With effect from 6 April 2020, the 113^th amendment of the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) has made a number of changes. We outline those most important to social housing providers preparing their own documentation for court.

These amendments were prepared prior to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic which has also seen a series of urgent, temporary changes to the rules: see our earlier articles here.  

Changes to statements of truth

The CPR requires that certain documents are required to be verified by a statement of truth. These include all statements of case (which includes particulars of claim, defences and any reply) as well as witness statements.

Witness statements must now be verified by the following statement of truth:

“I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.”

All other statements of truth are similarly amended and should read (adapted as required):

“[I believe][The (claimant or as may be) believes] that the facts stated in this [name of document being verified] are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.”

The statement of truth must also be dated with the date on which it was signed.

Other changes to the preparation of witness statements

Witnesses’ own language

Where a witness does not speak English fluently, any witness statements they give for court proceedings must be drafted in the witness’s primary language. The statement of truth (see above) must also be in the witness’s own language.

The party who wishes to rely upon the content of a witness statement in a foreign language in court proceedings must:

• have it translated
• file the foreign language version of the statement with the court
• ensure the translator signs the original witness statement and certifies that the translation of the witness statement is accurate.

Method of preparation of witness statements

A witness statement must now state “the process by which it has been prepared, for example, face-to-face, over the telephone, and/or through an interpreter”.

Accordingly, if, for example, a witness statement is prepared by a housing officer over the telephone, the witness statement must say so.

Changes to accelerated possession procedure and court forms

Although rare, demoted tenancies and oral tenancy agreement cases are no longer within the scope of those cases which can be bought by the accelerated possession process.

Additionally, the N5 claim forms have been updated:

• For claims where the property is in England, the ‘N5B ENGLAND’ form must be used: see forms here.
• For claims where the property is in Wales, the ‘N5B WALES’ form must be used: see forms here.

Both the ‘N5 ENGLAND’ and ‘N5 WALES’ are available in bi-lingual versions (so there are four different forms altogether). There are differences in the content of the forms because of the different regulatory requirements in both countries. It is essential to use the correct form depending upon where the property is located.

Similarly, the N11B defence forms have been updated. Social housing providers should make sure that Defendants use the correct defence forms. see here for England and here for Wales, or that these are includes with the Response pack.

How can Capsticks help?

We remain well placed to continue to help you deal with cases swiftly and are in regular contact with your local courts to keep a finger on the pulse of any differing practices they are adopting.

If you have any queries around what is discussed in this article, or the steps that you can take in any given case, please do not hesitate to speak to Simon Strelitz, or any of your contacts at Capsticks to find out more about how we can help.