District Judge Michael Walker focuses on the highlights from the 37th update of the Civil Procedure Rules

The 37th update of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR) contains less material than usual. While there are a few other amendments, this column focuses on one change, namely the forthcoming ability to award all or part of damages for future loss and care costs in personal injury claims in the form of periodical payments.


Do not get too excited. The rule changes in question will not come into force until implementation of sections 100 and 101 of the Courts Act 2003, which themselves substitute or add new sections 2, 2A, 2B and 4 in the Damages Act 1996, and no commencement order has yet been made.


Fortunately, however, this will give time to the profession to absorb the proposed changes. It is to be hoped that some guidance will also be given to the judiciary as to when it might be appropriate to indicate, under rule 41.6, whether periodical payments or a lump sum is likely to be the more appropriate award. But there are unanswered questions such as how to compare the costs consequences of, say, an award at trial of a combined lump sum and periodical payments order against a defendants' part 36 payment-in of a lump sum only. Another unanswered question is how popular these reforms will prove to be once actually brought into force.


The details, which all personal injury solicitors need to absorb, are to be found in revisions to part 41 (where new rules 41.4 to 41.10 provide the meat of the changes), part 36 (which, for instance, deals with the changes to part 36 offers and provides some bones of the costs consequences when periodical payments are being considered, but sadly none of the necessary flesh) and consequent amendments to practice directions 21, 29 and 36. The amendments to PD 21 deal with the settlement by way of periodical payments, whether before or after trial, of cases involving minors or patients. PD 40C, which dealt with structured settlements, will be revoked in its entirety when the changes come into force; in its place a new PD 41 will deal with periodical payments under the Damages Act 1996.


Is that all? Not quite. There are two technical amendments to PD 49B, which deals with applications under the Companies Act 1985, etcetera. The first, at PD 49B, paragraph 3B, deals with applications to the Chancery Division in relation to the formation of a European public limited-liability company (a Societas Europaea) within the meaning of article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2157/2001 of 8 October 2001 on the statute for a European company.


The second introduces a new PD 49B, paragraph 14, detailing the procedure for applications under section 59 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in relation to property seized in connection with a company investigation under part XIV of the Companies Act 1985. In force? Oh yes - since 8 October 2004.


No update is complete without some changes to the appeal rules. This time, and again since 8 October last year, practice direction 52 is tweaked to take account of appeals under regulation 74 of the European Public Limited-Liability Company Regulations 2004. Definitely one for the City crowd.


District Judge Michael Walker sits at Wandsworth County Court