Friday 19 July 2024

A weekly round-up of the latest news and information about courts and tribunals

Lord Chancellor swearing in ceremony

On 15 July 2024, Shabana Mahmood was sworn in as Lord Chancellor by Dame Sue Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Decrease of interest rates for the Court Funds Office

The rates of interest payable to clients the Court Funds Office (CFO) have been reviewed and from 12 June 2024, new interest rates will apply.

This decision has been made to ensure that the CFO service can be maintained whilst allowing for clients’ funds to continue to be effectively protected and managed

New features added to the Civil Claims Portal

New features have been added to the Civil Claims Portal on MyHMCTS for money claims and damages cases, as we continue our programme to provide an end-to-end digital service for legal professionals. 

Paper-based steps that were taken to progress a case after the directions order was issued should now be completed digitally.  

The digital file will allow parties to log in at any time to see where the case has reached. The new features cover;

• receipt of a digital hearing notice
• the ability to upload evidence to the digital case file (multi-media and locked documents are currently not supported)
• the ability to make and pay for a general application at any point during the digital case journey and to receive the judicial decision
• payment of a hearing fee (hearing fee payments can’t be taken by operational staff and must be made via the digital case. Failure to do so could result in a case being dismissed)
• receipt of orders, including the final order after hearing via the digital case

Parties will receive notifications at each stage once an action has taken place.

These changes have now been introduced at all civil courts, except Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre, which will use these features from late September.

Reformed Employment Tribunals service

The reformed Employment Tribunals service has now been rolled out nationally after successful regional trials in 'early adopter' offices.

Claimants, respondents and professional users can interact with the tribunal using the partial digital service to submit claims and responses, and manage and progress cases.

Future releases will mean people using the service can do so digitally at every stage of the process.

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