Protocol for E-Mail Communications with the Chancery Division of the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice

Introduction

1. This protocol (the "E-mail Protocol") sets out how parties may communicate by e-mail on certain matters with the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice at the Royal Courts of Justice. It applies with effect from 18th April 2005.
   

Types of documents which may be sent bye-mail

2. Practice Direction 5B of the Civil Procedure Rules.("Electronic Communication and Filing of Documents") applies to the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice at the Royal Courts of Justice in respect of the categories of documents referred to below.
3. For the purpose of paragraph 2.1(1) of Practice Direction 5B, the "specified court" is the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice at the Royal Courts of Justice.
4. For the purpose of paragraph 2.1(2) of Practice Direction 5B, the "specified documents" are:
   1. Skeleton arguments, chronologies, reading lists, lists of issues, lists of authorities (but not the authorities themselves) and lists of the persons involved in the facts of the case ("dramatis personae") sent in advance of a hearing. The relevant e-mail addresses for these documents are:

   For a hearing before a:	Use this address:
   Judge	rcjchancery.judgeslisting@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Master	rcjchancery.mastersappointments@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Bankruptcy Registrar	rcjbankruptcy.registrarshearings@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Registrar of the Companies Court	rcjcompanies.orders@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

   2. The agreed terms of an Order which is ready to be sealed following the conclusion of a hearing. The relevant e-mail addresses for these documents are:

   For a hearing before a:	Use this address:
   Judge	rcjchancery.ordersandaccounts@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Master	rcjchancery.ordersandaccounts@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Bankruptcy Registrar	rcjbankruptcy.registrarshearings@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk
   Registrar of the Companies Court	rcjcompanies.orders@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

5. The above provisions take precedence over the provisions of the Chancery Guide in at least two respects:
   1. Notwithstanding paragraphs 7.26, 7.41 and 7.43 of the Chancery Guide (2002 edition), the e-mail addresses specified above should be used for sending the relevant documents by e-mail even if the name of the Judge, Master or Registrar is known (unless the Judge, Master or Registrar orders otherwise).
   2. Paragraph 7.44 of the Chancery Guide (2002 edition) states that, where a skeleton argument is required, photocopies of any authorities to be relied upon should be attached to the skeleton argument. However, when lodging skeleton arguments by e-mail in accordance with this E-Mail Protocol, no authorities may be lodged with the skeleton argument (unless the Judge, Master or Registrar orders otherwise). The authorities must be lodged on paper in the traditional way, even if the skeleton argument itself is lodged by e-mail.

6. No other documents, aside from those specifically referred to in paragraph 4 above, can be accepted by e-mail at present (except by specific arrangement with the Judge, Master or Registrar concerned for an individual case). In particular, e-mail cannot be used to file statements of case, application notices, affidavits, witness statements, experts' reports, allocation questionnaires, listing questionnaires, pre-trial checklists or statements of costs. If a party sends by e-mail any type of document aside from one specifically referred to in paragraph 4 above, the document will be treated as not having been lodged.
7. This E-mail Protocol is not intended to limit the discretion of the Judge, Master or Registrar to use information technology to a greater or lesser extent in an appropriate case, as envisaged in Chapter 14 of the Chancery Guide (2002 edition).
8. Where a party sends a document by e-mail he should still comply with any rule or practice direction requiring the document to be served on any other person.
9. For the avoidance of doubt, the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice at the Royal
   Courts of Justice does not currently accept documents filed electronically via the online forms service referred to in section 11 of Practice Direction 58.
10. Nothing in this E-mail Protocol:
    1. Requires any person to accept service of a document by e-mail.
    2. Affects any arrangements for communicating with any District Registry or county court, whether or not on Chancery business.
11. Email is not a secure communications medium. Parties must not use e-mail to send
    documents which are confidential or sensitive. This must be borne in mind particularly in cases to be heard in secret.

Form of the e-mail and attachments

12. If the name of the Judge, Master or Registrar concerned is known, the body of the e-mail
    should state this name clearly.
13. Paragraph 4.1 of Practice Direction 58 is varied so as to read that the e-mail message "should be in plain text or HTML rather than rich text format", but the remainder of that paragraph continues to apply.
14. For the purpose of paragraph 4.5 of Practice Direction 58, the following formats for attachments are supported:
    1. Microsoft Word format (Word 97 or Word 2000) (.doc files).
    2. Adobe Acrobat format (also known as Portable Document Format) (.pdf files).
    3. Rich Text Format (.rtf files).
    4. Plain text (.txt files).
15. For the purpose of paragraph 4.7 of Practice Direction 58, the total size of the e-mail (including all of its attachments) must not exceed 8MB.

Receipt of e-mails by the Court

16. An acknowledgment of the receipt of an e-mail will be sent. This is not an acknowledgment that the e-mail has been received by its ultimate intended recipient, merely an acknowledgment that the e-mail has been received by one of the central mailboxes listed in paragraph 4 above.