Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

committal definition

What does committal mean? In practice, committal refers either to transferring a case or defendant from one court to another, or to ordering a person’s detention in custody. England and Wales: formal committal for trial from the magistrates’ court has been replaced by sending for trial, but courts still commit for sentence where magistrates’ sentencing powers are insufficient, and may issue a warrant of committal to custody (for example, for contempt of court or certain enforcement failures). Northern Ireland: committal proceedings before a magistrates’ court remain the usual gateway to the Crown Court (testing whether there is a case to answer), alongside developing direct committal reforms. Scotland:...

Committal for breach of court orders and solicitors’ undertakings: applications and procedure under former CPR 81 (pre‑1 Oct 2020) — England and Wales [Archived]

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Practice notes

ARCHIVED

This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated. It is retained solely for historical purposes as it relates to CPR 81 in the form that applied before 1 October 2020, and to Practice Direction 81, which was wholly revoked with effect from 1 October 2020. If you are handling a committal application after 1 October 2020, you must consult the current CPR 81 and the relevant Practice Notes—see: Contempt and committal—overview. For the pre-1 October 2020 text of CPR 81 or Practice Direction 81, see:

This Practice Note examines when committal applications can be pursued for failure to comply with court orders or a solicitor’s undertaking, and the procedure to follow in doing so. It should be read together with Practice Note: Committal proceedings—applications, evidence and hearings [Archived], which provides a general summary of the principal considerations in these proceedings.

Committal proceedings—non-compliance with court orders

Failure to obey a court order is the most frequent basis for contempt proceedings (and, similarly, for writs of Sequestration—see Practice Note: Committal proceedings—writs of sequestration [Archived]) being commenced. CPR 81.4 provides that if a person does not comply with a...

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Alexander West

Albion Chambers

Alexander West specialises in Matrimonial Finance, Regulatory Crime and Inquests.Having started his career with a City finance firm before moving to Linklaters LLP, Alexander now practices across the Western Circuit and beyond, undertaking a range of work across each of his areas of specialism. Alexander is a scholar of Middle Temple at GDL and BPTC level, and received the Sachs Award (top 5%) from City Law School for his results following the vocational element of his training. Alexander qualified as a mediator in 2010 and has since provided mediation training to barristers, solicitors and non-legal professionals, focusing on a facilitative approach to dispute resolution. Alexander is ranked by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. ...

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