BW legal/Excel small claim

System

!!!8220;I am resident in France and do not fall under the jurisdiction of the court in England or Wales. I have made this clear in my DQ, however the case has been scheduled to be heard in Leeds in August. I would like clarification on this point please because I understand that I am outside jurisdiction and this was made clear before allocation."

Coupon is spot on. The Court manager will only be interested in the process of making sure claims run on time and to the Court rules. If the Claimant has made a false claim about service or the court has missed a key point about jurisdiction (which seems to be the case), they will need to sort it.

It will have to be put in front of a judge. There may be a question of will there be a fee to change/cancel and who should pay it.

Seaskewer

Thanks for the advice, I’ll do that now. Will post my DQ when I get the copy from the court.

nosferatu1001

You shoudl also make it clear that you will not be returning to the UK, so any hearing date will not be possible.

[Deleted User]

If proceedings were acknowledged (without challenge) with an AoS the o/p has in fact already submitted to proceedings within the jurisdiction of E&W.

System

If proceedings were acknowledged (without challenge) with an AoS the o/p has in fact already submitted to proceedings within the jurisdiction of E&W.

AFAIR the main issues with the MCOL site is that they do not allow a non-UK address to be entered. In addition if the OP wants to contest jurisdiction they have to use a N244 and pay £255. So what the LiP is left with is to follow an unfamiliar and unbending system and hope the court see the sense of the issue.

But you can see the issue in two parts. Is the jurisdiction (E & W) correct and I'd say it is. Secondly are the parties within the jurisdiction which is this case (and others) they are not. The MCOL system appears incapable to picking up this second issue early on, which leads to all sorts of confusion which the solicitors for the PPC's like to use.

[Deleted User]

AFAIR the main issues with the MCOL site is that they do not allow a non-UK address to be entered. In addition if the OP wants to contest jurisdiction they have to use a N244 and pay £255.

Sort of. An application without notice for £100 would do it. The rules Regarding below. I've highlighted the problem.

Procedure for disputing the courts jurisdiction CPR 11

(1) A defendant who wishes to;

(a) dispute the courts jurisdiction to try the claim; or

(b) argue that the court should not exercise its jurisdiction

may apply to the court for an order declaring that it has no such jurisdiction or should not exercise any jurisdiction which it may have.

(2) A defendant who wishes to make such an application must first file an acknowledgment of service in accordance with Part 10.

(3) A defendant who files an acknowledgment of service does not, by doing so, lose any right that he may have to dispute the courts jurisdiction.

(4) An application under this rule must

(a) be made within 14 days after filing an acknowledgment of service; and

(b) be supported by evidence.

(5) If the defendant

(a) files an acknowledgment of service; and

(b) does not make such an application within the period specified in paragraph (4),

he is to be treated as having accepted that the court has jurisdiction to try the claim.

By all means try but be aware that the court could well decide to disregard on the basis that a letter/application in whatever form is now well out of time.

System

The rules are there and they must be obeyed as otherwise the system as it is would get itself into more of a mess than it is now. It is clearly not LiP friendly but the recent Wright Hassall (?) case concluded that if the rules are there to be read (on the internet) then a LiP is not disadvantaged.

But this OP has to square the circle. The court has taken the fee and needs to fulfil it's obligation to the claimant. But clearly holding a hearing which a LiP cannot attend is unreasonable - which is why the CPR provides for it under CPR 3.1 (2)(b). The OP can request for it to be adjourned until such time as he/she is back within E&W.

Claimant has the hearing on the system; defendant can make themselves available when they are back; and the court can keep it fee. Everyone's happy.

Seaskewer

Hi all. I have a date set for à claims hearing in Leeds. I!!!8217;ve finally received all the evidence they are using against me, this after the judge ordered BW Legal to do so after my many requests were ignored. I!!!8217;m really unsure what my defence should look like. All I know is the first I knew of this was late last year after some old redirected mail arrived to me in France where I am permanent resident. The alleged offence took place in Sep 2012, I can tremember where I parked a few week ago let alon e nearly six years ago. I!!!8217;ve genuinly claimed I don!!!8217;t know who was driving, as I don!!!8217;t.

If someone kind enough could offer me some pearls of advice I!!!8217;d be grateful.

Coupon-mad

As per your other thread, did you not declare you live in France?

Seaskewer

Yes when I filled the DQ out I made it clear and have also emailed the court directly confirming I!!!8217;m resident in France.