The Civil Courts (Amendment) Order 2013

Statutory Instruments

2013 No. 415

County Courts, England And Wales

The Civil Courts (Amendment) Order 2013

Made

25th February 2013

Laid before Parliament

4th March 2013

Coming into force

25th March 2013

The Lord Chancellor makes the following Order in exercise of powers conferred by section 2(1) of the County Courts Act 1984(1), section 33(1) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984(2), sections 117 and 374 of the Insolvency Act 1986(3), section 1156(3) of the Companies Act 2006(4) and section 1156 of that Act as applied and modified by regulations made under sections 15 and 17 of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000(5).

In accordance with section 2(1) of the County Courts Act 1984 the Lord Chancellor has consulted the Lord Chief Justice before making this Order.

In accordance with section 33(1) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, sections 117 and 374 of the Insolvency Act 1986, section 1156(3) of the Companies Act 2006 and section 1156 of the Companies Act 2006 as applied and modified by regulations made under sections 15 and 17 of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, the Lord Chief Justice concurs in the making of this Order.

Citation and Commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Civil Courts (Amendment) Order 2013 and shall come into force on 25th March 2013.

Establishment of Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court

2.  A county court shall be held at Chippenham and named the Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court.

Divorce jurisdiction

3.  For the purposes of section 33(1) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 the Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court shall be a divorce county court and a court of trial.

Closure of county courts

4.  The holding of Burton-on-Trent County Court and Trowbridge County Court is discontinued.

Transitional Provisions

5.  The county courts listed in Table 1 in the column headed ‘receiving court’ shall have jurisdiction in proceedings pending at the county court in the column headed ‘closing court’ before this Order comes into force in accordance with directions made under section 2 of the County Courts Act 1984.

Table 1

Closing Court	Receiving Court
Burton-on-Trent County Court	Leicester County Court, Nuneaton County Court, Stafford County Court, Stoke on Trent County Court and Walsall County Court.
Trowbridge County Court	Bath County Court, Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court, Salisbury County Court, Yeovil County Court.

6.  No process shall be invalid only because the holding of Burton-on-Trent County Court or Trowbridge County Court has been discontinued by this Order.

Amendments to the Civil Courts Order 1983

7.—(1) The Civil Courts Order 1983(6) is amended as follows.

(2) In Schedule 1, omit—

(a) “Burton- on-Trent” from its position in the second column opposite the entry for “Derby” in the first column;

(b) “Trowbridge” from its position in the second column opposite the entry for “Bath” in the first column.

(3) In Schedule 1, insert “Chippenham and Trowbridge” in the second column opposite the entry for “Bath” in the first column.

(4) In Schedule 3, omit the entry relating to—

(a) Burton-on-Trent;

(b) Trowbridge.

(5) In Schedule 3, after the entry for “Chichester” insert—

(a) in the first column “Chippenham”;

(b) in the second column “Divorce”;

(c) in the forth column “Bath”;

(d) in the fifth column “Bristol”;

(e) in the sixth column “Bath”.

(6) In Schedule 4, after paragraph 17 insert—

“18.   The name of the County Court at Chippenham shall be the Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court.”.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Helen Grant

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Ministry of Justice

25th February 2013

I concur

Judge, C J

Lord Chief Justice

25th February 2013

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Civil Courts Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/713).

It provides for a new county court at Chippenham, named Chippenham and Trowbridge County Court which is to have divorce jurisdiction.

Burton-on-Trent County Court and Trowbridge County Court are discontinued.

Jurisdiction in respect of existing cases in closing courts is transferred to courts named in directions made by the Lord Chancellor. These directions are available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/legislation/bills-and-acts/directions.

(1)

1984 c. 28. Section 2(1) was amended by paragraphs 160 and 161 of Schedule 4 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4).

(2)

1984 c. 42. Section 33 was amended by section 15(1) and paragraphs 171 and 172 of Schedule 4 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4).

(3)

1986 c. 45. Section 117 was amended by paragraphs 185 and 186 of Schedule 4 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4) and section 374 was amended by paragraphs 185 and 187 of Schedule 4 to that Act.

(4)

2006 c. 46

(5)

2000 c. 12. The Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1804) were made under sections 15 and 17 of this Act. See regulation 77 of these regulations.

(6)

S.I. 1983/713. There have been numerous amendments none of which is relevant.