Court's duty to manage casesE+W
1.4.—(1) The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases.
(2) Active case management includes—
(a)encouraging the parties to co-operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings;
(b)identifying at an early stage—
(i)the issues; and
(ii)who should be a party to the proceedings;
(c)deciding promptly—
(i)which issues need full investigation and hearing and which do not; and
(ii)the procedure to be followed in the case;
(d)deciding the order in which issues are to be resolved;
(e)encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution procedure if the court considers that appropriate and facilitating the use of such procedure;
(f)helping the parties to settle the whole or part of the case;
(g)fixing timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the case;
(h)considering whether the likely benefits of taking a particular step justify the cost of taking it;
(i)dealing with as many aspects of the case as it can on the same occasion;
(j)dealing with the case without the parties needing to attend at court;
(k)making use of technology; and
(l)giving directions to ensure that the case proceeds quickly and efficiently.