See also Part 5
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PRACTICE DIRECTION – COMMUNICATION AND FILING OF
DOCUMENTS BY E-MAIL |
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THIS PRACTICE DIRECTION SUPPLEMENTS RULE 5.5 |
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Contents of this Practice Direction |
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1.1 |
This practice direction provides for parties to claims in specified courts to –
(a) |
communicate with the court by e-mail; and
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(b) |
file specified documents by e-mail.
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1.2 |
A specified court is a court or a court office which has published an e-mail address for the filing of documents on the court service website www.courtservice.gov.uk (‘the site’).
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1.3 |
This practice direction does not allow communication with the court or the filing of documents by e-mail in proceedings to which the Civil Procedure Rules do not apply.
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[SECTION I – COMMUNICATION AND FILING OF DOCUMENTS]
Communications and documents which may be sent by e-mail
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2.1 |
Subject to paragraph 2.3, a party to a claim in a specified court may send a specified document to the court by e-mail.
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2.2 |
A specified document is a document listed on the site as a document that may be sent to or filed in that court by e-mail.
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2.3 |
A party must not use e-mail to take any step in a claim for which a fee is payable.
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2.4 |
If –
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a fee is payable on the filing of a particular document; and
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(b) |
a party purports to file that document by e-mail,
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the court shall treat the document as not having been filed.
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2.5 |
Paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 do not apply to applications issued at Preston County Court under the PREMA pilot scheme.
(Rule 6.2(1)(e) permits service by e-mail in accordance with the relevant practice direction. Paragraph 3 of the Practice Direction accompanying Part 6 sets out the circumstances in which a party may serve a document by e-mail)
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Technical specifications of e-mail
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3.1 |
The e-mail message must contain the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the sender and should be in plain text or rich text format rather than HTML.
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3.2 |
Correspondence and documents may be sent as either text in the body of the e-mail, or as attachments, except as mentioned in paragraph 3.3.
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3.3 |
Documents required to be in a practice form must be sent in that form as attachments.
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3.4 |
Court service forms may be downloaded from the site.
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3.5 |
Attachments must be sent in a format supported by the software used by the specified court to which it is sent. The format or formats which may be used in sending attachments to a particular specified court are listed on the site.
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3.6 |
An attachment which is sent to a specified court in a format not listed on the site as appropriate for that court will be treated as not having been received by the court.
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3.7 |
The length of attachments and total size of e-mail must not exceed the maximum which a particular specified court has indicated that it can accept. This information is listed on the site.
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Filing of documents by e-mail
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4.1 |
Where a party files a document by e-mail, he must not send a hard copy of that document to the court.
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4.2 |
A document is not filed until the e-mail is received by the court, whatever time it is shown to have been sent.
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4.3 |
The time of receipt of an e-mail will be recorded electronically on the e-mail as it is received.
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4.4 |
If an e-mail is received after 4 p.m –
(a) |
the e-mail will be treated as received; and
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(b) |
any documents attached to the e-mail will be treated as filed,
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on the next day the court office is open.
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4.5 |
The party sending the e-mail is responsible for ensuring that a document attached to the e-mail is filed within any relevant time limits.
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4.6 |
The court will send an automatic acknowledgment when an e-mail is received. The acknowledgment is merely to confirm receipt and does not indicate that a filed document has been accepted. If no acknowledgment of an e-mail is received, the sender should assume that the court has not received it and should send the e-mail again, or file the document by another means.
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4.7 |
The court will normally reply by e-mail to any messages sent by e-mail.
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4.8 |
Parties are advised not to send by e-mail any correspondence or documents of a confidential or sensitive nature, as security cannot be guaranteed.
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4.9 |
If a document sent by e-mail requires urgent attention, the sender should contact the court by telephone.
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Statement of truth in documents filed by e-mail
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5.1 |
Part 22 requires certain documents to be verified by a statement of truth. These include a statement of case and an acknowledgment of service in a claim begun using the Part 8 procedure.
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5.2 |
Rule 22.1(6) requires a statement of truth to be signed. Where a party wishes to file a document containing a statement of truth by e-mail that party should retain the document containing the original signature and file with the court a version of the document satisfying one of the following requirements –
(a) |
the name of the person who has signed the statement of truth is typed underneath the statement;
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(b) |
the person who has signed the statement of truth has applied a facsimile of his signature to the statement in the document by mechanical means; or
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(c) |
the document that is filed is a scanned version of the document containing the original signature to the statement of truth.
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[SECTION II - E-MAIL APPLICATIONS][Interpretation][6.1][In this Section of this practice direction, where the context permits, ‘application’ includes an appeal.][Applications which may be made by e-mail][7.1][The following types of applications may be made by e-mail, provided that all of the conditions listed in paragraph 7.2 below are satisfied –][1][applications in the course of proceedings;][2][applications for final orders by consent; and][3][in county court cases –][a][appeal notices in respect of appeals from a district judge to a circuit judge; and][b][applications for directions and extensions of time in connection with such appeals.][7.2][The conditions which must be satisfied are that –][1][the application is filed by a legal representative on behalf of the applicant;][2][if the application is made on notice –][a][all respondents to the application are acting by legal representatives; and][b][the respondents' legal representatives have agreed to accept service by e-mail and provided an e-mail address in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the practice direction supplementing Part 6; and][3][the applicant wishes the court to deal with the application (or, in the case of an appeal, the question of permission to appeal) without a hearing.][Form and contents of e-mail containing an application][8.1][The subject line of the e-mail must contain –][1][the claim number;][2][the title of the claim (abbreviated if necessary);][3][the subject matter (e.g. ‘application to …’, ‘consent order’), and whether it is the 1st, 2nd, etc application made by e-mail in the proceedings.][8.2][The message must –][1][contain the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the sender;][2][give a brief description of the application in not more than 25 words;][3][state whether the application is being made on notice or without notice;][4][if the application is on notice –][a][confirm that the applicant's legal representative has served the application notice and any documents filed with it, and state when this was done; and][b][give the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the respondent's legal representative;][5][confirm that –][a][the applicant's legal representative holds any necessary original documents (e.g. witness statements, statements of truth, draft of orders to be made by consent); and][b][where necessary, that those documents have been signed, and by whom;][6][briefly describe each attachment to the e-mail; and][7][identify any documents not attached to the e-mail but already filed, to which the judge will need to refer when dealing with the application.][8.3][The attachments to the e-mail –][1][must always include the application notice and a draft of the order sought; and][2][should, if possible, include copies of any documents already filed, to which the judge will need to refer when dealing with the application.][8.4][In relation to appellant's notices, attention is drawn to paragraph 5.6 of the practice direction supplementing Part 52.][8.5][Paragraphs 3.2 to 3.7 above apply.][Filing of applications][9.1][Paragraphs 4.1 to 4.6 above apply.][9.2][Any application made will attract the current fee, which must be paid in accordance with such terms as the court specifies. If a legal representative fails to comply with such terms, the court may prohibit them from making any further applications by e-mail.][Statements of truth in application notices and attached documents][10.1][Paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3 above apply.][How the court will deal with applications][11.1][Any application filed by e-mail will be deemed to be an application which the court is asked to consider without a hearing, pursuant to paragraph 2.3 of the practice direction supplementing Part 23.][(i) Applications without notice, and applications for consent orders][11.2][An application without notice, or an application for a consent order, will be dealt with by a judge or a court officer under rule 40.6(2) as appropriate.][(ii) Applications on notice][11.3][An application on notice will be referred to a judge who will decide whether it is suitable to be dealt with without a hearing.][11.4][If the judge decides that the application is suitable to be dealt with without a hearing, he will give directions by e-mail to both parties' legal representatives for the filing of evidence or taking of steps necessary for the determination of the application.][11.5][If the judge decides that a hearing is necessary, he will inform both parties' legal representative by e-mail and direct the application to be taken out of the e-mail procedure.]
[SCHEDULE][Courts to which Section I applies][Date from which Section I applies][Walsall County Court][2 December 2002][Preston County Court and District Registry][1 April 2003][Courts to which Section II applies][Date from which Section II applies][Preston County Court and District Registry][1 April 2003]
[Until 1 April 2003 the Preston e-mail pilot (PREMA) will continue to operate in accordance with the existing protocol.][Until 1 April 2003 the Preston e-mail pilot (PREMA) will continue to operate in accordance with the existing protocol.]
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