Advice needed on preparing bundle

[doveman]

Hi Guys,

I wish I'd found this site a couple of months ago, as I've been drafting my particulars of claim and preparing my bundle to apply for permission to bring a judicial review claim and have no doubt made a lot of mistakes, which I might have avoided had I asked some questions here first.

Anyway, my case is a judicial review involving traditional grounds of irrationality/unreasonableness and disability discrimination. I don't really want to go into the details publically, in case it might affect my case somehow.

I need to include various documents in my bundle, including the Legal Services Act 2007 and Equality Act 2010 but for most of the documents, only a small part is relevant to my case. I believe I need to include anything that might support the defendant's arguments as well but I've been careful about that. For example, in the LSA 2007, the only relevant part is Part 6 and in fact, in their response to my pre-claim letter the defendant has specifically asked that this be included. So I assume it's OK to only include this Part and not the whole Act? Within Part 6, there's quite a few pages that are irrelevantl, so can I leave those out as well or do I need to include the whole Part? I've also included the first two pages of the Act and part of Schedule 15 as they're relevant, will this be acceptable. For the Equality Act 2010, I've included the EHRC Statutory Code of Conduct rather than the Act, as it has legal status, is intended to guide the court and gives a clearer explanation of the implications and effects than the actual Act would, so will it be OK not to include the Act as well. As with LSA 2007, I've only included the relevant parts of the Code of Conduct and have left out some pages within the sections I have included that only refer to irrelevant issues such as age discrimination or pregnancy. Will this be OK? I'm trying to keep the size of the bundle down as the Acts and Code of Conduct run to hundreds of pages and it seems daft to include them when only 60 pages are relevant.

I've actually divided it into three bundles now, the first containing the pre-claim correspondence and particulars of claim, bundle 2 contains the correspondence between myself and the defendant which is relevant to my claim and bundle 3 contains the legislation and other relevant documents. I figured that the judge will need to refer to documents in bundles 2 and 3 whilst reading the particulars of claim, so this would be better for him than putting it all in one bundle, even if it comes in under 800 pages. I only did this after recently reading the postscript to Brown v Secretary of State for Work and Pension [2008] EWHC 3158 which says:

214. This case required the court to look at a large amount of material, as we hope is obvious from the judgment. We make no complaint about that. But, unfortunately, the organisation of the files for the hearing made the preparation of this judgment much more difficult. It would have been more helpful to have had a chronological bundle (of one or more volumes) of contemporaneous correspondence, properly indexed, a bundle for the statutory Code, the “toolkits” and all the relevant Disability Equality Schemes, a bundle for the statements anda bundle of relevant legislationand authorities. Although a Core Bundle was produced, it did not have the key documents (and those only) in it. We would draw attention to the comments of SirIgor Judge P (as he then was) in Mustafa (orse Abu Hamza) v Government of the United States of America and others [2008] 1 WR 2760 at 2761 (para 76). In the future, in large cases such as this one, it may be helpful for there to be a short directions hearing to discuss the organisation of bundles once it is known what material is intended to lay before the court.

In fact, about 300 pages of my bundle are relevant rulings. In most cases, I've only quoted or referred to one or two paragraphs in each ruling, so do I need to include the entire 20+ pages of each ruling or can I just include the pages which contain those paragraphs, with a heading added to the top of the page to make it clear which case they're from?

Regarding the claim form N461, most of the details requested on it are in my separate particulars of claim and so I've indicated this on the form with 'refer to bundle 1, p.x', which I assume is acceptable? As for the form itself, I presume I keep this external to the bundle as it has to be submitted to the court admin staff and stamped or whatever. Do they then provide certified copies which I then have to insert into the bundles for the court, defendant and myself? This seems like it would be awkward, as I understand they 'seal' the bundle for me to serve on the defendant myself, so I'd have to get the claim form stamped and then insert it in the bundles whilst they wait, so that they can then 'seal' them. Obviously, if this is what I have to do, I need to include the claim form in the bundle index, so I need to know beforehand.

Regarding other documents, like the Defendant's acknowledgment of service and response to claim which will only be available after the bundle is served, how do they get added to the bundle? Do I have to send a copy with an updated index to the court for them to insert into their copy and an updated index (they'll obviously already have copies of the documents) to the Defendant for their copy of the bundle?

So many questions I know, sorry! I've tried all the possible legal aid solicitors but they've all said they don't have capacity to assist me at the moment and places like LawWorks and the Law Centres are either not accepting new applications due to resourcing issues or don't deal with my sort of case, only stuff like debt and housing, so I'm on my own here and really appreciate any assistance I can get.

[Amethyst]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

I'll ask someone with more knowledge to look in with regards the bundles. Roll on the digital age.

I think with case law you need to include the whole judgment to keep it in context, but statute wise the relevant sections should be enough.

[doveman]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

I'll ask someone with more knowledge to look in with regards the bundles. Roll on the digital age.

I think with case law you need to include the whole judgment to keep it in context, but statute wise the relevant sections should be enough.

Great, thanks Amethyst.

Whilst it's annoying to have to print so much that the judge probably won't even look at, better that than risk harming my case after all the effort I've put into it.

It would be nice if we could just give the court a pdf of our bundles for them to cerify and forward to the defendant. Maybe one day!

[pt2537]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

Great, thanks Amethyst.

Whilst it's annoying to have to print so much that the judge probably won't even look at, better that than risk harming my case after all the effort I've put into it.

It would be nice if we could just give the court a pdf of our bundles for them to cerify and forward to the defendant. Maybe one day!

Im not sure about Judicial review, its not something i cover, but case law in normal cases goes in its own bundle along with the skeleton argument. the bundle for the judge in the actual case needs to contain the documents youre going to rely upon etc.

not sure how much more help i can be as ive never done a JR case.

Will see what the whitebook says about it

[doveman]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

Im not sure about Judicial review, its not something i cover, but case law in normal cases goes in its own bundle along with the skeleton argument. the bundle for the judge in the actual case needs to contain the documents youre going to rely upon etc.

not sure how much more help i can be as ive never done a JR case.

Will see what the whitebook says about it

Thanks pt2537, that'd be great if you can find out anything.

As far as I understand, I have to submit all the documents I intend to rely on when I file my application for permission, so correspondence, statute, case law, other documents I've referred to in my particulars of claim. I've decided to divide these documents into three folders to make it easier for the judge to follow but maybe the correct description is one bundle with three volumes, rather than three bundles. I was just going by the case I quoted which seems to suggest there should be separate bundles for each of the different types of documents.

I believe I can only submit a skeleton once the case is listed, either for a full hearing or an oral permission hearing if it's refused on the papers, so I don't think I can wait till then to submit the case law, as I imagine the judge deciding on permission will expect to see it. Apparently I wouldn't be expected to produce a skeleton as a LIP but it's advisable nonetheless. I'm not sure if I'm meant to submit the skeleton in it's own bundle/folder or if I just deliver/post it in an A4 envelope/jiffy bag with an amended index that lists it, for the court and defendant to add to the bundle/folders/volumes I've already given to them (as I say, I'm not really sure what the difference between a bundle and a volume is).

[doveman]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

I found this but it's not very clear:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/...ial-review.pdf

7.6 You must file the original claim form and witness statement, together with a set of
paginated and indexed copy documents for the courts use containing the documents
referred to in paragraph 7.5 above(CPR Part 54.6 and Practice Direction54). You
should also file a complete set of copy documents (including a copy claim form and
witness statement) in a paginated and indexed set for the courts use. Please ensure you
paginate in consecutive page number order throughout your bundle. Also ensure that
each page has a page number on it and provide an index, which lists the description of
documents contained in your bundle together with their page reference numbers.

7.8 You must also lodge sufficient additional copies of the claim form for the court to
seal them (i.e. stamp them with the court seal) so that you can serve them on the
defendant and any interested parties. The sealed copies will be returned to you so that
you can serve them on the defendant and any interested parties.

7.6 seems to say I have to file the original claim form and a paginated and indexed bundle of all the documents for my claim, a copy set of the bundle also including a copy of the claim form (obviously not stamped as this won't have been done yet) and 7.8 says I have to lodge additional copies of the claim form for the court to seal, for me to serve on the defendant(s).

This suggests that I don't need to take the defendant's copy of the bundle to the court to be sealed, just the claim form, which I presume I then insert into the bundle before serving it on them (or maybe I include an unstamped copy of the form in the bundle, so that it's identical to all the other copies and the stamped form is kept external). It does suggest I still need to provide the court with two copies of the bundle for some reason though.

[stevemLS]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

That's right OP, the court seals the claim form, not the bundle.

Are you looking at Practice Direction 54A, that is reasonably clear.

You need to lodge your skeleton at the same time as the claim form - these cases don't get listed as such on the first occasion, the defendant gets to file their Grounds for Resistance and the judge considers permission on the papers when it is convenient for them.

You will have the opportunity to amend the bundle prior to any renewed oral application for permission. I tend to find that they are pretty relaxed about additions, so long as they don't fundamentally change the basis on which the claim is being brought.

You need to provide the court with two copies of the bundle together with one for the defendant.

You need a minimum of four sealed claim forms - one for you, one for the defendant and two for the court.

It is not a bad idea to sub-divide the bundle but you should refer to "Volume 1", 2, 3 etc rather than Bundle 1,2.... there is only one bundle.

You need to be a little careful being selective with the statutes, for example I have just done a response to a pre-action protocol letter where the claimant relied on Regulation x and quoted that, whereas Regulation x+1 disapplied Regulation x to the circumstances of that particular case.

You have gone through the pre-action protocol process haven't you?

You also need to be really careful about the limitation period (prompt and max 3 months from date of decision complained of) - the court is notoriously reluctant to extend it.

I wish you well as a LiP, it is a tediously complex process.

[doveman]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

Hi stevemLS

My claim's filed now as the time limit was expiring.

PD 54A is fairly clear, although it only states, at 15.1, that the skeleton needs to be filed no less than 21 days before the hearing and says nothing about filing one with the claim. I would have thought it would assist the judge if the claimant was required to file a skeleton with their claim but nothing I've read suggests this is required, or even acceptable, so he'll have to make do with my particulars. It might mean he doesn't properly understand it and refuses permission and I have to request an oral hearing, at which point I can submit a skeleton and have a chance to explain my case orally as well.

With judicial reviews, it turns out the court doesn't want the defendant's bundle and I just had to take two copies for the court. I had a copy of the claim form external to the folders, which I think they sealed and put on file. I'm not sure if they sealed the copies in the folders. I also got a sealed copy to serve on the defendant with his copy of the bundle. I don't think they provided one for me but I got an extra copy sealed in case another party wants to be added, so I do have one myself at the moment and can always get another one if I need to use that for said party.

Regarding bundles and volumes, I read a few sources that suggested there can/should be multiple bundles, not least this from Brown v Secretary of State for Work and Pension [2008] EWHC 3158:

214. This case required the court to look at a large amount of material, as we hope is obvious from the judgment. We make no complaint about
that. But, unfortunately, the organisation of the files for the hearing made the preparation of this judgment much more difficult. It
would have been more helpful to have had a chronological bundle (of one or more volumes) of contemporaneous correspondence, properly
indexed, a bundle for the statutory Code, the “toolkits” and all the relevant Disability Equality Schemes, a bundle for the statements
and a bundle of relevant legislation and authorities. Although a Core Bundle was produced, it did not have the key documents (and those
only) in it. We would draw attention to the comments of Sir Igor Judge P (as he then was) in Mustafa (orse Abu Hamza) v Government of
the United States of America and others [2008] 1 WR 2760 at 2761 (para 76). In the future, in large cases such as this one, it may be
helpful for there to be a short directions hearing to discuss the organisation of bundles once it is known what material is intended to
lay before the court.

so I ended up dividing the main bundle into two volumes (as there were too many pages to fit in one folder), with a second bundle for statute and case law. Considering that the judge is likely to need to cross-reference the pleadings, the pre-claim correspondence, the main correspondence, any relevant reference documents, the statute and case law, it would seem to make it easiest if each of these are in their own folder/bundle but it seems a bit much to have five bundles (some of which might need more than one folder/volume).

Whilst I only included the relevant parts of statute and case law, to avoid needing another volume for the second bundle filled with irrelevant pages that nobody would have any need to refer to, I did take care to go through and check that there wasn't anything that undermined my case or might assist the defendant, before leaving it out and highlighted parts of the case law that might benefit the defendant, as well as those that support my case.

Thanks for the kind wishes. I'm hoping I'll be able to find some representation before the hearing as I'm not looking forward to representing myself at all.

[stevemLS]

Re: Advice needed on preparing bundle

You're welcome.

I'm a newbie here and am just reading through posts, realised mine might be a bit late for you but you hadn't had any other responses.

On the bundle numbering thing, it doesn't really matter and is not the end of the world - just tradition! Certainly as an LiP at least during this part of the proceedings, you won't be criticised for it.

Obviously no idea what your issue is, I do hope you get representation, there are just so many pitfalls in JR.

Steve