Changes to the County Court Rules – Effective as of 1 January 2018

Changes to the County Court Rules which will come into effect on 1 January 2018. These changes are similar to the changes made at the Supreme Court in November 2017.

From 1 January 2018 the current Form 42A (civil) subpoena and the Form 1D (criminal) subpoena will be replaced with separate forms for each type of subpoena.

Form 42A becomes:

·        Form 42A - subpoena to attend to give evidence

·        Form 42B - subpoena to produce

·        Form 42C - subpoena both to attend to give evidence and to produce

The requirement to attach the current Form 42B Notice to Addressee and Declaration will be removed as this has been incorporated into the relevant subpoena forms (42B and 42C).

Form 1D becomes:

·        Form 1D - subpoena to attend to give evidence

·        Form 1E - subpoena to produce

·        Form 1EA - subpoena both to attend to give evidence and to produce

The ‘Notice to addressee and declaration’ (known as a Form 1E) now is included in the 1E or 1EA subpoena and is no longer a separate form.

Form 42AA Subpoena to produce to Registrar has also changed with the Notice to Addressee and Declaration being incorporated in the form.

The Rule changes also allow for subpoenaed material to be produced to the Court in numerous electronic formats which are specified in the Rules and the forms.

The new forms to be used after 1 January 2018 are attached below for your convenience and will also be available on the County Court website: