedings notice.

(2) If the claimant wishes to withdraw the claim, the claimant must notify the court of this within 21days of the date of the transfer of proceedings notice.

(3) Where the claimant has notified the court in accordance with paragraph (2), the claim is automatically withdrawn.

(4) Where the claimant has not notified the court in accordance with paragraph (2) and the claim is instead to be transferred under article 4(3) of the ESCP Regulation—

(a) the claim will be treated as if it had been started as a claim under Part 7 and the ESCP claim form will be treated as a Part 7 claim form including particulars of claim; and

(b) thereafter, these Rules apply with necessary modifications and subject to this rule,

and the court will notify the claimant of the transfer and its effect.

Defendant’s response E+W

78.16.   Where a declaration provided by the defendant in the defendant’s response contains any deliberate false statement, rule 32.14 applies as if the defendant’s response were verified by a statement of truth.

(The defendant’s response is made in accordance with the ESCP Regulation and in particular article 5(3) of the ESCP Regulation.)

Transfer of proceedings where the defendant claims that the non-monetary claim exceeds the limit set in article 2(1) of the ESCP Regulation – article 5(5) of the ESCP Regulation E+W

78.17.— (1) This rule applies where, under article 5(5) of the ESCP Regulation, the defendant claims that the value of a non-monetary claim exceeds the limit in article 2(1) of the ESCP Regulation.

(2) When the court dispatches the defendant’s response to the claimant, it will—

(a) notify the claimant that the court is considering whether the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation in a consideration of transfer notice; and

(b) send a copy of the notice to the defendant.

(3) If the claimant wishes to withdraw the claim in the event that the court decides that the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation the claimant must notify the court and the defendant of this within 21 days of the date of the consideration of transfer notice.

(4) The court will notify the defendant as well as the claimant of its decision whether the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation.

(Article 5(5) of the ESCP Regulation provides that the court shall decide within 30 days of dispatching the defendant’s response to the claimant, whether the claim is within the scope of the ESCP Regulation.)

(5) If the court decides that the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation and the claimant has notified the court and defendant in accordance with paragraph (3), the claim is automatically withdrawn.

(6) If the court decides that the claim is outside the scope of the ESCP Regulation and the claimant has not notified the court and defendant in accordance with paragraph (3)—

(a) the claim will be treated as if it had been started as a claim under Part 7 and the ESCP claim form will be treated as a Part 7 claim form including particulars of claim;

(b) the defendant’s response will be treated as a defence; and

(c) thereafter, these Rules apply with necessary modifications and subject to this rule,

and the court will notify the parties.

(7) This rule applies to an ESCP counterclaim as if the counterclaim were an ESCP claim.

Transfer of proceedings where the ESCP counterclaim exceeds the limit set in article 2(1) of the ESCP Regulation – article 5(7) of the ESCP Regulation E+W

78.18.— (1) Where the ESCP counterclaim exceeds the limit set in article 2(1) of the ESCP Regulation, the court will—

(a) notify the defendant of this in a transfer of proceedings notice; and

(b) send a copy of the notice to the claimant,

when the court dispatches the defendant’s response to the claimant.

(2) If the defendant wishes to withdraw the ESCP counterclaim, the defendant must notify the court and the claimant of this within 21 days of the date of the transfer of proceedings notice.

(3) If the defendant notifies the court and claimant under paragraph (2), the ESCP counterclaim is automatically withdrawn.

(4) If the defendant does not notify the court and claimant in accordance with paragraph (2)—

(a) the claim will be treated as if it had been started as a claim under Part 7 and the ESCP claim form will be treated as a Part 7 claim form including particulars of claim;

(b) the defendant’s response and ESCP counterclaim are to be treated as the defence and counterclaim; and

(c) thereafter, these Rules apply with necessary modifications and subject to this rule,

and the court will notify the parties.

Review of judgment E+W

78.19.   An application for a review under article 18 of the ESCP Regulation must be made in accordance with Part 23.

Enforcement of ESCP judgments in England and Wales E+W

Enforcement of an ESCP judgment E+W

78.20.— (1) A person seeking to enforce an ESCP judgment in England and Wales must file at the court in which enforcement proceedings are to be brought the documents required by article 21 of the ESCP Regulation.

(2) Where a person applies to enforce an ESCP judgment expressed in a foreign currency, the application must contain a certificate of the sterling equivalent of the judgment sum at the close of business on the date nearest preceding the date of the application.

(Parts 70 to 74 contain further rules about enforcement.)

Refusal of enforcement E+W

78.21.— (1) An application under article 22 of the ESCP Regulation that the court should refuse to enforce an ESCP judgment must be made in accordance with Part 23 to the court in which the ESCP judgment is being enforced.

(2) The judgment debtor must, as soon as practicable, serve copies of any order made under article 22 on—

(a) all other parties to the proceedings and any other person affected by the order (“the affected persons”); and

(b) any court in which enforcement proceedings are pending in England and Wales (“the relevant courts”).

(3) Upon service of the order on the affected persons, all enforcement proceedings of the ESCP judgment in the relevant courts will cease.

Stay of or limitation on enforcement E+W

78.22.— (1) An application by the defendant under article 23 of the ESCP Regulation must be made in accordance with Part 23 to the court in which the ESCP judgment is being enforced.

(2) The defendant must, as soon as practicable, serve a copy of any order made under article 23 on—

(a) all other parties to the proceedings and any other person affected by the order; and

(b) any court in which enforcement proceedings are pending in England and Wales,

and the order will not have effect on any person until it has been served in accordance with this rule and they have received it.]