Prepare Your Court Bundle for Morpeth and Berwick County Court and Family Court

County Court · Morpeth

Preparing a bundle for a hearing at Morpeth and Berwick County Court and Family Court

Civil claims at Morpeth and Berwick County Court and Family Court are run under the Civil Procedure Rules. The trial bundle rules are short, but the filing window is tight, and small claims in Morpeth work differently from larger claims.

1. 1

   Who files the trial bundle, and when

   Unless the court orders otherwise, the claimant files the trial bundle not more than 7 days and not less than 3 days before the trial starts.

   Sources: CPR rule 39.5 (opens in a new tab)

2. 2

   What goes in

   Unless the court orders otherwise: the claim form and statements of case, a case summary or chronology where appropriate, the witness statements being relied on, any medical and expert reports with responses, and any order about how the trial is to be run.

   Sources: CPR Practice Direction 32, para 27.5 (opens in a new tab)

3. 3

   Numbering, index and copies

   The bundle should be paginated continuously throughout and indexed with a description and page number for each document, with numbered dividers if it runs to more than 100 pages. Contents should be agreed where possible, and the party filing it should give identical bundles to every other party.

   Sources: CPR Practice Direction 32, paras 27.8, 27.12 and 27.13 (opens in a new tab)

4. 4

   If the claimant has no lawyer

   Preparing the trial bundle is normally the responsibility of the claimant's legal representative. Where the claimant is unrepresented, the court may direct another party to prepare it.

   Sources: CPR Practice Direction 32, para 27.7 (opens in a new tab)

5. 5

   Small claims follow their own directions

   Part 39, apart from rules 39.2, 39.8 and 39.9, does not apply to small claims, and nor does most of Part 32. On the small claims track, the documents and deadlines in the court's directions order are the ones to follow.

   Sources: CPR rule 27.2(1) (opens in a new tab)

6. 6

   If your family case is listed here

   A family hearing at Morpeth and Berwick County Court and Family Court is a hearing of the family court — one court for the whole of England and Wales — so Practice Direction 27A applies to the bundle, including its timetable, page limit and numbering rules, rather than the rules described above.

   Sources: Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, s 31A (opens in a new tab); FPR Practice Direction 27A, para 2.1 (opens in a new tab)

BundleCreator's 'Numeric' numbering runs one continuous page sequence through the whole bundle and builds the index for you.