Chapter 19 - Court Practice and Procedure

March 2001

(Amended December 2010)

19.1 Introduction

Official receivers communicate with the courts daily so it is important to understand and appreciate the role of the court in insolvency proceedings. This chapter provides information as to the structure of the court system in relation to insolvency and how the courts manage insolvency work. Guidance is also provided in respect of the approach official receivers should take in their dealings with the courts.

Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010 – Transitional Provisions

The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010 came into force on 6 April 2010 and have had some effect on court procedures. The amendments apply to cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2010 (unless in a liquidation there was a voluntary winding up resolution or certain administration proceedings before this date). Full details of the transitional provisions can be found in schedule 4 to the Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010 and a summary is available at Annex A. For the purpose of this chapter reference will only be made to the petition date in the transitional provisions.

The relevant parts or paragraphs have been updated to reflect the rule changes from 6 April 2010 and information is provided to show when they apply.

Due to the volume of changes in respect of the procedures for service of documents, the keeping of court records and the filing of returns, parts 7 and 8 of this chapter have been re-issued and the guidance therein should be applied to all post 6 April 2010 petition cases. For cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2010 the previous rules continue to apply and the guidance and advice in Technical Manual Chapter 19 Parts 7 and 8 (issued March 2001) may be followed. Chapter 19 Part 7 (issue date March 2001) is attached at Annex B, and Part 8 (issue date March 2001) is attached at Annex C.

The chapter is divided into the following parts:

Part 1 - Courts dealing with insolvency proceedings (paragraphs 19.2 - 19.5).

Part 2 - The Woolf reforms and the Civil Procedure Rules (paragraphs 19.6 - 19.13).

Part 3 - Commencement of proceedings (paragraphs 19.14 - 19.19).

Part 4 - Applications to Court (paragraphs 19.20 - 19.39).

Part 4A – Supporting evidence on an application (paragraphs 19.40 – 19.58).

Part 5 - Court hearings (paragraphs 19.59 - 19.70).

Part 6 - Acting as a witness (paragraphs 19.71 -19.79).

Part 7 - Service of documents – post 6 April 2010 petition cases (paragraphs 19.80 - 19.97A).

Part 8 - Court records and returns – post 6 April 2010 petition cases (paragraphs 19.98 - 19.109).

Part 9 - Persons who lack capacity to manage their affairs (paragraphs 19.110 - 19.114).

Part 10 - Miscellaneous provisions relating to court practice and procedure (paragraphs 19.115 - 19.128).

The chapter contains the following  annexes:

Annex A – Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010 – summary of transitional provisions

Annex B – Service of documents - pre 6 April 2010 petition cases

Annex C – Court Records and Returns – pre 6 April 2010 petition cases

Annex D - Glossary of terms

Annex E - The judiciary

Annex F - Table to show deemed day of service

The following abbreviations are used in this chapter:

CPR - Civil Procedure Rules, 1998.

IAR – Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010

LRO – Legislative Reform (Insolvency) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2010

[On to Part 1 - Courts dealing with insolvency proceedings]