The New Queen's Bench Division Guide

Queen Elizabeth I in the Court of Queen's Bench

Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Jane Lambert

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary have published a new edition of the Queen's Bench Division Guide on 7 Feb 2022.  It is a guide to practice within the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.  It supplements the Civil Procedure Rules and Practice Directions and is intended to make it easier for parties and their legal representatives to use that Division.

The Queen's Bench Division is one of three divisions of the High Court of Justice established by s.5 (1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981.  Its work consists mainly of claims for damages for breach of contract and tort and the recovery of debts but it also has a number of specialist courts known respectively as "The Administrative Court", "The Admiralty Court", "The Commercial Court", "The Circuit Commercial Court" and "The Technology and Construction Court."  Although almost all intellectual property work is assigned to the Chancery Division, there are some disputes involving IP which could come before the Queen's Bench Division.  For instance, computer supply contracts would be handled by the Technology and Construction Court and arbitration issues by the Commercial Court.   

This is the 8th edition of the Queen's Bench Guide which was last updated in 2021.   It consists of 193 pages including the front and back covers divided into 27 chapters and 12 annexes. The Judiciary website states that this edition contains the following changes:

• Interim and out of hours applications
• Urgent and Short Applications before the Masters
• Electronic bundles
• The procedure for issuing claim forms following urgent interim injunction applications
• Pre-Trial Reviews in Media and Communication List cases
• Amendment to court plans
• Payment of court fees
• The contact details of the clerks to Queen's Bench Masters.

Chapters that may be of particular interest to readers include:

• Chapter 2 on litigants in person, 
• Chapter 3 on the court file, 
• Chapter 5 on starting proceedings, 
• Chapter 9 on hearings,
• Chapter 10 on case management,
• Chapter 18 on appeals,
• Chapter 22 on enforcement.
• Annex 2 - contacts list, and
• Annex 9 - a blank form of order.

Readers should be aware that the other Divisions and specialist courts have their own rules, practice directions and guides.   New editions of the Commercial Court Guide and the Circuit Commercial Court Guide have also been published recently.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or any issue arising out of it is welcome to call me on 020 7404 5252 during normal office hours or send me a message through my contact form.