Legal Practice Notes

This Practice Note sets out the role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( NICE), clarifies its clinical guidelines, and gives examples of how to locate and use those guidelines in practice. What is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and what does it do? The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body, created under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Initially formed in 1999 as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, it adopted the name NICE in 2005. It issues guidance for health, public health and social care practitioners and commissioners, develops quality standards, and supplies information services spanning health and social care. NICE’s guidance is delivered across three main areas: technology appraisals clinical guidance interventional procedures What is NICE clinical...

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is supplied for background reference only. Moreover, some links may not lead you to provisions as they stood on the date guidance in this Practice Note was originally issued. For details on earlier and/or later changes to the CPR, see: CPR updates—overview and Procedure Rule Committee minutes—overview. This Practice Note provides a summary of the CPR revisions taking effect on 1 December 2014 as a......

ARCHIVED : This archived Practice Note compiles major dispute resolution ( DR) appeals and notable appellate rulings in general civil litigation in England and Wales from 2024 to date. It also highlights key forthcoming appeal matters (to support horizon scanning) together with reported judgments delivered in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Competition Appeal Tribunal, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the Privy Council), Court of Justice of the European Union ( Court of Justice), and the European Court of Human Rights ( ECt HR). Links are provided to the judgment and any bespoke News Analysis to aid understanding of the principles engaged and the impact of the decisions. It is not maintained and is offered for background use only. For details of key DR appeals from 2025 to date, see Practice Note: Dispute resolution: key appeal cases—2025 [...

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained Keeping abreast of case law that shapes a practitioner’s specialism, or influences civil litigation procedure generally, is a persistent challenge for those working in dispute resolution. This Practice Note distils the leading appeal authorities—decisions of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and, where relevant, selected judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU)—that we have reported, giving users straightforward access to those rulings. Use the table of contents in the left margin to browse, or locate items quickly with [ CTRL]+[ F]. It also sets out a selection of forthcoming appeals, where known, to aid horizon scanning. The material is not intended to be a comprehensive catalogue of every appeal and/or significant decision for dispute resolution practitioners. Key forthcoming appeal cases—2019 Terminating...

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note compiles principal appellate cases (ie rulings of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and, where applicable, selected judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU ( CJEU)) that we have covered, to make it simpler for users to locate those decisions. You can navigate the material via the collapsible table of contents on the left-hand margin and/or by using the hyperlinks listed below. The cases are arranged under these headings: Key DR Developments Brexit Applicable law Rome I Jurisdiction ...

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Keeping pace with case law that shapes a practice area is a constant challenge for practitioners. This Practice Note distils the principal appeal decisions ( Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and, where appropriate, the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU)) that we have reported, providing users with straightforward access to those rulings. The tracker is browsable, and cases are grouped under the following headings: Key DR developments, Applicable law, Jurisdiction, Service, Limitation, Claims and remedies, Injunctions and other relief orders, Pre-action, Litigation, Case management, Applications specific, Evidence and disclosure, Settlement, ADR, Appeals and Judicial Review, Costs and funding, Enforcement, Insolvency Alternatively, search the tracker using [ CTL]+[ F]. This resource is not intended to be a complete catalogue of all appeals. Key DR...

This Practice Note addresses the compilation of bundles for trial. For guidance on preparing: bundles for an interim application—see Practice Note: Preparing for an application hearing— Application bundles bundles for an appeal—see Practice Notes: Appeals to the County Court or the High Court—the appeal bundle, Appeals to the Court of Appeal—bundles and Supreme Court—documents for appeal hearing—on or after 2 December 2024 electronic bundles—see Practice Notes: Electronic bundles in civil proceedings and Preparing electronic PDF bundles Importance and purpose of trial bundles The role of a trial bundle is to assemble the documents that are fundamental to the parties’ cases and to which any party’s counsel will need to refer at trial. It is not intended to replicate every disclosed document and should avoid material that is irrelevant or unnecessary. This was highlighted in Innovate...

The judicial branch The judicial branch of government in England and Wales acts independently from the executive and legislature, and remains institutionally distinct, and comprises the Senior Courts: the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Crown Court. County Courts and the magistrates’ courts form another tier of the judiciary. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 ( CRA 2005) made provision for a Supreme Court to serve as the UK’s ultimate court of appeal. The UK Supreme Court came into being in October 2009, supplanting the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the nation’s highest court. It stands apart from the Courts of England and Wales, as it also functions as the Supreme Court for Scotland and for Northern Ireland. Judges and magistrates are appointed by, and derive their authority from, the Crown. They must, however, exercise that authority lawfully, adhering to...

This Practice Note explains protective costs orders ( PCOs), which restrict the quantum of costs payable in litigation. It outlines when the court may grant a PCO, what such an order looks like, the process for seeking one, and the consequences on costs if the bid fails. It also reviews authorities on PCOs in closed material proceedings, and addresses cost capping orders. A protective costs order ( PCO) exists to ensure claimants are not shut out from advancing meritorious claims purely because of the financial risk. It does so by capping the exposure to costs within the proceedings. While costs capping orders ( CCOs) likewise impose limits, PCOs and CCOs must be kept distinct: the jurisdictional bases differ, and their roles and aims are not the same. The court’s power in respect of each derives from separate sources, and the functions served by the two...

Claims for past expenses and losses These typically comprise: lost financial dependency the value of services the deceased would have delivered had they lived (see Practice Note: Quantifying damages for dependants—past losses—services) See also Practice Notes: Claims involving a fatality—heads of damage and Quantifying damages for the estate under the Law Reform Act. Losses are assessed using a multiplicand/multiplier method. The court first identifies the yearly worth of the loss (the multiplicand) and then applies a suitable multiplier. By way of a simple illustration: if the deceased provided a dependant with an allowance of £100 per month (£1,200 annually) and carried out DIY worth £100 each quarter (£400 per year), the annual multiplicand totals £1,600. Calculating the annual value to the dependants of the deceased’s lost income This is ordinarily expressed as a percentage of the deceased’s lost earnings. Note that many...

Within this Practice Note, noise-induced hearing loss is abbreviated to NIHL. It outlines the considerations that influence the assessment of general damages in NIHL matters, including Judicial College Guidelines ( JCG), analogous earlier court judgments, and the severity of auditory impairment. The Note further addresses particular categories of special damages commonly applicable in such claims, the disablement benefit that a claimant might seek for hearing loss and/or tinnitus, together with alternative compensation schemes under which a claimant could make a claim. It also notes the extent of the hearing loss considered here......

This Practice Note offers direction on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR. Depending on the court in which your matter is heard, further provisions may apply—see further in the section Court specific guidance below. It addresses hearings to determine applications and describes the general conduct of such hearings, including the courts’ approach to evidence at an application hearing, taking and keeping a note of the hearing, and the removal of hearing bundles. It also explains the courts’ approach where a party does not attend, including when the court will proceed in that party’s absence and applications to re-list on the basis of non-attendance. The guidance is relevant to both in-person and remote hearings. Additional considerations arise where a hearing is conducted remotely—for further guidance, see Practice Notes: Remote and hybrid hearings in civil proceedings and Electronic bundles in civil...

This Practice Note considers the use of artificial intelligence ( AI) and allied tools when preparing to give disclosure to opposing parties. It draws no distinction between disclosure under the disclosure scheme used in the Business and Property Courts and disclosure under Part 31 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The priority is to save time and costs without undermining the dependability of the disclosure produced. Why AI works in disclosure AI and related tools can be effective for disclosure because the task is often predictable. Similar kinds of disputes typically generate similar categories of documents tied to the particular issues in contention. Naturally, there will be variations from case to case, yet these do not diminish the role of AI tools. Such tools are attractive to legal advisers conducting disclosure as they reduce human effort and thus cost, while creating an audit trail to...

CPR 83 provisions regarding writs and warrants This Practice Note explores the process for enforcing a judgment or order for possession of land, whether by a High Court writ of possession or a County Court warrant of possession, with reference to CPR 83 and CPR PD 83. CPR 83 and CPR PD 83 set out the rules that apply to the issue of writs and warrants. For broader guidance on CPR 83, see Practice Note: How to obtain a warrant of delivery. For an overview of CPR 55 and possession claims in general, see Practice Note: Possession proceedings... Enforcement in the High Court—writ of possession Once a judgment or order for possession of land has been secured, enforcement in the High Court may proceed by any of the following: a writ of possession committal proceedings for contempt of court under CPR 81 if no such...

Post-1 October 2013 From 1 October 2013, section 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 ( ERRA 2013) took effect. For workplace accidents after that date, civil liability no longer stems from breach of a statutory health and safety duty unless the specific regulation provides for it. Consequently, practitioners must advance claims in negligence. Although it is no longer appropriate to plead a claim purely on a regulatory breach, claimant practitioners are likely to continue citing the relevant statutory provisions as expressing the expected standard of care in workplace environments. In many instances, such regulations can be referenced in statements of case to outline procedures for identifying and evaluating risk, and for implementing controls in light of those assessments. Accordingly, claims should be grounded in negligence, with any breach of regulation relied upon as evidence of that negligence. The claimant will (usually) need to...

What is a dispute resolution clause? Many commercial contracts include a dispute resolution clause, sometimes labelled an ‘ ADR clause’. Alternative dispute resolution ( ADR) refers to resolving a disagreement without commencing court proceedings. The Commercial Court and the Circuit Commercial Court use the expression negotiated dispute resolution ( NDR) for processes that settle disputes outside the courts, but for ease, this Practice Note adopts the term ADR. The aim of inserting a dispute resolution clause is to give the parties a clear framework for handling any dispute that may emerge under their agreement. Such a clause sets out how conflicts between the contracting parties will be dealt with and will frequently oblige them to engage in a specified ADR method or methods before pursuing litigation or arbitration. For the various ADR options, see Practice Note: Which form of ADR? For general...

Leapfrog appeal A leapfrog appeal is one that goes straight to a higher appellate court than the one that would typically hear it. If an appeal would normally be dealt with in the County Court or High Court, a leapfrog sends it to the Court of Appeal. Where an appeal would usually be considered by the Court of Appeal, a leapfrog takes it to the Supreme Court ( UKSC). For more, see Practice Notes: Starting an appeal—destination of civil appeals— Leapfrog appeals—can my appeal be assigned to the Court of Appeal? and Starting an appeal—destination of civil appeals— Leapfrog appeals—can my appeal be assigned to the Supreme Court? This Practice Note gives guidance on the authority and procedure for bringing a leapfrog appeal. For wider guidance on appeals, consult: Starting an appeal—general provisions Starting an...

This Practice Note addresses the issues to weigh up when asking counsel to conduct trial advocacy, covering the criteria to bear in mind and the contents required in the brief for counsel, together with the practical points to include within the brief provided to counsel... When to brief counsel If you are uncertain you can devote sufficient time to prepare the matter adequately for trial, or can present it at the trial or possess the necessary rights of audience, you should instruct counsel to conduct the advocacy at trial... In more complex matters, counsel will often have taken part in preparing the case or defence and may have advised on the merits of the claim or defence, settled or drafted the relevant statements of case, and undertaken advocacy at interim hearings. Ideally, the same counsel should conduct the advocacy at the trial......

This Practice Note was produced with The Access to Justice Foundation. It explains what pro bono costs are and the legislation and CPR provisions that apply. It then outlines key points for handling pro bono costs through proceedings and, in particular, when addressing costs assessment and costs orders. It also lists example contacts who can provide support with pro bono costs. What are pro bono costs? Pro bono costs arise when a party is represented without charge in proceedings. They are treated as ordinary legal costs. They reflect the monetary value of the free legal help, with the amount based on what a fee-paying client would recover. The costs cover any period of free representation and, even where only one lawyer acted pro bono, normal costs can still be sought for fee-paid work. Accordingly, the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal ( Civil...

This Practice Note sets out the distinction between disclosure and inspection, and considers when that distinction has practical significance. It outlines various methods for inspecting disclosed material and identifies who is entitled to undertake the inspection. It also highlights the types of limits a court may place on inspection of disclosure. Finally, it deals with withholding production on public interest grounds, whether by public immunity certificate or through a closed material procedure. The purpose of inspection Disclosure and inspection are separate concepts, yet they frequently proceed together because, in many matters, once a document is disclosed it is ordinarily inspected by the opposing party to the proceedings. It is uncommon for a party to acknowledge a document is within its control yet oppose inspection under CPR 31.3, unless the party is: relying on a right or obligation to withhold inspection under CPR...