Legal Practice Notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and available purely for historical reference only. To help readers trace how the application of proportionality evolved, we have placed the judgment date immediately following the judgment citation for ease of reference. The new CPR provisions Two further provisions were introduced into the CPR to address the issue of proportionality more directly. They were (emphasis supplied) as follows: CPR 1.1—overriding objective: 1) These Rules constitute a new procedural code whose overriding objective is to enable the court to handle cases fairly and at proportionate expense......

This Practice Note outlines the remit, powers and duties of the for Health and Social Care ( PSA). The PSA was established to draw together the bodies regulating healthcare professions and to secure a cohesive, co-ordinated approach to standard-setting, performance oversight, and to inspection and validation... Regulatory reform of healthcare regulators On 17 February 2023, the Department for Health and Social Care ( DHSC) set out proposals to modernise the legislative framework for nine health and care professional regulators via a series of statutory instruments, giving each regulator fresh powers to shape their own regulatory processes to enhance patient safety and streamline the healthcare system. These include: General Chiropractic Council ( GCC) General Dental Council ( GDC) General Medical Council ( GMC) General Optical Council ( GOC) General Osteopathic Council ( GOs C) General...

Breach of a contract entered into before 1 October 2015 Relevant legislation For agreements made prior to 1 October 2015, whether business or consumer: Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Who can bring a claim Contracting parties (buyer/consumer), plus third parties expressly identified under the Contracts ( Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Potential defendants The contracting retailer. Breach of a contract entered into on or after 1 October 2015 Relevant legislation For consumer contracts from 1 October 2015: the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Who can bring a claim Parties to the contract (purchaser/consumer), and named third parties under the Contracts ( Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Potential defendants The retailer party to the...

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note provided guidance on the requirements for a bill of costs for detailed assessment prior to 1 October 2017 under both old Part 47 and old practice direction 47 as well as old practice direction 51L which set out a voluntary pilot scheme. For information on the up to date position in relation to bill of costs, see Practice Note: Detailed assessment—bill of costs. 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2017—detailed assessment under practice direction 51L This voluntary pilot operated from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2017 and was contained in old practice direction 51L. It was available only for detailed assessment proceedings in the Senior Courts Costs Office. The scheme specified the information to be included within the bill of costs, while the standard detailed assessment framework in Part 47 and practice direction 47 continued to apply so far as there was no...

The aim of this Practice Note is to steer practitioners through the principal issues and difficulties encountered when handling a claim stemming from a road traffic incident within the EU. Those acting for claimants are frequently contacted by would‑be clients injured while travelling on EU roads. Commonly—albeit not invariably—the injured person will have been a passenger in a vehicle driven by a relative or acquaintance. The focus is on claims arising from accidents in EU member states. This Practice Note addresses: jurisdiction—whether, for proceedings issued on or after 1 January 2021, the courts of England and Wales can hear the claim; and, if they can applicable law—which nation’s laws govern the distinct matters that arise Brexit Jurisdiction The principal legislative framework governing jurisdictional questions after the UK’s exit from the EU and IP completion day is the Civil...

This Practice Note addresses matters concerning the aids and appliances a claimant may need as a consequence of their injuries. The claimant must show that any aids and equipment sought meet a genuine medical or therapeutic requirement and are reasonably necessary. Where the claim is sizeable, opinion from an appropriate medical and/or care expert will be needed. This Practice Note also explores recurring questions, such as whether items are obtainable through the NHS, together with the ongoing costs of upkeep, replacement, and, for some items, insurance. Common types of aids and equipment The helpful aids range from the very simple to the highly sophisticated, including: Basic items, for example a shoe horn or walking stick Advanced solutions, for example a computer system assisting with speech or controlling the home environment, media streaming services, or an integrated...

This Practice Note illustrates the court’s approach to applications seeking orders that a hearing should proceed in private and/or that publication by way of reporting be restricted. It is intended to be read together with Practice Note: Private hearings and restricted reporting in civil proceedings. Case details and analysis Issues considered Getty Images ( US) Inc v Stability AI Ltd [2025] EWHC 2863 ( Ch) This liability ruling in the Intellectual Property dispute between Getty Images and Stability AI records that, at the parties’ request, an earlier confidentiality order created a comprehensive regime to protect confidential material disclosed during the proceedings, with the consequence that parts of the trial evidence relied upon by the parties were marked Confidential or Highly Confidential, and that brief private sittings were required during cross-examination in order to maintain that...

This Practice Note considers non-party costs orders ( NPCOs) against company directors—the same principles also apply to controlling shareholders. It outlines the criteria that must be satisfied before the court will exercise its discretion to impose an NPCO on a director, and highlights significant case law. It also addresses piercing the corporate veil and supplies illustrative decisions. The Note proceeds on the basis that the reader understands the general principles of NPCOs; for guidance, see Practice Note: Non-party costs orders—guidelines. Numerous leading cases warn against over-citation of authorities on NPCO applications, because the judge’s role is one of broad discretion. Nevertheless, that discretion must be applied in line with guidance developed through the case law, which is especially pertinent to matters concerning applications for NPCOs against directors and shareholders of small and/or insolvent companies. The same approach extends to controlling...

Air conduction ( AC) Sound is carried through the outer and middle ear before reaching the inner ear. A standard audiogram evaluates hearing via air conduction. Age-associated hearing loss ( AAHL) Also termed presbycusis, this age-related hearing loss arises chiefly from ageing and usually impacts both ears to an equal extent. Air-bone gap ( ABG) The value obtained by subtracting the HTL from the bone conduction reading from the HTL of the air conduction reading. Audiogram A pure tone audiogram is a graph of an individual’s hearing threshold levels for pure tones across different frequencies, displaying loss as a function of frequency, measured with an audiometer. Audiometer Pure tone audiometer — an electroacoustic instrument. For air conduction tests it uses a headset with two earphones delivering pure tones of specified frequencies at known sound pressure levels to establish hearing thresholds, one ear at a time. For bone...

This Practice Note outlines the routes for personal injury redress for injured serving and ex-service members, embracing claims founded on statute as well as compensation schemes under domestic law and the European Convention on Human Rights. It considers claims arising from incidents in combat operations and training, plus specific conditions including non-freezing cold injury, noise-induced hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD), psychiatric harm related to bullying or harassment, and parading injuries. The history and suspension of Crown immunity It is helpful to examine the evolution of the law governing military claims closely. Until 1987, section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 ( CPA 1947) barred service personnel from pursuing any civil actions against the Crown for death or personal injury attributable to other members within the British Armed Forces. Sections 1 and 2 of the Crown Proceedings ( Armed Forces) Act 1987 ( CP( AF) A...

There are several commonly encountered hazards on the highway: animals poorly maintained roads ice and snow flooding vegetation other obstructions Animals straying onto the highway The majority of claims about animals on the highway are determined under negligence, though some have succeeded under the Animals Act 1971 ( AA 1971). Collisions between vehicles and farm animals can be severe, given the animal’s size and unpredictability. At common law, an owner or keeper will be liable where, through their negligence, the animal causes damage. Farmers grazing cattle in fields adjacent to roads must take all reasonable steps to prevent escape and thus avoid endangering road users; ordinary negligence principles apply. In assessing what precautions are reasonable, the court balances the likelihood and potential seriousness of an accident against the cost of prevention, decided case by case. A defence may exist where the...

This Practice Note examines the jurisdictional service gateways, or bases for service, in CPR PD 6B, paras 3.1(21)–3.1(23), which address claims concerning breach of confidence and misuse of information. It outlines the gateways and offers observations on how the courts have interpreted, or may interpret, them. This Practice Note should be read alongside Practice Note: Cross-border service—jurisdictional gateways (principles). For guidance on the substantive claim to safeguard confidential material, see: Protecting confidential information—overview. Where the requirements of gateway 21 are satisfied and an additional claim is pursued against the same defendant arising from the same, or closely connected, facts, that additional claim may come within gateway 4B. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Cross-border service—jurisdictional gateways 1, 1A, 2, 4 and 4A (general grounds), in particular the main section: Gateway 4A—further claim arises out of the same or closely related...

This Practice Note sets out guidance on bringing claims in the Financial List, as well as transferring claims into and out of that List, covering which cases qualify, the procedural framework ( CPR 63A and CPR PD 63AA), the forms to use, the Financial List Guide, the Users’ Committee, and the judges nominated to sit in the List. It also explains the financial markets test case scheme, which offers a mechanism to resolve market questions where there is no earlier English authoritative precedent. For general assistance on commencing a claim or a counterclaim, see: Starting a claim or counterclaim—overview. What is the Financial List? The Financial List is a specialist list of the High Court that took effect on 1 October 2015, created to address complex financial markets disputes that are of high value, that raise market issues, or both. An...

This Practice Note explores a central consideration in the forum non conveniens context, namely the justice requirement. It should be recognised that only a small number of cases have treated this requirement as sufficient to overcome the presumption of a stay. For guidance on: the doctrine of forum non conveniens, see Practice Note: Forum non conveniens—principles when it may arise and how it is applied, see Practice Notes: Forum non conveniens—challenging jurisdiction and Forum non conveniens—service out of the jurisdiction the relevant connecting factors when applying the forum non conveniens doctrine, see Practice Note: Forum non conveniens—connecting factors Note: this Practice Note refers to the Privy Council’s judgment in AK Investment CJSC v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel. In some law reports the same decision is cited as Altimo Holdings and Investment Ltd v Kyrgyz Mobil Tel. Standalone assessment Whether there is a ‘real risk’ that substantial justice will not be...

This case tracker reviews clinical negligence liability decisions from January 2021 onwards. The judgments offer guidance on how the courts are addressing different types of clinical negligence claim. Where possible, we have included links to the judgments and/or analysis. Use this tracker alongside Practice Notes on specific claim types, such as Clinical negligence claims involving labour and delivery—injuries to the child, Delay in medical treatment, and Clinical negligence surgical claims... Birth injuries Case name and details CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5, February 2026. On appeal, the Supreme Court considered whether a child claimant can recover ‘lost years’ damages for earnings she would have made during the period by which her life expectancy was shortened by the defendant’s clinical negligence. CCC sustained a severe hypoxic brain injury at birth in 2015, reducing her life...

Who is the Health and Care Professions Council (‘ HCPC’)? The Health and Care Professions Council ( HCPC) is the statutory regulator for the health professions listed below, established by the Health Professions Order 2001. Its core remit is to set and uphold standards of education, training, conduct and performance for registrants. This Practice Note outlines HCPC fitness to practise ( Ft P) processes, investigations, and applications for restoration to the Register, and should be read alongside the Practice Notes: Common principles in fitness to practise proceedings and Criminal proceedings and convictions in healthcare regulatory proceedings. The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service ( HCPTS) provides Ft P adjudication for the HCPC. The HCPC regulates these professions: arts therapists biomedical...

This Practice Note sets out where to start detailed assessment proceedings, which documents must be lodged and/or served, the deadline for commencing such proceedings, and the repercussions of failing to do so in time. It also addresses whether the paying party may obtain a stay of the detailed assessment while an appeal is pending. Be aware that paras 10.1–10.7 of the Senior Courts Costs Office Guide offer general guidance on the commencement of detailed assessment proceedings. CE- File electronic filing is compulsory in the Senior Courts Costs Office ( SCCO) ( CPR PD 5C, para 1.3(d) and CPR PD 5C, para 2.1(a)). For further details on electronic filing in the SCCO, see Practice Note: CE- File—electronic filing in the Senior Court Costs Office. Informal negotiation prior to the commencement of detailed assessment In Mc Namee v LB Brent (2025), the judge observed that an...

This Practice Note sets out a succinct overview of the points to address when a personal injury letter of claim arrives and you must respond. For top-level guidance on drafting such a letter, see Practice Note: How to prepare a personal injury letter of claim. For direction on replying to a clinical negligence letter of claim, see Practice Note: How to respond to a letter of claim in clinical negligence claims. Initial considerations whether the claimant appears to have a viable cause of action — can you form an early view on their legal case and/or any potential defence (for instance, whether it might be out of time under the relevant limitation period) the likely quantum of the purported claim, which will typically shape what steps are proportionate at the pre-action stage whether the...

This Practice Note explores the recovery of costs in proceedings involving a child or a protected party, the responsibility of a litigation friend for costs, and the litigation friend’s ability to reclaim costs they have incurred. Specific provisions apply because, for the purposes of court proceedings, children and protected parties are regarded as lacking capacity. Further guidance is set out in the Practice Note of Senior Costs judge Gordon- Saker dated December 2021, addressing approval of costs settlements, assessments under CPR 46.4(2) and deductions from damages for children and protected parties. For guidance on appointing a litigation friend, see Practice Note: Claims involving a child—appointment of a litigation friend. This Practice Note also references the Court of Appeal decision in Barker v Confiance Ltd (2020), which is cited in other sources as Glover v...

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived. It relates to provisions revoked on 1 April 2013 and is provided for historical reference only. Costs capping orders and protective costs orders Costs capping orders ( CCOs) and protective costs orders ( PCOs) both place limits on the amount of costs payable in proceedings. Nonetheless, they must be kept distinct: the court’s authority for each arises from wholly separate sources, and the function and purpose of the two orders differ markedly. Accordingly, they serve different ends within the costs regime. The general rule dealing with CCOs is now contained in r 44.18. In brief: CCOs cap the level of costs that a party may recover pursuant to a costs order that is subsequently made PCOs restrict the level of costs that an unsuccessful party will be required to pay in the...