The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

[F1 Discharge of a person in custody E+W

81.31.— (1) A person committed to prison for contempt of court may apply to the court to be discharged.

(2) The application must—

(a) be in writing and attested by the governor of the prison (or any other officer of the prison not below the rank of principal officer);

(b) show that the person committed to prison for contempt has purged, or wishes to purge, the contempt; and

(c) be served on the person (if any) at whose instance the warrant of committal was issued at least one day before the application is made.

(3) Paragraph (2) does not apply to—

(a) a warrant of committal to which CCR Order 27 rule 8, or CCR Order 28 rule 4 or 14 relates; or

(b) an application made by the Official Solicitor acting with official authority for the discharge of a person in custody.

(4) If the committal order is made in [F2 the County Court] and—

(a) does not direct that any application for discharge must be made to a judge; or

(b) was made by a [F3 District Judge] under section 118 of the County Courts Act 1984,

the application for discharge may be made to a [F3 District Judge].

(5) If the committal order is made in the High Court, the application for discharge may be made to a single judge of the Division in which the committal order was made.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. 81 inserted (1.10.2012) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2012 (S.I. 2012/2208), rules 1, 16, Sch. (with rule 20)

F2 Words in Rules substituted (22.4.2014) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2014 (S.I. 2014/407), rules 2(1), 4(a)(i); S.I. 2014/954, art. 2(a)

F3 Words in Rules substituted (22.4.2014) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2014 (S.I. 2014/407), rules 2(1), 4(a)(iv); S.I. 2014/954, art. 2(a)