EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order revokes the Civil Courts Order 1983 (“the 1983 Order”), together with numerous amending orders, following the coming into force of section 17 of, and Schedule 9 to, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c.22) (“the 2013 Act”), which establishes a single County Court for England and Wales, replacing the structure of individual county courts for specific districts which previously exercised jurisdiction.
The 1983 Order designated the places where both the district registries of the High Court and the county courts were located. It also specified those county courts which had jurisdiction in respect of proceedings under the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (c.42), the Insolvency Act 1986 (c.45), the Race Relations Act 1976 (c.74), the Companies Act 2006 (c.46) and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000 (c.12). However, following the implementation of both the single County Court and the family court, it is no longer necessary, or possible, to confer jurisdiction in this way.
The 1983 Order is replaced by the Civil Courts Order 2014 (SI 2014/819), which, unlike the earlier order, only designates those places where district registries of the High Court will be located. However, although it replaces the 1983 Order, the 2014 Order does not revoke it. This is because the 2013 Act will repeal some of the relevant order making powers in primary legislation on the same date that the 1983 Order is revoked. On that basis, it is not possible to use those powers to revoke the 1983 Order, or the numerous amending orders, in their entirety. Accordingly, it is necessary to use the powers in the 2013 Act to make the necessary consequential amendments and transitional and savings provisions.
This Order includes a transitional and saving provision in respect of proceedings under the Race Relations Act 1976 (which, although repealed, is subject to a number savings), the effect of which is to provide that, for the time being, proceedings under that Act will be heard in those hearing centres of the County Court which correspond to the county courts which previously had jurisdiction to hear them.