County Court summons.

panther1966uk

Hi, Im looking for some advice, this Friday just gone i received a letter saying I was being taken to court over a small disagreement with my brother in law, the court date was for the 11th April 2012, 2 days before i recieved the letter saying it was going to happen.
I have been told that if i complete a Stat Dec under section 14 of the magistrates court act the proceedings become void, is this correct? if this is in a county court ? anyone know?

Panther.

MamaMoo_2

Why exactly would you be completing a statutory declaration?

Stat decs, AFAIK (and I may be wrong) are usually made when a ruling has been made against an individual, (ie, a fine handed out, or CCJ) and the person it was made against was not aware of the court proceedings. They then make a stat dec, and the ruling is overturned, meaning the case has to go back through the courts (if necessary) and the person has the opportunity to defend themselves.

panther1966uk

Hi, thanks for the reply, the story i have heard so far and i need to make sure this is correct by calling the court tomorrow but i heard the ruling was made against me for non appearance, this is why i have been advised to make a stat dec to get the hearing void.?

Panther

arcon5

if you never received the summons, therefore didn't respond it would be by default found in the claimants favour without a hearing. You can apply for a judgement by default after x days from the date of issue

So it sounds odd that you say you knew nothing of it until now and the hearing was 2 days prior.

How much are we talking here? And what are you not telling us?

panther1966uk

Sounds odd? all im telling you is so far hear say, apart fromt he letter i received after coming back off a holiday this week, the rest i have explained is what i have been told so far thus why im here trying to get a professional responce to some truth.

What do you want to know??

DVardysShadow

panther1966uk wrote: »

Sounds odd? all im telling you is so far hear say, apart fromt he letter i received after coming back off a holiday this week, the rest i have explained is what i have been told so far thus why im here trying to get a professional responce to some truth.

What do you want to know??

Yes, it does sound odd. Basically, if you get a letter advising of a hearing, you should have received all of the pre hearing paperwork allowing you to enter a defence. So the possibilities in my mind are along these lines:

• You have actually received a load of court papers but you have binned it either not understanding or out of pique
• Your brother in law or someone acting on his behalf has intercepted some of your mail. Does he or anyone on' his side' have a key to your house or access to your mail?
• The letter advising of a CCJ is a fake, designed to rush you into paying.

peachyprice

panther1966uk wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the reply, the story i have heard so far and i need to make sure this is correct by calling the court tomorrow but i heard the ruling was made against me for non appearance, this is why i have been advised to make a stat dec to get the hearing void.?

Panther

A Stat Dec infront of magistrates is you standing up in court and swearing on oath before witnesses that you did not recieve any court papers before the hearing. You would then have to send this off to the county court with the correct application to have the judgement set aside. You can also swear an affadavit infront of a solicitor for the same purpose.

This will suspend the judgement against you, but not the court case. You will recieve a new date for the hearing and will have the opportunity again to enter a defence.

It will not void the proceedings and make the case go away.

visidigi

panther1966uk wrote: »

Sounds odd? all im telling you is so far hear say, apart fromt he letter i received after coming back off a holiday this week, the rest i have explained is what i have been told so far thus why im here trying to get a professional responce to some truth.

What do you want to know??

So you got it late, but what's the post date on it?

BlueAngelCV

What exactly does the court order say. We really need to know that before anyone can give you any helpful advice. Are you able to post a redacted copy?

If it is a judgment due to non-attendance you should be able to get this set aside as long as you apply quickly. It sounds like it is probably a small claim in the County Court in which case there will be no need for a statutory declaration, you would just file a signed witness statement confirming you hadn't received the documents.

NeilF3485

As above, if it is county court action you wouldn't need to make a Stat Dec - this is a Magistrates Court thing is it not?

Something doesn't add up here - you say "county court" in the title, then magistrates in the body.

I don't believe you would get called to a hearing over a county court matter. If you had received and ignored (or not received) a claim form, then judgment would be entered by default. If you failed to pay then the claimant could issue a warrant, or apply for attachment of earnings, or a charging order depending on the value.

A county court hearing would only occur if you received a claim form and then entered a defence (and/or counter claim - N9B), at which point a date would be set.

If you have received a magistrates summons and didn't attend, you would basically be found guilty in your absence, and a fine set. If you then didn't pay this, it would be passed to the local warrants office and you'd need to go to the police station to agree to attend (you'd technically be on bail).

You can then attend the magistrates court, complete a Stat Dec in front of the judges, and in effect the entire proceedings will be voided - but restarted if the claimant so wishes.

I went through the magistrates side a couple of weeks ago after the DVLA wrote to the wrong address over a fine, missed court date, didn't know about the £300 court order, ended up getting a call from local warrants office, had to complete a Stat Dec etc. and eventually paid the DVLA their £35 and it was all over.

peachyprice

NeilF3485 wrote: »

As above, if it is county court action you wouldn't need to make a Stat Dec - this is a Magistrates Court thing is it not?

Something doesn't add up here - you say "county court" in the title, then magistrates in the body.


.

You can get a stat dec for anything regardless of whether a case is being held in magistrates, county or crown court. All it is is a means of getting facts verified in writing with the magistrate acting as an offical witness, a solicitors letter would also suffice, but may be more expensive