Small Claims Question

CeePeeBee

A_Geordie said:

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4. Send your witness statement and evidence by email to the court using the same email address above and the same subject line format but omit the "Urgent". You also need to send the statement and evidence to the defendant by the stated deadline in the court letter which should be done by post unless the defendant has agreed to accept service by email. If you haven't already asked, it may be worth asking if they agree to receive your statement and evidence by email, which would avoid unnecessary stationary and postage costs.

5. Finally, and just a word of caution, as you have come to realise, the courts are very slow and it is not uncommon for them to misplace or lose court documents and evidence. I would suggest you make at least two copies of the court documents, witness statement and evidence for the day of the hearing (one for you, one for the judge) and be prepared to explain to the judge if they ask you why you didn't follow the court orders (you may need to tell them why you couldn't).

This could potentially avoid the court having to adjourn the hearing for a later date and waste everyone's time. If your court bundle is large and voluminous then you will have to decide if you want to spend the time and cost re-printing a copy, but at least have all the necessary evidence to show you have attempted to comply with the court orders.

Yup, that's definitely happening. One other question I have is that the letter I have states that, as per standard process, the documents I am intending to present (i.e. my pack including witness statement, evidence, anything else, etc) should be sent to the defendant too. I only have their address, not an email - should I send them manual hard copies by post prior, or just rock up with copies?

Jenni_D

You must send them your WS+Evidence before the hearing ... if you simply rock up to the hearing without them having prior view of it then they have the right to ask the judge to discount it as you'd by hijacking them at the hearing. (The same applies in reverse if they don't send you a copy of theirs prior to the hearing).

CeePeeBee

Jenni_D said:

You must send them your WS+Evidence before the hearing ... if you simply rock up to the hearing without them having prior view of it then they have the right to ask the judge to discount it as you'd by hijacking them at the hearing. (The same applies in reverse if they don't send you a copy of theirs prior to the hearing).

This was exactly my thought - does it matter if it's not digital?

Jenni_D

Not at all - the court process has been around for donkeys years, long before the digital age. Filing/serving by email can be beneficial, but it's not obligatory.

A_Geordie

CeePeeBee said:

Jenni_D said:

You must send them your WS+Evidence before the hearing ... if you simply rock up to the hearing without them having prior view of it then they have the right to ask the judge to discount it as you'd by hijacking them at the hearing. (The same applies in reverse if they don't send you a copy of theirs prior to the hearing).

This was exactly my thought - does it matter if it's not digital?

Just to add some context to Jenni's post, court orders will typically say one of two things, to file or serve. They have specific meanings and unless the court directions explicitly state otherwise:

File = send to the court. Post is standard practice but most if not all courts now have specific email addresses for filing documents and applications.

Serve = send to the other side. If there's more than 1 defendant/claimant, send a copy to each.

Civil Procedure Rules expect you to serve documents on the other party(ies) by post or personal delivery. Email or some other form of service of documents is not permissible without first obtaining the court's permission or unless the other side agrees to accept service of those documents by that particular method. If you sent it using a method that has not been accepted, then you will be deemed to have not served the documents, even if they're received.

I can't remember under the OCMC if there's an option, but when the court issues the response pack to the defendant, if they respond by paper there's an option to include an email address (or fax number if you're ancient, and rarely some companies still use fax). If there's an email address listed then it would be implied that they are willing to accept service by email. Worth logging back in to the OCMC to see if there is any evidence of an email address provided by the defendant which can be used to send the witness statement and evidence electronically instead of paper copies.

If you only have the address, it must be sent first class post or better and as a minimum obtain proof of postage receipt if the defendant claims it was not received.