Chancery Guide 2002
Key Rules: CPR Part 39; PD - Miscellaneous Provisions relating to Hearings supplementing CPR Part 39
15.1 The provisions of this Guide in general apply to litigants in person. Thus, for example, litigants in person should, unless they have good reason for not doing so:
- prepare a written summary of their argument in the same circumstances as those in which a represented party is required to produce a skeleton argument;
- prepare a bundle of documents in the same way that a represented party is required to produce a bundle of documents; and
- be prepared to put forward their argument within a limited time if they are directed to do so by the court.
15.2 This means that litigants in person should identify in advance of the hearing those points which they consider to be their strongest points, and that they should put those points at the forefront of their oral and written submissions to the court.
15.3 It is not the function of court officials to give legal advice. However, subject to that, they will do their best to assist any litigant. Litigants in person who need further assistance should contact the Community Legal Service through their Information Points. The CLS are developing local networks of people giving legal assistance such as law centres, local solicitors or the Citizens' Advice Bureaux. CLS Information Points are being set up in libraries and other public places. Litigants can telephone the CLS to find their nearest CLS Information Point on 0845 608 1122 or can log on to the CLS website for the CLS directory and for legal information.
15.4 The RCJ Advice Bureau off the Main Hall at the Royal Courts of Justice is open from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm. The bureau is run by lawyers in conjunction with the Citizens' Advice Bureau and is independent of the court. The Bureau operates on a 'first come first served' basis, or telephone advice is available on 0845 120 3715 (or 020 7947 6880) from Monday to Friday between 11 am and 12 noon and between 3 and 4 pm.
15.5 Where a litigant in person is the applicant, the court may ask one of the represented parties to open the matter briefly and impartially, and to summarise the issues.
15.6 It is the duty of an advocate to ensure that the court is informed of all relevant decisions and enactments of which the advocate is aware (whether favourable or not to his or her case) and to draw the court's attention to any material irregularity.
15.7 Representatives for other parties must treat litigants in person with consideration. They should where possible be given photocopies of any authorities which are to be cited before the case starts in addition to the skeleton argument. They should be asked to give their names to the usher if they have not already done so. Representatives for other parties should explain the court's order after the hearing if the litigant in person does not appear to understand it.
15.8 If a litigant in person wishes to give oral evidence he or she will generally be required to do so from the witness box in the same manner as any other witness of fact.
15.9 A litigant in person must give an address for service in England or Wales. If he or she is a claimant, the address will be in the claim form or other document by which the proceedings are brought. If he or she is a defendant, it will be in the acknowledgment of service form which he or she must send to the court on being served with the proceedings. It is essential that any change of address should be notified in writing to Chancery Chambers and to all other parties to the case. Notice of hearing dates will be given by post to litigants at the address shown in the court file. A litigant in person will generally be given a fixed date for trial on application. A litigant in person who wishes to apply for a fixed date should ask the Listing Office for a copy of its Guidance Notes for Litigants in Person.
15.10 Litigants in person may use the Supreme Court Library in the Queen's Building at the discretion of the Librarian.
15.11 A litigant who is acting in person may be assisted at a hearing by another person, often referred to as a McKenzie friend (see McKenzie v. McKenzie [1971] P 33). The litigant must be present at the hearing. If the hearing is in private, it is a matter of discretion for the court whether such an assistant is allowed to attend the hearing. That may depend, among other things, on the nature of the proceedings.
15.12 The assistant is allowed to help by taking notes, quietly prompting the litigant and offering advice and suggestions to the litigant. The court can, and sometimes does, permit the assistant to address the court on behalf of the litigant, by making an order to that effect under section 27(2)(c) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (by reference to sections 17 and 18 of that Act), but this is an exceptional course. Some factors which may be relevant to whether this should be permitted have been discussed in reported judgments, including Izzo v. Philip Ross [2002] BIPR 310 and Paragon Finance v. Noueiri (Practice Note) [2001] EWCA Civ 1402 [2001] 1 W.L.R. 2357.
15.13 Rule 39.6 allows a company or other corporation to be represented at trial by an employee if the employee has been authorised by the company or corporation to appear on its behalf and the court gives permission. Paragraph 5 of PD 39 describes what is needed to obtain permission from the court for this purpose and mentions some of the considerations relevant to the grant or refusal of permission.
15.14 Advocates (and judges) wear robes at hearings by High Court Judges of trials (including preliminary issues) and statutory appeals or cases stated. Robes are not worn for other hearings, including appeals from Masters, Bankruptcy Registrars and county courts. The Daily Cause List states, in relation to each Judge's list, whether the matter is to be heard robed or unrobed. Robes are not worn at hearings before Masters. Robes are worn at the following hearings before Bankruptcy and Companies Court Registrars: public examinations of bankrupts and of directors or other officers of companies; applications for discharge from bankruptcy or for suspension of such discharge; all proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986; petitions to wind up companies; final hearings of petitions for the reduction of capital of companies.
15.15 At hearings in chambers before 26 April 1999 solicitors had general rights of audience. The fact that a matter which would then have been heard in chambers is now heard in public under Part 39 does not affect rights of audience, so in such matters as would have been heard in chambers previously, the general right of audience for solicitors continues to apply. Such cases included appeals from Masters, applications for summary judgment, and those concerned with pleadings, security for costs and the like, pre-trial reviews, and applications concerned with the administration of a deceased person's estate, a trust or a charity. They did not include applications in what is now the Interim Applications List or the Companies Court, nor appeals from county courts or insolvency appeals. Solicitors do, however, have general rights of audience in personal insolvency matters; this is not affected by whether the hearing is in public or private.
15.16 If a solicitor who does not have the appropriate special right of audience wishes to be heard in a case which is not one which, before 26 April 1999, would have been heard in chambers nor a personal insolvency case, an application may be made for the grant of a special right of audience before the particular court and for the particular proceedings under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, section 27(2)(c).
15.17 In the Royal Courts of Justice it is normal to record all oral evidence and any judgment delivered during a hearing before a Judge. If any party wishes a recording to be made of any other part of the proceedings, this should be mentioned in advance or at the time of the hearing. At hearings before Masters, it is not normally practicable to record anything other than any oral evidence and the judgment, but these will be recorded. No party or member of the public may use recording equipment without the court's permission.