Faststream

[Faststream]

Hi there, am hoping for some guidance, help or assistance regarding Civil Procedure Rules Part 27. Received letter from Court reference Small Claims Track today. Thanks

[Amethyst]

What was the letter ?

Small claims track is for case up to £10k or straightforward matters.

Fast track is for cases over £10k or more complex matters.

[Faststream]

Defendant missed Court deadline date to lodge their statement of evidence and also exceeded the page limit on their content. As Claimant I wrote to Court querying both of the above and received letter today saying they were unable to give advice however I needed to refer to Civil Procedure Rules Part 27 in respect of the conduct of claims allocated to The Small Claims Track. Claim is below £10k. Thanks

[Amethyst]

Ok what was the order prior that stated the date by which to submit 'statement of evidence' and the page limit ?

In small claims it is quite flexible on evidence / variation of orders etc. So if they were a couple days late and a couple pages over it's not going to be fatal.

Did the directions about submitting a 'statement of evidence' have any 'unless' order - any consequence beyond 'may not be able to use it in the hearing' ? eg did it say do this or you'll be struck out etc ?

basically what was the exact order that you feel the other side has not complied with and how serious was the non compliance ?

[Faststream]

The 10.09.2019 letter from the Court to both parties was very explicit and stated “It is ordered that the parties send or deliver to the court and each other to arrive no later than the 8th October 2019, written statements of the evidence”. The court has a fixed working day deadline of before 4pm. Docs Arriving after 4pm constitutes that any docs after that time are treated as having arrived the Court’s next working day. The Defendant lodged after 4pm on 8th.
As for the limit of content/paperwork sent to the Court the rules state that “the documents together must not exceed 25 sheets of paper in total when printed on both sides”. The Defendant sent in 54 sides (27 pages).
I checked these points within the Civil Procedure Rules and telephoned the Court Office who confirmed my understanding of both points was correct.
The Court may refuse to accept any documents and attachments emailed to the Court where “a party does not comply with the above provisions”.
As Claimant I want the Court to strike out the Defendant’s statement of evidence as they failed to adhere to the Court Order and Civil Procedure Rules.

[Amethyst]

Does it say that exactly ?

The Court may refuse to accept any documents and attachments emailed to the Court where “a party does not comply with the above provisions”.

The operative word is MAY. It's at their discretion.

You could apply ( N244 application to strike statement of evidence due to failure to comply with order ) however it probably won't succeed - it was one day late if strict, and 2 pages too long - so hardly a major breach - had it been over a week late and 50 pages printed on both sides you might have a chance of success.

You'd be better concentrating on countering their evidence and statement.