We are continuing our series on Civil Procedure Rules, highlighting some of the little known but common rules and hopefully explaining them in plain English.
The next rule we will be looking at is Practice Direction 5A – Court Documents.
The rule says:
What does this mean?
This certainly is not one of the well known Practice Directions. In fact, over the years we have seen a wide variety of different format of documents. But this Practice Direction is mandatory (although we have not seen it enforced).
Ultimately if you are preparing a document for use at Court, it should be on A4 paper (or if electronic, A4 format). The margins must be no less than 3.5 cm wide. It should be typed. It must be page-numbered. The document must have numbered paragraphs and all numbers, and dates, must be expressed as figures. To be honest, I do not think I have seen many documents have the date written like 2/11/82; rather 2 November 1982 is easier to recognise.
In terms of referencing, most references are placed as footnotes in the bottom margin.
You can find the full Civil Procedure Rules online (currently) at https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules
Any questions or support with the above please email us at: philip@whitecollarlegalandadmin.com or phone 0151 230 8931.