The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2023

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132) by—

• replacing Part 14 (admissions) with a revised Part 14, as part of the ongoing exercise of review of the Civil Procedure Rules and related practice directions with a view to streamlining and simplifying their content (in furtherance of the objective of section 2(7) of the Civil Procedure Act 1997), and making consequential amendments in Parts 12, 18, 19, 20, 26, 40, 45, 58 and 59;

• amending Part 22 (statements of truth), with consequential amendments in Parts 18, 55 and 56, as part of the “section 2(7)” exercise referred to above;

• amending Part 23 (general rules about applications for court orders), with consequential amendments in Parts 3 and 39, as part of the section 2(7) exercise;

• replacing Part 24 (summary judgment) with a revised Part 24 as part of the section 2(7) exercise;

• amending Part 34 (witnesses, depositions and evidence for foreign courts) so that foreign evidence requests are all handled centrally via the Royal Courts of Justice, and enabling the same route to used for requests for evidence for the purpose of tribunal proceedings;

• amending Part 52 (appeals) to ensure that appeals in contempt proceedings are appropriately covered, and to respond to caselaw (R (Kearney) v Chief Constable of Hampshire Police [2019] EWCA Civ 1841);

• amending Parts 3, 7, 13, 14, 26, 71, 72, 73, 83, 84 and 89 in consequence of the establishment of the Civil National Business Centre;

• making a number of amendments (in particular in Parts 19 and 21) to correct errors identified by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments;

• making minor amendments in various places to correct minor errors such as typographical errors or incorrect cross-references.