The importance of filing and following up documents with the Court.
Rogers v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Anor [2023] This was a matter where the Claimant sought to review a planning decision and filed the relevant papers with the Court to do so. The Claimant didn’t receive the sealed claim form from the Court within the time limit, resulting in the Claimant requiring an application to extend the time for service.
Background of the case:
The Claimant sought permission to seek a statutory review against a planning decision. The deadline for issuing and service of the claim form on matter such as this is 6 weeks.
The application was commenced within the 6-week statutory period which ended on 4 May 2023. The relevant documents were filed with the Court on 18 April 2023. The Claimant was unable to serve the sealed papers on the Defendant as they had not been sealed by the Court until after the expiry of the time limit.
The documents were acknowledged by the Court on the day they were sent, and these were followed up by the Claimant’s Solicitors on 2 May 2023. Between 10 May 2023 and 14 June 2023, the Claimant’s representatives contacted the court on at least 10 occasions enquiring about the sealed documents.
The Court finally issued the appeal on the 15 June 2023, but the sealed claim form was not issued until 11 July 2023. The documents were served on the second Defendant on 11 July 2023 and on the first Defendant on 12 July 2023.
The Defendant criticised the Claimant for use of an incorrect form and for not specifying that it was a claim under s.288 of the Act. The claim was however issued on a Part 8 claim from, and it was accepted by the Court.
Karen Ridge, sitting as a High Court judge opined that the Claimant’s representatives were entitled to a reasonable expectation that the form would be sealed in a timely manner and that they would be able to serve the sealed form before 4 May 2023.
Karen Ridge confirmed “In these circumstances I am entirely satisfied that the failure to serve a sealed claim form in time was due to matters outside the control of the Claimant and his representatives. The behaviour of the legal representative in continuing to chase the Court for a sealed claim form was reasonable. The delay did not stem from the use of an incorrect form. The representative had marked the email with the Claim form of ‘high importance’ and they continued to chase matters which spoke of the sense of urgency in obtaining a sealed form. It is difficult not to have sympathy with the Claimant in such circumstances.”
Despite service taking place out of time, the Judge concluded that the Claimant took reasonable steps to effect valid service but due to matters outside his control and for good reason, his representatives were unable to do so. The Court’s discretion was therefore exercised in extending the time for service of the sealed claim form up to and including the last date on which the sealed claim forms were served upon the Defendants.
Summary and how this will affect the client:
It is important that documents that are to be filed with the Court, with a restricted time frame, are filed swiftly and are followed up with lines of communication, to demonstrate a pro-active approach. Had the Claimant’s representatives not continued to chase the Court and showed a willingness to progress the matter, their application may not have succeeded.
How can PIC assist?
Ensuring Court documents are served in good time prior to any deadline is of utmost importance. PIC can assist by ensuring cost budgets, cost applications or any other documents involving the Court, are prepared in good time and filed with the Court to alleviate the pressure from the conducting Solicitor.
Steve Burn, Senior Costs Consultant
31.10.2024