County Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2002

The overriding objective

11.  Order 58 shall be amended as follows –

(a) in the heading, for the word “Interpretation” there shall be substituted the words “Overriding objective, interpretation”; and

(b) Rules 1 to 6 shall be re-numbered Rules 2 to 7 and the following new Rule 1 shall be inserted –

“The overriding objective

1.— (1) The overriding objective of these Rules is to enable the Court to deal with cases justly.

(2) Dealing with a case justly includes, so far as is practicable –

(a) ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing;

(b) saving expense;

(c) dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate to –

(i) the amount of money involved;

(ii) the importance of the case;

(iii) the complexity of the issues; and

(iv) the financial position of each party;

(d) ensuring that it is dealt with expeditiously and fairly; and

(e) allotting to it an appropriate share of the Court’s resources, while taking into account the need to allot resources to other cases.

(3) The Court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it –

(a) exercises any power given to it by the Rules; or

(b) interprets any Rule.”.