Old Rules for Writ

Pirelli Cables Ltd and others v United Thai Shipping Corporation Ltd and others (QBD TLR 12 May)

The time for service of a writ issued before the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules on 26 April 1999 was covered by the old Rules of the Supreme Court. Accordingly the time for service of a concurrent writ issued under the old Rules marked ‘not for service out of the jurisdiction’ was four months and not six months from the date of issue. A concurrent writ issued on 27 January 1999 and renewed on 28 May 1999 had not been validly renewed for service although the application for the renewal had been made within time on 26 May. The CPR made no reference to the concurrent claim forms albeit they were referred to in paragraph 4 of appendix 17 to the Commercial Court Guide. It was not permissible to read ‘writ’ and ‘claim form’ interchangeably; nor would there be any doubt that the application in fact had been made under the old rules and be dealt by the court as such. If there was an application to extend the validity of the original writ, it had to be made under the old rules. Accordingly the proceedings were stayed.