Katharine Davies & Maria Kell provide a timely guide to the 24/7 Electronic Working Scheme
High Court litigators in London are surely delighted that, since April, they have been released from the tyranny of court opening hours. Limitation issues and bank holidays are no longer nightmares that haunt every trainee.
You can now issue a claim electronically 24/7, 365 days a year in the following courts:
- Commercial (& Admiralty & London Mercantile Courts);
- Technology & Construction (TCC);
- Chancery Division, Patents Court & Bankruptcy & Companies Courts (although not yet in the county courts).
This change has been effected by Practice Direction (PD) 5C, which supplements CPR Rules 5.5 and 7.12, and which came into force on 1 April 2010 (replacing the earlier PD in force on 1 April 2009 which supported the Electronic Working Pilot Scheme). This document contains all the official guidance on how to start a claim electronically, how to make a request for judgment or issue of a warrant, how to inspect the case record, how to make applications in proceedings and how to deal with trial bundles
