Queen’s Bench Guide 2022 published

The new Queen’s Bench Guide has been published.  It is available here.

Changes in the new Guide include those in the areas of:

• Interim and out of hours applications
• Urgent and Short Applications before the Masters
• Electronic bundles
• The procedure for issuing claim forms following urgent interim injunction applications
• Pre-Trial Reviews in Media and Communication List cases
• Amendment to court plans
• Payment of court fees
• QB Masters Clerks contact details

The change to Pre-Trial Reviews in Media and Communication List (MACL) claims is at paragraph 17.8 of the 2022 Guide, which explains that a PTR will now be listed in all cases:

Claims will be case managed by the Masters in the same way as non MAC list claims, save that a PTR will be listed before trial in every claim. The PTR will usually be listed 8 weeks before the trial before a Judge of the MACL with a time estimate of one hour. Parties may apply to Mr Justice Nicklin to vacate the PTR upon confirmation that there are no outstanding issues requiring resolution and that the parties are ready for trial. A PTR will not be listed before a trial of the preliminary issue of meaning (see 17.30 below).

The prevalence of Litigants in Person in MACL cases may explain the expectation of PTRs in all claims.

In that respect, Litigants in Person may wish to be aware of the changes in paragraphs 17.24 and 17.33 as to the procedure for filing applications outside the CE file system.