Court User E-mail Guidance

Contents

1. What you can file by e-mail
2. What you cannot file by e-mail
3. Form and content of e-mails
4. Where to send your e-mail
5. What the court will do with your e-mail
6. Points to remember

1. What you can file by e-mail

If you are filing a document by e-mail that contains a statement of truth you are reminded that you should retain the document containing the original signature. The version of the document which is filed by e-mail must satisfy one of the following requirements -

(a) the name of the person who has signed the statement of truth is typed underneath the statement:
OR
(b) the person who has signed the statement of truth has applied a facsimile of his signature to the statement in the document by mechanical means; or
(c) the document that is filed is a scanned version of the document containing the signed original statement of truth.

Below is a list of the work that will be accepted by the court if filed by e-mail in accordance with the Practice Direction.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS LIST CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING WITH YOUR E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE COURT.

• Pre-trial check list (listing questionnaire), provided that no fee is payable by the party filing the check list (N170)
• Allocation questionnaire, provided that no fee is payable by the party filing the questionnaire; (N150)
• Particulars of claim (after filing of claim form)
• Notice by solicitor of acting (N434)
• List of documents (N265)
• Certificate of service (N215)
• Notice of change of address
• Request for judgment in default under rule 12.4(1), or for judgment upon admission under rule 14.4(3), 14.5(6), 14.6(4) or 14.7(5) (N225)
• Acknowledgement of service (N9)
• Claimant's response to notice of admission under rule 14.5(3) or rule 14.7(3); (N225A)
• Admission, other than one under rule 14.4 (N9C)
• Claimant's response to notice under rule 15.10, where defence is that money claimed has been paid (N236)
• Defence, provided that no counterclaim is made (N9B)
• Notice of discontinuance, provided that the claimant does not require permission to discontinue, and is not required to attach to the notice the consent of another party (N279)
• Reply to defence
• Notice of change of solicitor (N434)
• Re-issue/amend process, no hearing (provided that no fee is payable) (N446)
• Re-issue/amend process, hearing (provided that no fee is payable) (N446)
• Admission of Liability (unspecified amount) (N226)
• Notice of Admission (ROG) (N228)
• Amended Defence
• Part Admission not accepted (N225A)
• Intention to proceed with states paid defence
• Statement of witness (provided the document is no more than 10 pages and the total size of the e-mail does not exceed 2Mb as set out in 3.5 of PD 5B)
• Claimant/Defendant List of Documents (provided documents comply with 3.5 of PD 5B) (N265)
• Experts Reports
• Skeleton Arguments/Case Summaries
• Draft Judgments & editorial suggestions for them
• Request for Interlocutory Judgment (provided that no fee is payable) (N227)
• Notice of acceptance and request for payment (N243A)
• Application to Claimant to vary judgement (N294)
• Request for Certificate of Judgment (N293A)
• Any other document which the court has specifically directed to be filed by e-mail

You may also correspond with the court by e-mail, making general enquiries about the progress of a case, or providing information to the court, for example:

• Information for the bailiff
• Confirmation of appointments
• Listing information such as dates to avoid
• Chasing up replies

2. What you cannot file by e-mail

• A party must not use e-mail to take any step in a claim which requires a fee to be paid. If a party sends a document by e-mail for which a fee is payable upon filing, the document will be treated as not having been filed
• Anything in Family Proceedings. The Practice Direction does not apply to family proceedings but general correspondence may be addressed to the court by e-mail provided that it does not contain sensitive information.
• Anything in Insolvency or Adoption proceedings

3. Form and content of e-mails

When you e-mail the court the subject line of your mail must contain (in the following order):

• The claim number
• The title of the claim (abbreviated if necessary) **
• The subject matter (e.g. defence)
• If relating to a hearing the date and time of hearing

**If your e-mail is in relation to a family matter please refer to the initials only.

Your message should also contain the name, telephone number and e-mail address of the sender. If you e-mail us we will normally send any reply to you by e-mail.

Correspondence and documents may be sent as either text or attachments. Where there is a practice form, it must be sent in that form by attachment.

Attachments must be in one of the following formats and the complete e-mail (including any attachment(s)) must not exceed 2Mb -

Document file types

• Rich Text Format files (.rtf)
• Plain/Formatted Text files (.txt)
• Hypertext documents files (.htm)
• Microsoft Word viewer/reader files (.doc) minimum Word '97 format
• Adobe Acrobat files (.pdf) minimum viewer version 4

Spreadsheet file types

• Hypertext document files (.htm)
• Delimited files (.csv)

Presentation file types

• Hypertext document files (.htm)

General and compressed file types

• Zipped (Compressed) files (.zip, .gz, .tgz, .tar)

Graphics file types

• Joint Photographic Experts Group (ISO 10918) files (.jpg)

Vector graphics file types

• Scalable Vector Graphics files (.svg)

4. Where to send your e-mail

Document Filing

Participating courts will have a single e-mail address for filing of documents at court e.g.: efiling@leicester.countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Correspondence

There are 4 or 5 standard e-mail addresses to choose from when sending correspondence by e-mail to the court (depending whether the court has family jurisdiction).

The name of the appropriate court must be added to each e-mail address followed by a dot e.g.enquiries@leicester.countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Court e-mail addresses

e-filing@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk
family@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk
bailiffs@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk
hearings@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk
enquiries@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

NOTE: The family@ e-mail address should only be used at courts with family jurisdiction. Please check the jurisdiction of the court before continuing.

To decide which address to send your e-mail to there are some examples listed below to help.

e-filing@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Experts reports
List of documents
Skeleton arguments/case summaries

family@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Progress in family cases

bailiffs@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Progress on a warrant
Confirmation of appointment
Correspondence for a bailiff

hearings@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Queries about dates of hearings
Dates to avoid

enquiries@(name of court).countycourt.gsi.gov.uk

Chase up letters
Court opening hours

5. What the court will do with your e-mail

The court will check your e-mail and either respond to your enquiry or, where further action is required, will confirm in due course:

a) that your document has been accepted, and
b) the date of filing

The date of filing will normally be the date of receipt unless the time of receipt is recorded as after 16.00 in which case the date of filing will be the next day the court office is open.

If your e-mail does not comply with the requirements of the Practice Direction you will be sent a reply stating that it has been rejected and the reasons why.

The court will, where possible, reply to you electronically, although for the present orders oif the court will generally be despatched by post as they are not currently produced in electronic form.

6. Points to remember

• This guide does not replace the Practice Direction. Further details of rules and practice directions are available on the Department for Constitutional Affairs web site or click here to view the practice direction.
• When you file documents by e-mail you must still comply with any rule or Practice Direction requiring the document to be served on any other person.
• There is nothing in the Practice Direction that requires any person to accept service of a document by e-mail.
• Where a time limit applies it is the parties responsibility to ensure that the document is filed in time.

Warning

• Internet e-mail is not a secure medium. Any message or reply to your message could be intercepted and read by someone else. Please bear that in mind when deciding whether to send an e-mail.
• If you require any assistance or have an enquiry regarding the e-mail service please contact the appropriate court direct.