Mercantile Court Guide

[BankFodder]

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/docs/guide.pdf

[RETURNED TO SENDER]

Have any cases been dealt with by the mercantile court yet to conclusion by a judge ?

[Calculator]

Bank Fodder, your link at Post 1 on this thread does not seem to provide the correct document for Mercantile Court. Your link does not deal with CPR (Civil Procedure Rule) 59, which is specifically for Mercantile Courts.

 

I hope the following may be of use for those who have had their claim for bank charges ransferred to the Mercantile Court and wish to know more about CPR 59 (Mercantile Courts) and the Case Management Information Sheet (CMI Sheet) etc.

 

Firstly, do not be frightened if your case has been transferred to the Mercantile Court. The Courts will have made the transfer to make it easier for themselves as they have been inundated with hundreds/thousands of claims for repayment of bank charges and this is their way of pulling several claims together for a group hearing all on one day. At Leeds Mercantile Court for example, they listed 99 cases for a 7th February directions hearing (not a trial) and another 77 cases for a 26th April 2007 directions hearing, with many of those cases actually being settled by the banks in the days before those planned hearings. Experience has shown that the Mercantile Court route should turn out to be easier and quicker for you than going down the County Court individual claims route. See the various threads on this Mercantile forum to see what has happened at previous Mercantile Court hearings.

 

A word of warning. If your case is transferred to the Mercantile Court and you are invited to attend a group directions hearing, it is imperative that you inform the Court as soon as possible if you will be unable to attend. (Telephone the Court to discuss with them and confirm in writing).They are usually very understanding. They will either agree to you not attending or they will give you a new date to attend.

 

The Civil Procedure Rules CPR 59, CPR 18, CPR 31 etc are obtainable by clicking here Department for Constitutional Affairs - Home Page (web site dca.gov.uk). They come in the form of the actual Rule eg CPR 59 entitled 'Mercantile Courts' and a separate 'Practice Direction' document (clickable in the top right of the CPR front page). Either use the 'Search' facilty on the DCA web home page eg search for 'CPR 59' or to get straight in, forget the home page and click here PART 59 - MERCANTILE COURTS (web site justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part59.htm)

Change the 59 to 18 in the www. address to get to Part 18 and change to 31 to get to Part 31 etc. (Once you get into the relevant 'Part', don't forget to click on the top right of the page to get into the 'Practice Directions' document for that Part).

(Changing the number to 27 will give you info about the Small Claims Track and changing the number to 29 will give you info about the Multi-Track).

You might also find the HMCS guidance booklet EX305 for the Multi-Track useful, click here www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex305_0806.pdf . (The Multi-Track is normally the only track used in the Mercantile Court. The Mercantile Court does not normally use the Small Claims track, but see the note below).

 

Note: some Mercantile Courts up to now have dealt with the bank charges cases slightly differently depending on which Mercantile Court. For example Leeds Mercantile state in the letter of invitation to the Hearing that the claimant is to send a CPR 59 Case Management Information Sheet (CMI sheet) to the Court prior to the hearing. Other Mercantile Courts (eg London) do not make any mention of a requirement for a CMI sheet. If in doubt, I suggest you phone the Court to ask what they require to be sent prior to the hearing.

Also Leeds Mercantile mention the Multi-Track (see CPR 29) which is the normal method in the Mercantile Court, whereas London Mercantile mentions the Multi-Track but has specifically stated the intention that the 'Small Claims' rules for costs will apply even though it is the Mercantile Court.

 

PS 7/6/07: since writing this post 3 and the other posts/threads about the CMI sheet, to make life easier, those posts and threads have now been brought together complete with example answers for the CMI sheet on one sticky thread Case Management Info Sheet in this Mercantile forum so I suggest you go there for the CMI sheet rather than taking the CMI sheet from here. In particular see Post 15 of that thread.

 

[Anybody wanting the Case Management Information sheet, I have extracted the CMI sheet, see below, and you should be able to lift it from here. Alternatively if you have any problem doing so, you can get it from 'Practice Direction to CPR 59' at Annex A of that document.

(If you download it from Annex A, save it on your pc as a pdf file.

Then open the saved pdf file on your pc, then save it again as 'editable text' or 'save as text' (eg this will be saved on 'Notepad').

Then open Microsoft Word. Choose 'all files' and you should be able to open the Notepad file. Then save as a 'Word' document and you can fill in the answers and alter the font/layout).

 

Note that on the CMI sheet that CPR 18 is entitled 'Further Information' whilst CPR 31 is entitled 'Disclosure and Inspection of Documents'. Therefore if you want the bank to provide information, I assume this is under CPR 18. If you want the bank to disclose documents that it has in its possession then I assume it comes under CPR 31.

 

If a CMI sheet is required by the Court, you should also serve a copy on the defendant.

 

 

Case Management Information Sheet

 

 

Insert Title - v -

 

(Claim No. )

 

 

 

Party filing: The Claimant

Solicitors:

Advocate(s) for trial:

Date:

 

Substance of case

1.

Parties

2. Are all parties still effective? -

3. Do you intend to add any further party? –

Statements of case

4. Do you intend to amend your statement of case?

5. Do you require any “further information” - see CPR 18? -

Disclosure

6. By what date can you give standard disclosure? –

7. Do you contend that to search for any type of document falling within CPR 31.6(b) would be unreasonable within CPR 31.7(2)? -

8. Is any specific disclosure required - CPR 31.12? –

9. Is a full disclosure order appropriate? -

10. By what dates could you give:

(i) any specific disclosure referred to at 8? - .

(ii) full disclosure? -

Admissions

11. Can you make any additional admissions? –

Preliminary issues

12. Are any issues suitable for trial as preliminary issues? -

Witnesses of fact

13. On how many witnesses of fact do you intend to rely at the trial (subject to the court’s direction)? -

14. Please name them, or explain why you do not. -

15. Which of them will be called to give oral evidence? -

16. When can you serve their witness statements? -

17. Will any require an interpreter? -

Expert evidence

18. Are there issues requiring expert evidence? -

19. If yes, what issues? -

20. Might a single joint expert be suitable on any issues (see CPR 35.7)? -

21. What experts do you intend (subject to the court’s direction) to call? Please give the number, their names and expertise. -

22. By what date can you serve signed expert reports? -

23. Should there be meetings of experts of like disciplines, of all disciplines? By when? -

24. Which experts, if any, do you intend not to call at the trial? -

25. Will any require an interpreter? -

Trial

26. What are the advocates’ present estimates of the length of the trial? -

27. What is the earliest date that you think the case can be ready for trial? -

28. Where should the trial be held? -

29. Is a Pre-Trial Review advisable? -

A.D.R.

30. Might some form of Alternative Dispute Resolution assist to resolve the dispute or some part of it? -

31. Has this been considered with the client? -

32. Has this been considered with the other parties? -

33. Do you want the case to be stayed pending A.D.R. or other means of settlement - CPR 26.4; or any other directions relating to A.D.R.? -

Other applications

34. What applications, if any, not covered above, will you be making at the conference? -

Costs

35. What, do you estimate, are your costs to date? -

36. What, do you estimate, will be your costs to end of trial? -

 

 

Signed:

(Claimant)

 

 

Before proceeding any further, ignore the next paragraph and see the PS at the bottom of this post.

 

If you want to see how a CMI sheet has been completetd, go to the thread entitled 'Mercantile Hearing 20th Feb'. In particular see Post 12 to 14 of that thread. Also see my additional notes at Post 5 of this Mercantile Court Guide thread.

(Sorry this information is a bit long-winded, but it has developed through time as and when new information has come to light. It might seem complicated at first, but it is not - stick with it).

 

PS 7/6/07: since writing this post 3 and the other posts/threads about the CMI sheet, to make life easier, those posts and threads have now been brought together complete with example answers for the CMI sheet on one sticky thread Case Management Info Sheet in this Mercantile forum so I suggest you go there for the CMI sheet rather than taking the CMI sheet from here. In particular see Post 15 of that thread.

[JOSH_IOU]

give the man a break

[Calculator]

PS 9/6/07: All of this post 5 is now updated and covered at Post 15 of the new sticky thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mercantile-court-cases-stays/96212-case-management-info-sheet.html

 

Original post 5: Additional notes that I have compiled for completing the CPR59 Case Management Information Sheet (CMI sheet):

 

Item 4. The ‘statement of case’ can also be taken as being the ‘Particulars of Claim’ on the N1 claim form. If you have made any error in your claim, here is a good place and opportunity to correct matters. If you want to fundamentally change your claim, eg the amount of the claim or the items claimed for, then you can say so here, but you will also need to complete the N244 court form and send to the court.

Item 13. If the claim were to be dealt with on the Small Claims Track, the claimant would be able to take a ‘lay representative’ (e.g. a friend or a relative) to any hearing/trial to speak on the claimant’s behalf if the claimant did not feel confident enough to speak him/herself (HMCS Booklet EX307 ‘The Small Claims Track’ page 9 states so). The Mercantile Court normally only deals with cases on the Multi-Track and as such normally only recognises the claimant (ie 'the litigant in person') and the claimant's professional legal representative if the claimant has one. The fact that your case has been transferred to the Mercantile Court, not the County Court Small Claims Track, should not preclude you from taking a lay representative with you, but you will need to write to the Mercantile Court to ask the Court's permission for you to take a ‘lay representative’ with you stating the reason as being that the Small Claims Track would have allowed you to do so and through no fault of your own the case has been transferred to the Mercantile Court. You should give the Court the name and address of your intended lay representative. If you are taking a lay representaive with you, the anser to item 13 should be 'two' and the answer to item 14 should be 'the claimant and his/her representative', and then answer 15 accordingly.

Items 35 and 36.

The rate of £9.25 per hour is the allowable charge for ‘claimant in person’ (also often referred to as ‘litigant in person’) on the Multi-Track in the Mercantile Court. If the matter gets as far as the Court hearing, you will have to justify the hours claimed and the expenses. (Where possible keep a log of your time spent and receipts for expenses e.g. photocopying, special delivery postage etc.). I suggest that you be sensible about the hours claimed - do not go 'over the top' if, as a novice, you wasted an exorbitant/unreasonable/unjustifiable amount of time getting nowhere before you eventually found what you were looking for.

Up to now, some Mercantile Courts have dealt with the bank charges claims different to other Mercantile Courts. For example, the Leeds Mercantile Court’s notice of case management conference/ directions hearing refers to allocation of cases to the Multi-Track, not the Small Claims Track. (Under the Multi-track, the winning party can request that the losing party pays the winning party’s costs). However, the London Mercantile Court’s notice of hearing refers to a Small Claims Hearing and the intention that the Small Claims rules for costs will apply. Therefore in respect of the London type of hearing you might wish to delete the answers given at items 35 and 36 on the example answer sheet and insert ‘See the Court’s notice of hearing dated ………… regarding costs’.

 

PS 9/6/07: All of this post 5 is now updated and covered at Post 15 of the new sticky thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mercantile-court-cases-stays/96212-case-management-info-sheet.html

[mick7575]

Additional notes that I have compiled for completing the CPR59 Case Management Information Sheet (CMI sheet):

 

Item 13. If the claim were to be dealt with on the Small Claims Track, the claimant would be able to take a ‘lay representative’ (e.g. a friend or a relative) to any hearing/trial to speak on the claimant’s behalf if the claimant did not feel confident enough to speak him/herself (HMCS Booklet EX307 ‘The Small Claims Track’ page 9 states so). The Mercantile Court normally only deals with cases on the Multi-Track and as such normally only recognises the claimant (ie 'the litigant in person') and the claimant's professional legal representative if the claimant has one. The fact that your case has been transferred to the Mercantile Court, not the County Court Small Claims Track, should not preclude you from taking a lay representative with you, but you will need to write to the Mercantile Court to ask the Court's permission for you to take a ‘lay representative’ with you stating the reason as being that the Small Claims Track would have allowed you to do so and through no fault of your own the case has been transferred to the Mercantile Court. You should give the Court the name and address of your intended lay representative. If you are taking a lay representaive with you, the anser to item 13 should be 'two' and the answer to item 14 should be 'the claimant and his/her representative', and then answer 15 accordingly.

Hi Calculator

 

Your posts are very helpful in this forum and make things a whole lot clearer for those of us who are struggling with this, as many others of course

 

I have a little question regarding the lay representative and writing to the court. Do I write to the courts first and wait to hear back from them before sending my cmi sheet or is it possible to send my request along with the cmi sheet?

 

Regards

Mick

[Calculator]

Mick,

 

Thanks for your note of appreciation. It's nice to know that my posts are of some use.

 

With regard to writing to the Court about taking a lay representative with you, you can either send a letter separately from the CMI sheet or send the letter with your CMI sheet.

 

If you have plenty of time until the hearing and are not yet ready to send the CMI sheet, then you might like to send a separate letter in advance.

 

If time is short and you are ready to send your CMI sheet by Royal Mail Special Delivery, it's probably best to send your letter about the lay representative with that so that at least you can track the letter and know that both the CMI sheet and lay representative request letter have reached their destination. Then if the Court do not have the time to reply (they are probably inundated with the number of cases at the moment), you can take a copy of your letter (and your lay representative) with you to the hearing and can demonstarte that the letter was sent.

 

You might like to phrase the the letter to the Court something on the lines of the following (use your own words by all means):

 

Case No. and title

 

1. As requested in the Court's notification of hearing, I enclose my completed CMI sheet. I have served a copy on the defendant.

 

2. I also request permission to take a lay representative to the hearing to speak on my behalf. My reasons for this are ............ (refer to what it says in the small claims notes for guidance HMCS Booklet EX307 page 9 and make specific reference to that item).

State the name and address of your lay representative.

 

In completing the CMI sheet items 13, 14, 15 assume that you will have no trouble in getting the Court's permission to take a lay representative and complete the sheet on the basis that the lay representative will indeed be attending. (The court are usually very obliging on this matter). I don't think you need state the lay representative's name and address in the CMI sheet at this stage. Hopefully your claim will be settled before it gets to the hearing.

[Tenmen10]

Hi Calculator,

 

I'm also due at the Leeds Mercantile Court Hearing on 28th June against Lloyds/TSB, I've been looking for a link/thread you mention regarding filling in this CMI sheet but I can't actually find the 20th Feb thread where you say there are example sheets?! I'm anxious to get this CMI sheet filled in asap but haven't a clue where to start could you tell me the quickest way to find this thread?

 

regards,

 

Tenmen10:cool:

[Tenmen10]

Hi,

 

Forget that last one, after two days of looking I've found it. For anyone else looking for the thread with suggestions on filling in a CMI sheet for a Mercantile Court Hearing, go to the A-Z link and follow the second link, there are 2 posts but read BOTH to see which applies to you!!!

 

regards,

 

Tenmen10:cool:

[Calculator]

To make life easier, previous posts about the Case Management Information Sheet (CMI Sheet) on this and other threads has now been brought together on one (new) sticky thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mercantile-court-cases-stays/96212-case-management-info-sheet.html

[GSD]

With a bit of luck Tenmen, Neither of us will get to meet the other one on 28th June:D