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This Practice Note outlines the law concerning criminal recklessness. The subjective test for recklessness Certain statutory and common law offences allow the prosecution to prove mens rea through ‘recklessness’. Put simply, recklessness is where the accused takes an unjustified risk that results in unlawful harm or damage. The House of Lords in R v G reaffirmed the subjective approach to recklessness. Before R v G, two distinct tests were used, depending on the offence charged: Subjective recklessness from R v Cunningham: the prosecution had to establish that the accused personally foresaw the risk. Objective recklessness from R v Caldwell: the prosecution only needed to show that the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable person, without proving the accused themselves foresaw it. In R v G, the House of Lords concluded that the objective test could operate unfairly where a defendant did not foresee the
This Practice Note examines the remedy of rescission, explaining when and in what manner a contract can be unwound (at common law, in equity and under statute) and thereby terminated and brought to an end. It covers the consequences and effects of rescission, the principal grounds for setting aside an agreement (misrepresentation, mistake, undue influence, duress, non‑disclosure, fiduciary misdealing and bribery) and the main obstacles to claiming rescission—affirmation, the intervention of third‑party rights and the impossibility of restitution. For further guidance on rescission in the context of misrepresentation, see Practice Note: Misrepresentation—rescission as a remedy. There are many ways in which a contract may reach its end; see: Terminating contracts—how and when a contract ends—overview for a brief and accessible summary, with links to the related further practical guidance, including Practice Note: Termination and expiry of contracts. For a table
What is a res judicata? A res judicata is a determination by a court or tribunal with jurisdiction over the cause of action and the parties, which finally disposes of the issues decided so they cannot be litigated again by those bound, save on appeal. Final judgments entered by default or by consent fall within this concept, whereas rulings on purely procedural points and any decision lacking finality do not. The doctrine’s aim is to bring litigation to an end and shield parties from being harassed by the same dispute twice. in personam—binds the parties and their privies in rem—binds all persons, privy or otherwise (ie a judgment binding the whole world) A party may rely on res judicata: as an estoppel to defeat an opponent’s claim or defence; and/or as the basis of their own claim or
The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent can be tried solely in the Crown Court on indictment. Elements of the offence Under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (OATPA 1861), the prosecution must establish that the defendant unlawfully and maliciously: wounded with the intention of causing GBH, or caused GBH with that intention, or wounded intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person, or caused GBH intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person ‘Unlawfully’ and ‘maliciously’ Unlawfully The wounding or causing of GBH must be unlawful. Such conduct may be lawful if used: in self-defence in defence of another in defence of property for the prevention of crime where the victim gave express or implied consent For further information on these defences, see below:
Most recent Practice notes
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated. It is retained solely for historical context, as it outlines CPR Part 36 as it stood before 6 April 2015. If you have received, or are proposing, a Part 36 offer on or after 6 April 2015, you should consult the CPR 36 currently in force together with the relevant Practice Notes and Precedents. See Practice Note: Part 36 offers in PI and clinical negligence claims and Part 36 offers—overview. Where a Part 36 offer was made or received before 6 April 2015, the pre‑6 April 2015 Part 36 regime continues to apply. A copy of the pre‑6 April 2015 Part 36 rules can be accessed here: If a Part 36 offer predates 6 April 2015 but any trial of part of the claim, or any issue within it, is listed to begin on or after 6 April 2015, you...
ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. It is kept for historical reference only and sets out CPR Part 36 as it operated before 6 April 2015, explaining the provisions as they were in force immediately prior to that date. For any Part 36 offer received or made on or after 6 April 2015, refer to the version of CPR 36 that is in force, together with our relevant Practice Notes and Precedents covering this area—see: Part 36 offers—overview. If you have made, or are in receipt of, a Part 36 offer predating 6 April 2015, the Part 36 rules in force before that date continue to apply. You can access a copy of the pre‑6 April 2015 Part 36 rules here: Where a Part 36 offer predates 6 April 2015 but a trial of any part of the...
ARCHIVED : This Practice Note is archived and no longer being maintained. It is retained purely for historical context, describing CPR Part 36 as it applied before 6 April 2015, when those provisions were previously in effect only. If you have received, or intend to make, a Part 36 offer on or after 6 April 2015, you must consult the CPR 36 currently in force and our accompanying Practice Notes and Precedents covering this; see: Part 36 offers—overview. If you have made, or been served with, a Part 36 offer predating 6 April 2015, the version of Part 36 that was operative before that date continues to govern. You may obtain a copy of the pre‑6 April 2015 Part 36 rules here: If you have made, or received, a Part 36 offer predating 6 April 2015, but a trial of any element of the claim, or any...
ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the transitional arrangements for CPR 36 following its April 2015 re-write. It belongs to a collection of Practice Notes created for the joint Lexis Nexis and St Philips Commercial seminar series on the changes to Part 36 held in Leeds, Birmingham and London in January 2015. To obtain all supporting materials and the recording of the April 2015 London Part 36 session, please visit our Lexis Nexis Dispute Resolution blog and register. For additional Practice Notes in this suite on the updated CPR 36, refer to the related content links on the right-hand side. What is happening and when? The new CPR 36 took effect in full on 6 April 2015 and applies to every Part 36 offer made on or after 6 April 2015....
This Practice Note considers case management on the fast track of civil claims that are issued on or after 1 October 2023. The rules for case management and directions on the fast track differ depending upon whether proceedings were issued before or after 1 October 2023. The main provisions governing fast track case management are found in CPR 26, CPR PD 26, CPR 28 and CPR PD 28, and those provisions were amended with effect from 1 October 2023. This Practice Note deals only with the case management of fast track claims in civil proceedings issued on or after 1 October 2023. For information on how fast track claims issued before 1 October 2023 are managed, see Practice Note: Fast track—case management—position before 1 October 2023. Note, however, that for personal injury claims the applicable rules vary according to the date on which the cause of...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is based on provisions revoked on 1 April 2013. It is therefore for historical purposes only. What are they? Points of dispute set out the paying party’s challenges to the items in the bill of costs. They must be served on the receiving party and on every other party to the detailed assessment proceedings whose name and address for service appear on the statement included in the bill of costs of any person on whom the receiving party intends to serve the notice of commencement. Time limits The deadline for serving points of dispute is 21 days after service of the notice of commencement. See Detailed assessment: starting the process (prior to April 2013) [ Archived]. The 21 day period is extended if the notice of commencement is served outside England and...
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not updated and is provided solely for background reference. Also, some hyperlinks may not take you to the provisions as they stood on the date the guidance in this Practice Note was issued. For details on earlier and/or later changes to the CPR, refer to: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. This Practice Note includes the agenda and minutes from the CPR Committee ( CPRC) meeting held on 7 July 2017, with supporting papers......
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived, not kept under review, and provided for background reference. Additionally, certain links might not lead you to the provisions as they stood on the date the guidance within this Practice Note was issued......
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is no longer updated and is provided for background reference. In addition, hyperlinks may not take you to the provisions as they existed on the date this Practice Note’s guidance was issued. For details on earlier and/or later amendments to the CPR, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. This Practice Note sets out the agenda and minutes of the CPR Committee ( CPRC) meeting held on 1 December 2017, with supporting material. At that meeting, the committee discussed the timescale for securing transcripts of judgments; revisions to the practice direction— Civil Recovery Proceeding; the transfer of matters from the Magistrates’ Court to the High Court, requiring amendment to CPR PD 8A to implement the Magistrates’ Courts ( Detention and Forfeiture of Terrorist Assets) Rules 2017; a proposal to broaden the Public Liability fixed recoverable costs ( FRC) regime to...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer maintained. It sets out the minutes of the CPR Committee ( CPRC) meeting held on 7 December 2018. During that session, the committee discussed several matters, including: proposed changes to the CPR to refine rules and practice directions for media and communication claims a planned consultation on enforcing possession orders an uplift to the small claims track limit for whiplash claims the launch of the Business and Property Courts— Capped Costs List pilot scheme CPR amendments to address Brexit an update on CPR changes arising from the open justice consultation ( CPR 39) Please note the CPR Committee ( CPRC) no longer circulates the supporting papers with the minutes; therefore, no documents explaining the issues discussed accompany this Practice Note. A copy of the minutes is available here: Media and communications ( MAC) list The media and...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived, no longer updated, and now serves background information only...
ARCHIVED This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is provided solely for background purposes. Please note that some links may no longer point to the provisions as they stood when this guidance was issued and originally published. For details of earlier and later amendments to the CPR, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. Agenda and minutes The draft agenda for the CPR Committee ( CPRC) open meeting on 11 May 2018 is available here: The agreed minutes can also be found here: The meeting was presided over by Mr Justice Coulson, while Sir Terence Etherton delivered the opening remarks, expressly noting the breadth of the CPRC’s work and the considerable success of its open meetings (which have been held since June 2006). Membership ( Agenda item 3) It was noted that: District Judge Lethem will continue to serve a further term on the CPRC a new...
ARCHIVED: this archived Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information purposes only. This Practice Note is archived, is no longer updated and is provided solely as background material. Please be aware that certain links might not take you to the provisions as they stood when this guidance was first issued. On 1 April 2013, the Jackson Reforms brought in, among other measures, revised case management rules. The principal changes are outlined below. Note This Practice Note addresses only the provisions commenced in April 2013. It does not give guidance on later procedural amendments (to the CPR or any other procedural rules or guides). Nor does it cover how the April 2013 (or any later) updates were implemented or interpreted. For guidance one year on from the Jackson Reforms and on the April 2014 CPR updates, see Practice Notes: Jackson Reforms—one year on [ Archived] and CPR...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived, not maintained, and provided solely for background information. In addition, certain links may no longer point to the provisions as they stood on the date this guidance was published. For details of previous and/or subsequent changes to the CPR, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. The new provisions take effect on 5 June 2014 as a result of the Civil Procedure ( Amendment No 5) Rules 2014 and the Practice Direction for the 73rd update. Costs budgeting Even before the amended CPR 3.12 provisions commenced on 22 April 2014, questions arose about how the new provisions should be interpreted. On 11 April 2014, the CPR Committee issued clarification. In short, the exemption in CPR 3.12 applies to the Admiralty and Commercial Court. For the explanation, see: The Civil Procedure ( Amendment No 5) Rules 2014 will come into force on 5 June,...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived, not maintained, and provided for background only. In addition, some links may no longer point to the provisions as they were when this guidance was published. For information on earlier and/or later CPR amendments, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. A PDF of SI 2018/975 can be found here: Part 1 and Part 5. Part 1 These amendments are intended to give effect to the principles in the Welsh Language ( Wales) Measure 2011 and the Welsh Language Act 1993: that the Welsh language holds official status in Wales and that any person may use Welsh in legal proceedings in Wales. A new rule 1.5 is to be added which provides, in summary, that nothing within the overriding objective diminishes those principles—namely (a) the official status of the Welsh language in Wales under the 2011 Measure, and (b) the...
ARCHIVED: Note This Practice Note sets out guidance on provisions that came into force on 1 April 2013. It deals solely with the amendments to CPR 35.4. For guidance on the introduction of concurrent expert evidence (also brought in under the Jackson Reforms) or on expert evidence generally, see: Hot-tubbing ( Concurrent expert evidence) and Experts' meetings and joint statements respectively. You should also have regard to all relevant provisions contained in any applicable court guide. See: Court guides and other guidance. NOTE: This Practice Note provides a summary of the amendment to CPR 35.4 that took effect on 1 April 2014. It does not address developments since that date and is, therefore, not maintained. Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations—effective case management Lord Justice Jackson identified expert evidence as an area where litigation costs could be markedly reduced. He noted that if expert reports are...
This Practice Note examines when parties may agree to extend the period for complying with a rule, practice direction or court order that obliges them to take a step within a fixed timeframe and sets out the consequences of any default. For wider guidance on extensions of time, including matters falling outside CPR 3.8(4), see Practice Note: Extension of time. This Practice Note should also be read alongside material addressing the court’s response to party non-compliance and applications for relief from sanction arising from such breaches, which can be found in: Compliance and relief from sanctions—overview. Agreeing an extension of time under CPR 3.8(4) CPR 3.8(4) allows the parties, by prior written agreement, to extend the deadline for performing an act specified by the CPR or a court order where the consequences of failure are prescribed. Any such extension is limited to a maximum of 28 days and...
Timetable or directions to review costs budgets Preparing a costs budget can be demanding, particularly in intricate matters where the kind and scale of work needed to advance or defend a claim may evolve over time. CPR 3.15(6) recognises this and allows the court to set a timetable or issue further directions for future budget reviews. This enables the parties to keep their budgets under ongoing review and, where suitable, to request amendments. When such directions are made, parties must diarise them and complete the reviews in accordance with those directions. Continual monitoring of cost budgets Once a costs budget is finalised and either agreed with the other side or approved by the court, the court will actively manage costs throughout the proceedings. Parties must therefore monitor spend against the budgeted figures for each phase to ensure they remain within limits. If actual costs exceed the...
This Practice Note summarises key and illustrative rulings on the use of the court’s discretionary power under CPR 3.1(7) to vary or revoke an order, covering: Instances where the court has varied or revoked an order under CPR 3.1(7) Instances where the court has refused to vary or revoke an order under CPR 3.1(7) For the governing principles and guidance on applying to vary or revoke under CPR 3.1(7), see Practice Note: Varying or revoking orders—court’s general power under CPR 3.1(7). For a tabular summary of the different CPR mechanisms for amending court orders, see: Judgments and orders—overview. Examples of when the court has varied or revoked an order under CPR 3.1(7) Case details Stockler v The Corporation of the Hall of The Arts and Sciences, 21 November 2025, County Court at Central London, Senior Courts Costs Office, [2025] EWHC 3080 ( SCCO) Key notes from the...
This Practice Note This Practice Note addresses how defended civil claims issued on or after 1 October 2023 are allocated by the court to the small claims track, fast track, intermediate track or multi-track. Explains the principal considerations the court applies when deciding allocation, including provisional allocation. Describes the contents of the court’s notice of proposed allocation ( NPA) and the possible penalties for non-compliance with the NPA. Identifies when a claim might be moved to a different track (re-allocation). Confirms that claims placed on the fast track or intermediate track are also given a complexity band, and outlines the different bands. Is intended to be read alongside Practice Note: Case management—allocation—the different case management tracks, which clarifies the meaning of ‘allocation’ and summarises the main features of the small claims track, fast track,...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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