Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office...

[consumer857]

Hi,

 

I have searched the forums for a couple of hours trying to get my head around the next step to take in reference to my letter titled: "Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track (Hearing)".

 

Copy of letter

[ATTACH=CONFIG]59738[/ATTACH]

 

The case is regarding a landlord who took close to 2,000GBP without a signed contract in place and refused to refund my money. I never received the room or anything in return.

 

Each party shall deliver to every other party and to the court office no later than 14 days before the hearing.

 

(i) Signed statements setting out evidence of each party and of all witnesses on which each party intends to rely.

 

Question I have (Sorry if they seem obvious, I haven't been to court before and I have searched for a while trying to find the answers)

1) Is this called a "Court Bundle"?

2) Do I send EVERYTHING to Edmonton Court AND my landlord who is the defendant? (I actually send all my evidence to the defendant? Witness statements and everything?)

3) What is typically included in this scenario (Court bundle?)? Are there any templates online for any of these documents?

4) I have incurred extra fees leading up to the hearing, how do I add this to the amount of attempting to claim? Is it possible?

 

I have so far...

- I have two witness statements (They are kinda just letters stating what happened; signed by the witness, nothing special)

- A copy of my bank statement and an event log (The event log is what happened in my own words with times and dates)

- The original contract (It has been signed by me, but not my wife, who was the TO-BE dual tenant). This contract never changed hands back to the landlord. Should I bring it?

- I opened an original MCOL claim after the landlord provided me with false information regarding his name and address. I was told I couldn't proceed and had to open a new MCOL with his correct information. I spent £80 on doing this and wasted a lot of time. Should I include this?

- I also found a lot of information online regarding the landlord, very bad posts on forums of very questionable nature (Like ripping off the UK government and terrorism). Is it worth including anything like this? or just leave it alone?

 

Sorry if this seems obvious to the training eye, but I hope the comments also help others in my situation. Thank you

Edited September 29, 2015 by consumer857

[Ganymede]

I'll answer a few if I can.

 

1) Yes you send all your evidence and witness statements to the other party and the Court.

 

2) Read up on Part 39 of the CPR and the associated Practice Direction regarding trial bundles. They are basically an indexed and paginated lever arch file of all your paperwork.

 

3) Those witness statements are not CPR compliant as they need to be in the correct format with a statement of truth. If your witness is not actually attending Court you need to file a Civil Evidence Act Notice too.

 

4) What additional expenses have you incurred? These would fall under costs which aren't recoverable on the SCT.

 

5) Your wasted £80 from a previous claim can't be added. You should have applied separately at the time for wasted costs for that.

 

6) The internet reviews are hearsay and are likely to be inadmissible as evidence.

[citizenB]

Gannymede responded without being asked

[mikeymack2002]

Have a look at the CPR 31.14 it gives you more information that what to expect regarding documents that will be relied on in court

[Ganymede]

Gannymede responded without being asked

 

I had some spare time on the tram to work and thought I'd help out.

[citizenB]

I had some spare time on the tram to work and thought I'd help out.

 

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you read this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?439553-Guidance-note-Making-a-County-Court-familiarisation-visit

[consumer857]

Hi

 

Thanks for the responses! I have done a bit of reading over the last couple of days, so thank you for the information! Needless to say, I have a little more to do!

 

1. What happens if I submit a document that isn't in the correct format? Will it be excluded if I forget the court name or hearing name in the header? The process sounds very pedantic and seems very unfair if the evidence is very strong.

2. If a document in the court bundle is not admissible as evidence (thrown out?), what happens then? Is the document just ignored? Does it affect the case in any way?

3. How do I page number documents like: contracts and bank statements? Do I just add a page number to the bottom of them for the court bundle?

 

4. I created this template for a witness statement, it took me a couple of days to put together with formatting I found online. Can anybody tell me if it's in good shape and admissible as evidence? Are there any other templates online for similar things? I think they are a GREAT HELP and hopefully my template can help others too, so I would like to share it...

https://mega.nz/#!TRF2mBpL!40_9by08sdzLlMHaQb3ur2PXlk3TTnhlRZZRnLdRkag (Download here)

 

 

 

I suggest that you read this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...risation-visit

Unfortunately, I live in the US now and my hearing is in the UK. I'm not sure how different courts operate here, but it seems a lot of the lingo is different. From visiting a court room, the atmosphere was very strict and the Court Marshall was -extremelyyyyy- patronizing. Maybe I was unlucky?

[consumer857]

I have also just learn't that I need to communicate with the other party to decide what goes in the bundle? I don't have any communication with the other party though!

[consumer857]

I'll answer a few if I can.

 

If your witness is not actually attending Court you need to file a Civil Evidence Act Notice

 

 

Where can I find this notice/form to fill out?

[Ganymede]

If you live in the US are you going to post the bundles from there?

 

Just Google it, should get plenty of examples. It's fairly simple.

[consumer857]

Yes I'm going to post the bundles from there.

 

Oh believe me, I have been googling. spent 6 hours last night trying to get my head around this. I wouldn't have posted here unless I was completely stuck

[AndyOrch]

Relevant CPR that my be of interest to you consumer...CPR 33 & CPR 23

 

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part33

 

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/parts/part_23

 

Regards

 

Andy

[consumer857]

Thank you for those links, I have been reading the CPR on justice.gov and it does clearly state what is required, I have been reading through a lot of it.... but it never really says the HOW part or the DOCUMENT FORMATTING which is required.... this is where I am struggling with putting this all together.

 

 

3) Those witness statements are not CPR compliant as they need to be in the correct format with a statement of truth. If your witness is not actually attending Court you need to file a Civil Evidence Act Notice too.

.

 

This really throws me off... I don't see a form called "Civil Evidence Act Notice" or I don't see any mentioning of "Civil Evidence Act Notice". I have searched google for "Civil Evidence Act Notice" and it just links me back to the CPR or a askalawyer.com page.

 

The CPR says...

(a) inform the other parties that the witness is not being called to give oral evidence; and

(b) give the reason why the witness will not be called.

(3) In all other cases where a party intends to rely on hearsay evidence at the final hearing, that party complies with section 2(1)(a) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 by serving a notice on the other parties which

 

How do I go about doing this?

Is there a document I must create and apply unmentionable formatting to?

Is this on this "Civil Evidence Act Notice" form that I cannot seem to find?

 

This is far from straightforward! I have asked everybody from my family if they have any input but they are as confused as I am!

[AndyOrch]

Its only necessary if you are relying on hearsay evidence......

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/38/section/2

 

There is no form or document...you simply give notice to the court and other party by standard letter

[consumer857]

I understand.

 

I do have a witness, whom is coming with me to the hearing giving oral evidence.

but I also have a witness statement from somebody who cannot attend (So this witness statement is hearsay evidence?)... so I'm not totally relying on hearsay evidence, but it is a part of my trial bundle.

 

How do I give notice? What is the standard way of doing this? Shall I just email the court or phone them up? or just mention it in the trial bundle (Which they are both going to get any way?)

[AndyOrch]

Just inquire with your Local County Court...how /should you serve notice.

[Ganymede]

The Civil Evidence Act 1995 (the Act) governs the admissibility of hearsay evidence. Unlike criminal proceedings hearsay evidence can be relied upon to a greater extent provided the correct procedure has been followed. The admissibility of hearsay evidence in criminal proceedings is beyond the remit of this article.

 

Section 1(2) of the Act defines hearsay evidence as follows:

 

‘hearsay means a statement made otherwise than by a person while giving oral evidence in the proceedings which is tendered as evidence of the matters stated’

 

As a solicitor, if you (your client) seek to rely on hearsay evidence you must provide a notice of proposal to adduce hearsay evidence (Section 2 of the Act). CPR33.2 helpfully states the content of such notice that includes (but not limited to):

 

Identifying the hearsay evidence;

 

State your intention to rely on the evidence at trial; and

 

Give the reason why the witness cannot be called.

 

Solicitors must be alive to the rights of the opposing party to apply to the court to call the witness who does not wish / is unavailable to attend trial (Section 3 of the Act). Therefore submitting hearsay evidence simply because a witness is nervous or does not want to attend a court hearing is not advisable as they may be summoned in any event.

 

If hearsay evidence is adduced at trial it may not carry the same weight as live evidence. The court has a discretion as to the weight it gives hearsay evidence and Section 4 of the Act helpfully provides a list of matters the court must have regard to when determining the weight of expert evidence.

 

Section 4(2) of the Act:

 

Regard may be had, in particular, to the following:

 

Whether it would have been reasonable and practicable for the party by whom the evidence was adduced to have produced the maker of the original statement as a witness;

Whether the original statement was made contemporaneously with the occurrence or existence of the matters stated;

Whether the evidence involves multiple hearsay;

Whether any person involved had any motive to conceal or misrepresent matters;

Whether the original statement was an edited account, or was made in collaboration with another or for a particular purpose; and

Whether the circumstances in which the evidence is adduced as hearsay are such as to suggest an attempt to prevent proper evaluation of its weight.

In practice there are a number of reasons given by witnesses as to why they cannot attend trial. Often, clients / witnesses will use the excuse of not liking court, business commitments or they don’t think they would make ‘good witnesses’. As a solicitor you must be careful when a witness says they do not wish to attend trial because they do not think they will make a good witness. This is a red flag and experience often shows they state this because if they were subject to cross examination, the truth (or lack of) will be bare for the court to see.

 

Section 5 of the Act prohibits the admissibility of hearsay evidence if the witness was not competent at the time he made the statement.

 

The use of hearsay evidence is permitted and the procedure for submitting the same as evidence is relatively simple. In the modern world the necessity to submit hearsay statements is almost inevitable. ManyUKbased businesses trade overseas making it harder / more expensive for witnesses to attend trial.

 

The above is a brief outline of the Act and practice direction. If you are planning on submitting hearsay evidence we recommend you read the Act and CPR 33 in full before proceeding.

 

Found this on Google. Hopefully it is helpful.

[Ganymede]

Its only necessary if you are relying on hearsay evidence......

 

The "witness statements" the OP has in their current format with no Court heading and statement of truth would be classed as hearsay.

 

Also, the OP said that the witness can't/won't attend the hearing to give oral evidence and be cross examined so it would be best to file a notice anyway once a correctly formatted witness statement is served.

[AndyOrch]

Hearsay Evidence

 

Hearsay evidence is a statement made other than by the person who is giving oral evidence in the case but which is put forward as evidence of the matters stated.

 

Another way to explain it, is that it is second-hand evidence; that is, in a case of an oral statement, something that the witness says that somebody else said.

 

Therefore providing that the evidence is submitted by way of a formatted Witness statement and signed under statement of truth and provided that permission is sought pursuent to CPR 33 & CPR 23...I dont see a problem or alternatively retract the statement.

 

Andy

[consumer857]

Thank you for the responses.

 

I read online that the claimant is responsible for making up the trial bundle. The defendant has a solicitor and mailed their defence to me during the MCOL stage. I haven't been in contact with them at all during the rest of the process. I also read online that I need to communicate with the defendant to organize what is included in the trial bundle? I was just going to include their defence that I received from them. I'm not sure how I go about this really, the hearing is in one month time. Is it typical for a claimant to call the defendant and ask them what they want in the trial bundle? I imagine they want their evidence in there as they counter claimed? or do I just slide their defence papers into it? lol - I have no idea why I would be responsible for their stuff, especially when they have a solicitor, unless I'm mistaken....

 

Here is an update though...

I believe I have drafted up witness statements in the correct format now. I used the template I had provided above, and added a Statement of truth of the bottom.

It looks like a statement of truth is pretty much "I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true." printed at the bottom of the statement with the witnesses signature underneath.

 

I contacted Edmonton County Court and they have told me that I can give them notice via email which is great! I will ask them if I can provide them the trial bundle via email also as it would help of postage costs from the United States. I will update on that soon.

[Ganymede]

Yes you as the claimant prepare all bundles and you will need four identical copies probably. One for your solicitor, one for the defendant solicitor and two for Court.

 

The bundle must include all paperwork and evidence from BOTH parties, not just your own.

 

You will not be able to file and serve the trial bundle by email. It must be a hard copy.

 

The bundle must be a lever arch file with an contents page at the front listing every document in order. You need numbered dividers between each document and every page must be numbered.

 

As I said, you include all documents from both sides. For example:

 

Notice of Issue

Claim Form

Particulars of Claim

Schedule of Loss

Defendant's Defence

Defendant's Counter Claim

Claimant directions questionnaire

Defendant directions questionnaire

Directions from Court

Notice of trial date

Claimant's witness statement

Witnesses of Claimant

Any civil evidence act notice

Defendant witness statement

Witnesses for the Defendant

Claimant's documents/evidence

Defendant's documents/evidence

 

Please note that the above list is not exhaustive and if there are any other relevant documents you need to include them.

 

Once you have completed the contents page you email that to the Defendant solicitor for their approval before you actually put the bundle together and post it to the Court.

[consumer857]

Thank you for the response!

 

Because I do not have a solicitor and the defendant does have a solicitor, would is be better to ask them to prepare the trial bundle? I read this online somewhere..... I'm not sure if it applies here.

 

Particulars of Claim

My Particulars of Claim is three pages long in paragraph form. It details the whole claim and the process building up to the hearing and starts like a witness statement does by introducing myself. It's almost like a story, but 'to the point' and no waffling. I read online that the Particulars of Claim should be brief and evidential and to rely on witness statements for the full list of events. What if there were no witnesses, do you write a witness statement for yourself? or just a very detailed Particulars of Claim?

 

Notice of Issue

My notice of issue is for Northamption Court (The defendant's Acknowledgement of Service and Counterclaim also references Northhamption). This is before it was transferred to Edmonton County Court. Does this matter at all here? Shall I just include them anyway? I don't need to forward these docs to Edmonton do I? I assumed this was all done automatically.

 

Schedule of Loss

It's very brief, kinda lists just two amounts that I paid (Deposit and first months rent) and MCOL fee. I could add flights to attend the hearing and other things, but I read online that I cannot claim these once the Notice of Issue has been given. Is this correct?

 

Claim Form

I filed out a claim through MCOL, so I'm assuming I just do a Print Screen of my claim on here.

 

Claimant's documents/evidence

I have an original signed contract which I didnt give back to the landlord for the potential tenancy. So this contract was never in place. If I submit a copy of this to the defendant's party, there is no way this can be abused in anyway is there? I also have a bank statement with my account details on. I read online that some index pages for trial bundles have a small clause which says: "to be supplied at hearing". Would this be applicable here?

 

I have a rough index page together now, thank you so much for your help on this!

[Ganymede]

Include everything I listed in that order plus any additional relevant documents.

 

You can ask the Defendant's solicitor but it's your responsibility so they'll likely just say no.

 

Yes you need to serve a witness statement for yourself. This is extremely important.

 

Your Schedule of Loss can't be amended at this late stage really but you could try.

 

You will need to ask the Defendant's solicitor for a copy of the claim form to put in the trial bundle in that case.

 

You can always redact the account information from your bank statements if you're worried but they need to be in the bundle. I assume the Defendant has already seen them in the past.

[consumer857]

"You will not be able to file and serve the trial bundle by email. It must be a hard copy. " - Does this include issuing a hard copy to the defendant's solicitor also?

 

"Yes you need to serve a witness statement for yourself. This is extremely important." - Okay, my Particulars of Claim is kinda formatted like a Witness Statement already, i'll give it a re-jig. Thank you

 

Okay, I've logged into MCOL and I have downloaded my Claim Form. The Claim Form contains the Particulars of Claim as a section within the Claim Form. I remember when I first filed the MCOL claim, there was a very strict character limit on the Particulars of Claim, so it's very brief and pretty much just lists amounts which I paid and on what dates. I'm guessing there is no way to expand on this? In this case, it seems the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim are 'as one' - maybe it's different if not filing online?

 

Do you think I could blank out my signature from the contract and include the blanked version on the trial bundle? I would be bringing the original to the hearing anyway. I didn't know if there was any rules with the tampering of evidence within the copy.

 

 

Random Question (Not sure if I need a new thread for this...). My requested court changed mid-way through the claims process...

1. Your judgment against COMPANY was issued on DATE

2. COMPANY filed a defence on DATE

3. [in my allocation questionnaire, for the requested hearing venue, I made a statement to the effect of: "Leicester County Court. Reason: The Claimant is a party in person whereas the Defendant is a company. I therefore request that the claim is transferred to my local County Court as required under 12.2 "

4. Your claim was transferred to LEICESTER on DATE

5. I received a letter from Northampton County Court stating that my claim had been transferred to Leicester County Court

6. I received a letter from Barnet County Court stating that the claim is 'stayed' for potential Mediation

7. Defendant denied Mediation

8. Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track received from Edmonton County Court

 

I requested Leicester, and now it's at Edmonton. Edmonton ended up being more convenient for me, but how did this happen? I'm really curious... It's like the Mediation set something astray. I hope Edmonton has all the paperwork from this?