Rules of the Supreme Court (Writ and Appearance) 1979
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1979 No. 1716 (L. 23)
SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE, ENGLAND
AND WALES
PROCEDURE
The Rules of the Supreme Court (Writ and Appearance) 197919thDecember 1979
20thDecember 1979
3rdJune 1980
We, the Rule Committee of the Supreme Court, being the authority having for the time being power under section 99(4) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925(a) to make, amend or revoke rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court of Judicature, hereby exercise those powers and all other powers enabling us in that behalf as follows:—
Citation and commencement
1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Rules of the Supreme Court (Writ and Appearance) 1979, and shall come into operation on 3rd June 1980, but nothing in these Rules shall apply in relation to any cause or matter begun before that date.
(2) In these Rules an Order referred to by number means the Order so numbered in the Rules of the Supreme Court 1965(b).
2. Order 1, rule 4, shall be amended as follows:—
(1) In paragraph (1) after the definition of "the Northern area" there shall be inserted the following definition:—
" "notice of intention to defend" means an acknowledgment of service containing a statement to the effect that the person by whom or on whose behalf it is signed intends to contest the proceedings to which the acknowledgment relates;".
(2) After paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the following paragraph:—
"(3) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to acknowledging service of a document or giving notice of intention to defend any proceedings is a reference to lodging in the appropriate court office an acknowledgment of service of that document or, as the case may be, a notice of intention to defend those proceedings."
3. Order 4, rule 6, shall be amended as follows:—
(1) In paragraph (2), sub-paragraph (a) and the letter "(b)" shall be omitted.
(a) 1925 c. 49.
(b) S.I. 1965/1776. The relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1966/1055, 1967/829, 1968/1244, 1970/944, 1861, 1971/354, 1269, 1955, 1972/1898, 1975/911, 1976/337, 1196, 1977/532, 960, 1955, 1978/579, 1979/402, 522.
(2) For paragraph (3) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs:—
"(3) Where—
(a) a sole defendant or one of the defendants to an action begun by writ which is proceeding in a district registry does not reside or carry on business in the district of the registry or, being a body corporate, does not have a registered office or carry on business in that district, and
(b) the writ is not indorsed with a statement that a cause of action in respect of which relief is claimed arose wholly or in part in a place in that district,
that defendant may, on acknowledging service of the writ, include in his acknowledgment a statement to the effect that he applies for an order transferring the action to some other district registry or to the Royal Courts of Justice, and in that case, unless the plaintiff within 8 days after the defendant's acknowledging service gives notice to the registrar of the district registry that he objects to the making of such an order, the registrar shall make an order accordingly.
If the plaintiff gives notice of objection within the time aforesaid, the registrar shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the defendant's application and give notice thereof to every party to the proceedings.
(3A) In relation to a writ in the Chancery Division which is issued out of the district registry of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne or Preston, paragraph (3) shall have effect as if for the references to the district of that registry there were substituted references to the Northern area."
(3) At the beginning of paragraph (4) there shall be inserted the words "Without prejudice to paragraph (3)".
4. Order 6, shall be amended as follows:—
(1) In rule 1 the words "2, 3, 4 or 5" and "whichever is appropriate" shall be omitted.
(2) In rule 5 (1)(b)—
(a) the figure "(i)" at the beginning, and the word "and" at the end, of sub-paragraph (i) shall be deleted, and
(b) sub-paragraph (ii) shall be omitted.
(3) In rule 7 (5) at the end after the word "solicitor" there shall be added the words "and produces to an officer of that office a form of acknowledgment of service in Form No. 14 in Appendix A for service with the writ on each defendant."
5. For paragraph (1) of Order 7, rule 2, there shall be substituted the following paragraph:—
"(1) Every originating summons (other than an ex parte summons) shall be in Form No. 8 or, if so authorised or required, in Form No. 10 in Appendix A, and every ex parte originating summons shall be in Form No. 11 in Appendix A."
6. Order 10, rule 1, shall be amended as follows:—
(1) The following paragraphs shall be substituted for paragraph (5):—
"(5) Subject to Order 12, rule 7, where a writ is not duly served on a defendant but he acknowledges service of it, the writ shall be deemed, unless the contrary is shown, to have been duly served on him and to have been so served on the date on which he acknowledges service.
(6) Every copy of a writ for service on a defendant shall be sealed with the seal of the office of the Supreme Court out of which the writ was issued and shall be accompanied by a form of acknowledgment of service in Form No. 14 in Appendix A."
(2) The existing paragraph (6) shall stand as paragraph (7).
7. For Order 10, rule 5, there shall be substituted the following rule:—
"Service of originating summons, notice of motion or petition
5.—(1) The foregoing rules of this Order shall apply, with any necessary modifications, in relation to an originating summons (other than ex parte originating summons or an originating summons under Order 113) as they apply in relation to a writ, except that an acknowledgment of service of an originating summons shall be in Form No. 15 in Appendix A.
(2) Rule 1 (1), (2), (3) and (4) shall apply, with any necessary modifications, in relation to a notice of an originating motion and a petition as they apply in relation to a writ."
8. In Order 11, rule 3 (2), for the words "or 7" to the end there shall be substituted the words "in Appendix A and must be accompanied by a form of acknowledgment of service in Form No. 14 in Appendix A".
9. For Order 12, rule 1, there shall be substituted the following rule:—
"Mode of acknowledging service
1.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and to Order 80, rule 2, a defendant to an action begun by writ may (whether or not he is sued as a trustee or personal representative or in any other representative capacity) acknowledge service of the writ and defend the action by a solicitor or in person.
(2) The defendant to such an action who is a body corporate may acknowledge service of the writ and give notice of intention to defend the action either by a solicitor or by a person duly authorised to act on the defendant's behalf but, except as aforesaid or as expressly provided by any enactment, such a defendant may not take any step in the action otherwise than by a solicitor.
(3) Service of a writ may be acknowledged by properly completing an acknowledgment of service, as defined by rule 3, and handing it in at, or sending it by post to, the appropriate office, that is to say, if the writ was issued out of the Central Office, that office, or if the writ was issued out of a district registry, that registry.
(4) If two or more defendants to an action acknowledge service by the same solicitor and at the same time, only one acknowledgment of service need be completed and delivered for those defendants.
(5) The date on which service is acknowledged is the date on which the acknowledgment of service is received at the appropriate office."
10. Order 12, rule 2, shall be revoked, and for Order 12, rule 3, there shall be substituted the following rule:—
"Acknowledgment of service
3.—(1) An acknowledgment of service must be in Form No. 14 or 15 in Appendix A, whichever is appropriate, and, except as provided in rule 1 (2), must be signed by the solicitor acting for the defendant specified in the acknowledgment or, if the defendant is acting in person, by that defendant.
(2) An acknowledgment of service must specify—
(a) in the case of a defendant acknowledging service in person, the address of his place of residence and, if his place of residence is not within the jurisdiction or if he has no place of residence, the address of a place within the jurisdiction at or to which documents for him may be delivered or sent, and
(b) in the case of a defendant acknowledging service by a solicitor, a business address of his solicitor's within the jurisdiction;
and where the defendant acknowledges service in person, the address within the jurisdiction specified under sub-paragraph (a) shall be his address for service, but otherwise his solicitor's business address shall be his address for service.
In relation to a body corporate the references in sub-paragraph (a) to the defendant's place of residence shall be construed as references to the defendant's registered or principal office.
(3) Where the defendant acknowledges service by a solicitor who is acting as agent for another solicitor having a place of business within the jurisdiction, the acknowledgment of service must state that the first-named solicitor so acts and must also state the name and address of that other solicitor.
(4) If an acknowledgment of service does not specify the defendant's address for service or the Court is satisfied that any address specified in the acknowledgment of service is not genuine, the Court may on application by the plaintiff set aside the acknowledgment or order the defendant to give an address or, as the case may be, a genuine address for service and may in any case direct that the acknowledgment shall nevertheless have effect for the purposes of Order 10, rule 1(5), and Order 65, rule 9."
11. For Order 12, rule 4, there shall be substituted the following rule:—
"Procedure on receipt of acknowledgment of...
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