Updates on procedure rules and forms for civil proceedings in magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court
Latest information about procedures rules for magistrates' courts and the Crown Court not replaced by the Criminal or Family Procedure Rules.
Applies to England and Wales
Other procedure rules for magistrates’ courts and for the Crown Court are made under section 144 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and section 84 of the Senior Courts Act 1981.
Read these other procedure rules and Statutory Instruments.
Some of those rules used to apply to criminal and family cases, too. They stopped doing so when these acts were amended by the statutory provisions under which the Criminal Procedure Rules and the Family Procedure Rules are now made.
April 2024
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2024 and Crown Court (Amendment) Rules 2024
These Rules amend the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981 and the Crown Court Rules 1982. They include rules about:
- applications and appeals concerning domestic abuse protection orders under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021
- supplying information to the court using forms or online
- correction of the magistrates’ court register
- live link directions in Crown Court civil proceedings
- service of documents in Crown Court civil proceedings
The rules came into force on 8 April 2024.
June 2022
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2022
These Rules amend the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981 to include a new rule 3C governing the exercise of the court’s power to facilitate the giving of evidence by a witness by any of the means listed in the new rule.
Magistrates’ courts dealing with civil proceedings possess an implied power to facilitate the giving of evidence by a witness that corresponds with the power conferred on other courts under section 64 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (Special measures in civil proceedings: victims of domestic abuse, etc.). The new rule acknowledges the existence of that implied power and provides for its exercise, on application or on the court’s own initiative.
The rules came into force on 7 June 2022.
July 2021
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021
These Rules add new rules to the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981 about (i) live link directions, (ii) the custody of documents submitted to the court, and (iii) supplying information and documents from court records. They make some other amendments consequent on other legislation to (i) the 1981 Rules, (ii) the Magistrates’ Courts (Freezing and Forfeiture of Terrorist Money in Bank and Building Society Accounts) Rules 2017, (iii) the Magistrates’ Courts (Freezing and Forfeiture of Money in Bank and Building Society Accounts) Rules 2017 and (iv) the Magistrates’ Courts (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, Part 5B) Rules 2019.
The rules came into force on 28 June 2021.
May 2021
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2021
These Rules add a new rule to the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981 about debt relief under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1311).
The rules came into force on 4 May 2021.
April 2020
Magistrates’ Courts (Functions of Authorised Persons – Civil Proceedings) Rules 2020
These Rules provide for the exercise of some judicial functions in civil proceedings by authorised members of court staff. The rules came into force on 6 April 2020.
March 2020
Magistrates’ Courts (Knife Crime Prevention Orders) Rules 2020
These Rules supply the procedure to follow on an application for a knife crime prevention order, on a review of an order and on an application to vary, renew or discharge an order. The rules came into force on 30 March 2020. The court’s power to make an order will be introduced gradually, after a pilot scheme.
January 2020
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2019 come into force
The changes to the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981 made by the Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2019 came into force on Wednesday 1 January 2020.
November 2019
Magistrates’ Courts (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, Part 5A, and Miscellaneous Amendments) Rules 2019
Magistrates’ Courts (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, Part 5B) Rules 2019
These two sets of Rules prescribe the procedure to be followed on an application to a magistrates’ court to give effect in England and Wales to an ‘external order’ under Part 5A or Part 5B of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (External Requests and Orders) Order 2005, which provides for cooperation with other countries in the enforcement of their orders relating to the freezing and recovery of the proceeds of crime. They came into force on 12 November 2019.
October 2019
Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2019
These Rules amend the Magistrates’ Courts Rules 1981. They come into force on 1 January 2020. They:
- remove the requirement for signatures on summonses and warrants
- prescribe the form of warrants of arrest
- prescribe the form of summonses, including a requirement to give the name and address of the court office
- amend the rules about service of summonses to permit modern methods of communication such as email or cloud access and allow the court to specify additional forms of service
- introduce a new rule about service of court orders, other than liability order
- specify the date on which service of summonses and orders is treated as taking place
Last updated 8 April 2024 + show all updates
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Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2024 and Crown Court (Amendment) Rules 2024 update.
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Magistrates’ Courts (Amendment) Rules 2022 update.
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Updates for May and July 2021 added.
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First published.