Practice Directions

Commercial and Admiralty Courts E-mail Communications Notice

The pilot scheme for e-mail communications was introduced on the 17th of March 2003 for an initial period of six months.

The take up by users has been very encouraging and continues to grow.

The Guidance for users of the scheme, drawn up by the Admiralty and Commercial judiciary, provided for a review of the scheme after the initial six month period.

Having now reviewed the scheme the judiciary have decided to extend the pilot, in its present form, for an indefinite period to allow time for further assessment and for analysis of the feedback generated by the recent Customer Survey. The impact of a general rule and practice direction dealing with e-mail communications to courts, soon to be introduced to the Civil Procedure Rules, will also need to be considered.