Queens Bench Division Action Department
Masters' Support Unit and Foreign Process Royal Courts of Justice
About us | Our work | How to find us | Standards and Targets | Feedback
Welcome to the Queens Bench Division Action Department, Masters' Support Unit and Foreign Process based in the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ).Here you will find details of the work carried out in each section together with relevant guidance notes, frequently used forms, rotas, lists and contact details. We hope that you can quickly find any information that you require.
For consistency the phrase "court" refers to the "Queens Bench Division Action Department, Masters' Support Unit and Foreign Process" unless otherwise stated.
The Queen's Bench Division is one of the three divisions of the High Court, together with the Chancery Division and Family Division. Lord Justice Judge is President of the Queen's Bench Division, and certain High Court Judges and Masters are assigned to it. Lord Justice May of Appeal has been appointed by the Lord Chief Justice to be the Vice-President of the Division; a High Court Judge is appointed as Judge in charge of the Jury List; another is appointed as Judge in charge of the Trial List.
Outside London, the work of the Queen's Bench Division is administered in provincial offices known as District Registries. In London, the work is administered in the Central Office at the Royal Courts of Justice. The work in the Central Office of the Queen's Bench Division is the responsibility of the Senior Master, acting under the authority of the President of the Queen's Bench Division.
The work of the Queen's Bench Division is (with certain exceptions) governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). The Divisional Court , the Admiralty Court, the Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court are all part of the Queen's Bench Division. However, each does specialised work requiring a distinct procedure that to some extent modifies the CPR. For that reason each publishes its own Guide or Practice Direction, to which reference should be made by parties wishing to proceed in the specialist courts.
The work of the Queen's Bench Division, not including the specialist courts, consists mainly of claims for:
- damages in respect of
- personal injury
- negligence,
- breach of contract, and
- libel and slander (defamation),
- non-payment of a debt, and
- possession of land or property.
Proceedings retained to be dealt with in the Central Office of the Queen's Bench Division will almost invariably be multi-track claims.
In many types of claim - for example claims in respect of negligence by solicitors, accountants, etc. or claims for possession of land - the claimant has a choice whether to bring the claim in the Queen's Bench Division or in the Chancery Division. However, there are certain claims that may be brought only in the Queen's Bench Division, namely:
- Sheriff's interpleader proceedings, (see Rule 17 Supreme Court Rules for further information)
- Enrolment of deeds,
- Registration of foreign judgments under the Civil Jurisdictions and Judgments Act 1982,
- Applications for bail in criminal proceedings,
- Applications under the Administration of Justice Act 1920 and the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933,
- Registration and satisfaction of Bills of Sale,
- Election Petitions,
- Obtaining evidence for foreign courts.
For a general explanation of the work and practice of the Queen's Bench Division with particular regard to proceedings started in the Central Office, please view the Queen's Bench Guide prepared by the Senior Master.
Issue & Registry | Master's Support Unit | Judgements & Orders | Foreign Process | Other Work
This Court administers the work dealt with by the Masters of the Queen's Bench Division. The work that we do is split into various sections within the Court. A brief summary of the work of each section follows
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- The issuing of Claim Forms
- Pre-Action Disclosure
- Certificates of Service
- Filing of Acknowledgments
- Admissions
- Part Admission
- Defences
- Defence & Counterclaims
- Allocation Questionnaires
- Witness Summonses
- Filing of Community Legal Service Certificates
- Notices
- Public Searches and requests for Office Copies
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- The issue and listing of general Applications before Queen's Bench Masters
- Case Management
- Administrative support for the Queen's Bench Masters
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- The sealing of Masters and Judges orders
- Enforcement of Judgments
- Registration of Foreign Judgments
- Change of Name Deeds
- Book Debts
- Registration of Bills of Sale
- Provisional Damages and Arbitration Awards
- The listing of Judgment Debtors hearings
- Transfer in and out of cases
- Taking of Oaths & Affirmations
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- Processing of requests for serving of judicial documents to and from abroad
- Requests for evidence from witnesses in this Country from overseas Courts
- Processing requests for evidence from foreign Courts needed in actions
- Taking of requests for blood tests coming from abroad relating to Paternity cases and requests for welfare reports coming from aboard relating to adoption cases
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- Group Litigation Orders
- Children's Funds
- Election Petitions
- Senior Master & Queen's Remembrancer
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Please download a copy of our Customer leaflet (PDF, 230Kb), which sets out more information about this Court.
Map of the Royal Courts of Justice
Map of the Ground Floor, East Block, RCJ
The Court is committed to providing a high standard of service to all its customers. To assist us achieve this, we have a comprehensive list of standards and targets that we use to monitor our performance
| Claims | 95% issued within 24 hours of receipt – Cause Reports ready the following day. |
| Complaints | Written complaints acknowledged within 2 working days – 95% of replies within 5 working days. |
| Correspondence | Reply or telephone response within 5 working days. |
| Counters |
Open 10.00am to 4.30pm – Polite and helpful when assisting customers. Maximum queuing time 10 minutes – at the request of a customer, business can be conducted in private. . |
| Customer Notice Boards | Regularly updated. |
| Hearings before Masters |
Appointments up to 30 minutes within 4 weeks. |
| Information Leaflets | On display or provided. |
| Name Badges/Security Passes | Must be worn for Customer Service and Security reasons within the RCJ. |
| Oath/Affirmation | Holy books to be properly handled and stored – correct oath/affirmation to be administered. |
| Office Copy Requests | Ready within 48 hours of receipt. |
| Orders | Sealed within 5 working days of receipt of all information required. |
| Service of Foreign Process |
Sent to County Courts within 2 working days of receipt. Sent to transmitting agency within 2 working days of return from County Court. |
| Telephones |
Answered within 30 seconds between 9am and 5pm Name and Section given and a clear and helpful answer |
| Writs of Fi Fa | Sealed and ready for collection within 24 hours of receipt. |
Public Service Agreement (PSA) - PSA4
Year on Year improvements in Customer Satisfaction in four key areas measured through the Annual Customer Survey.The key areas are:
| Headline Target |
Benchmark % |
Target % |
||
| The percentage level of customer satisfaction for: | March 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| 1. Knowledge of Court staff at public counter. | 79 | 80 | 82 | 85 |
| 2. Knowledge of staff on telephone service. | 75 | 76 | 78 | 80 |
| 3. Speed of resolution of complaints. | 36 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
| 4. Helpfulness of written communication. | 70 | 72 | 75 | 80 |
Supporting targets for PSA 4, which directly affect this Court, are: -
77% of cases heard by a Judge within 50 weeks of allocation to track.
Charging Order: -
From Application to Interim Order: 70% in 2 weeks.
From Interim Order to Final Order: 70% in 10 weeks.
Third Party Debt Order: -
From Application to Interim Order: 70% in 2 weeks.
From Interim Order to Final Order: 70% in 10 weeks.
Charter Mark: -
The RCJ achieved Charter Mark accreditation.
This Court is committed to providing a high level of customer service and are always interested in receiving feedback from our customers. If you have a comment to make, positive or negative, please feel free to contact us by writing to the Court Manager at the address at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, please feel free to ring or fax us with your comments. Please note that the Court is not currently set up for processing regular e-mail correspondence.
Before contacting the court, ensure whether your query relates to a Master or a Judge. This section only deals with Masters, therefore any queries relating to fixing of dates before Queen's Bench Judges should be directed to Clerk of the Lists on 020 7947 6021.
Address for correspondence
The Court Manager
Room E08
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Telephone: 020 7947 6312 or 6437
Fax: 020 7947 7339