The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2026

Published: Wed 15th Jul 26

These Rules amend the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 to restructure several High Court divisions and introduce new procedural requirements for specific claim types.

They establish the Business and Property Division, absorbing the functions of the Admiralty Court, Commercial Court, and Technology and Construction Court, and redefine the role of the President of this division.

The rules also introduce a new Section IX to Part 65 for managing 'respect orders' under anti-social behaviour legislation, revise arbitration appeal timelines, and update traffic enforcement procedures to align with current debt recovery regulations.

These changes apply to legal practitioners, litigants, and court officers involved in civil litigation within the High Court and County Court of England and Wales.

Arguments For

The rules state that amendments to Parts 2, 19, 30, 52, 53, and 57 through 83 are necessary to reflect the transfer of the Admiralty Court and Commercial Court to the Business and Property Division.
The document notes that updates to Part 31 are intended to introduce gender-neutral language across disclosure and inspection procedures.
The explanatory note highlights that changes to Part 62 address procedural timelines for arbitration appeals as prompted by the judgment in RRY v NKX [2025] EWHC 41 (Comm).
The legislation indicates that new procedures for 'respect orders' in Part 65 are required to implement Section 1 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
The document specifies that amendments to Part 75 are intended to align traffic enforcement terminology with the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013.

Arguments Against

Legal practitioners may face initial complexity during the transitional period where claims filed before the BPD changes must proceed under new administrative structures.
Civil liberties organizations have previously raised concerns regarding the scope and application of anti-social behaviour measures, such as the new respect orders introduced in Section IX.
Procedural changes to Part 75, which allow for the determination of certain reviews without a hearing, may be questioned regarding their impact on the transparency of the appeals process.
The specific 14-day and 21-day limits for arbitration appeals under Rule 62.10A may present practical challenges for litigants requiring more time to compile necessary documentation.

Citation, commencement and interpretation

-(1) These Rules may be cited as the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2026.

(2) In this rule and rule 2, 'BPD changes' means the amendments made by rules 4, 7, 9, 11(2), 12 to 18, 20 to 22, 24, 27 and 28 of and Schedule 1 to these Rules to the following Parts and rules: Parts 2, 19, 30, rule 52.4, Parts 53, 57, 57A, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 63A, 64, 67 and 83 and to RSC Order 115.

(3) These rules come into force on 1st October 2026, except as provided by paragraphs (4) and (5).

(4) This rule and rule 3 in so far as they relate to the BPD changes, rule 2 and the BPD changes themselves, come into force on the same date, and immediately after, the Senior Courts (Transfer, Amendment and Consequential Provision) Order 2026 comes into force.

(5) Rule 23 of and Schedule 2 to these Rules come into force on 26th October 2026.

(6) In these Rules-
(a) a reference to a Part or a rule by number alone means the Part or rule so numbered in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998; and
(b) a reference to 'Schedule 1' alone means Schedule 1 to those Rules, and a reference to an Order by number and prefixed by 'RSC' means the RSC Order so numbered in that Schedule.

This section establishes the title and effective dates of the amendments, primarily setting October 1, 2026, as the commencement date.

It creates a specific category for 'BPD changes' related to the Business and Property Division, which take effect simultaneously with separate Senior Courts legislation.

Rules regarding anti-social behaviour respect orders are set to commence later, on October 26, 2026.

Transitional provision

Any claims, applications, petitions or appeals filed or issued in or transferred to the Admiralty Court, the Commercial Court, a Circuit Commercial Court, the Technology and Construction Court of the High Court or the Chancery Division before the date that the BPD changes come into force shall proceed from that date as if filed or issued in or transferred to the appropriate court or list of the Business and Property Division.

This provision ensures that legal proceedings already in progress are not interrupted by the administrative restructuring.

It directs that any active cases in the specified high courts will continue as though they had originally been filed within the new Business and Property Division framework.

Amendment of Part 31

-(1) In rule 31.3(2)-

(a) in sub-paragraph (a), for 'he is' substitute 'they are'; and
(b) in sub-paragraph (b)-
(i) for 'he' substitute 'they'; and
(ii) for 'his' substitute 'their'.

[...Subsections (2) through (14) continue with similar gender-neutral substitutions throughout Part 31...]

(6) In rule 31.10-

(b) in paragraph (6)- (i) for the opening words, substitute- '(6) Except as provided by any rule or practice direction, a disclosure statement is a statement made by the party disclosing the documents (or, where relevant, their litigation friend)-';

These amendments update the language of the rules governing document disclosure and inspection to be gender-neutral, replacing masculine pronouns with 'they' or 'their'.

It also clarifies that a 'litigation friend'—someone who makes decisions on behalf of a person lacking legal capacity—is authorized to make disclosure statements.

Amendment of Part 62

-(2) After rule 62.10, insert-

' Decisions under the 1996 Act where the permission of the court which made the decision is required for an appeal

62.10A. -(1) A decision is within this rule if it is a decision under a section of the 1996 Act in respect of which the permission of the court which made the decision is required for an appeal.

(2) Any application for permission to appeal against a decision within this rule must be made to the court which made that decision-

(a) at the hearing at which the decision to be appealed was made or any adjournment of that hearing, if the decision was made at a hearing; or
(b) within 14 days after the date of the decision, if it was not made at a hearing.

(3) For an appeal against a decision within this rule, after permission to appeal has been granted, the appellant must file the appellant's notice at the appeal court within-

(a) such period as may have been directed by the court from which the appeal is brought in its order granting permission to appeal; or
(b) where the court makes no such direction when granting permission to appeal, 21 days after the date on which that permission was granted.'

This section inserts a new rule specifying the procedure for appealing decisions made under the Arbitration Act 1996 where the lower court's permission is required.

It mandates that such applications be made at the hearing or within 14 days and sets a 21-day deadline for filing an appeal notice if the court does not provide a different timeframe.

Schedule 2

SECTION IX

RESPECT ORDERS UNDER PART A1 OF THE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, CRIME AND POLICING ACT 2014

65.51. -(1) An application for a respect order under Part A1 of the 2014 Act is subject to the Part 8 procedure as modified...

(2) The application-

(a) must be made by a claim form...
(d) must include a statement that the defendant is entitled to a reasonable opportunity to obtain legal representation and to apply for legal aid...

65.53. -(1) If the application is made without notice-

(a) the witness statement in support of the application must state the reasons why notice has not been given;

This schedule details the procedural steps for authorities seeking a 'respect order' to address anti-social behaviour.

It requires claimants to inform defendants about their right to legal aid and provides a mechanism for applying for orders without prior notice to the defendant, provided the witness statement justifies the lack of notice.

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