CPR Committee consults on allowing judges to decide small claims without a hearing

The consultation follows the closure of the Small Claims Paper Determination Pilot (Practice Direction 51ZC), which ran from June 2022 to October 2025 across five County Court hearing centres - Cardiff, Bedford, Guildford, Luton and Manchester. The pilot, which tested a procedure enabling courts to direct that a small claim be determined without a hearing without requiring the agreement of all parties, ran until 31 October 2025.

Under the current rules at CPR 27.10, a court may only deal with a small claim without a hearing where all parties agree. The pilot ran contrary to that requirement, giving courts the power to direct a paper determination having considered the parties' directions questionnaires.

The CPRC agreed in principle not to mandate small claim paper determination. However, the Committee concluded that the CPR should be amended to provide for judges to give directions for matters to be determined on the papers without the consent of the parties, if appropriate, and draft amendments to CPR 27 and PD 27A have now been put out for consultation.

The pilot had particular relevance for two categories of case. Examples of small claims considered suitable for determination without a hearing under the pilot included flight delay or denied boarding claims, private parking charge disputes, and any other claim of £1,000 or less by value where there is no significant factual dispute requiring oral evidence. Housing disrepair claims were excluded from the pilot's scope.

The underlying rationale for paper determination is that it can be a proportionate and efficient means of resolving a small claim in cases where it is not necessary to hear oral evidence or oral advocacy to determine the issues justly.

Separately, the CPRC has already consulted on amendments to CPR Part 75 governing traffic enforcement procedure at the Traffic Enforcement Centre, which handles over 430,000 registrations per month from charging authorities including local councils.

Under the pilot scheme, a party dissatisfied with a paper determination outcome could not apply to set aside the judgment under CPR 27.11, but could seek permission to appeal under CPR 52.3, with the appeal court required to take into account the summary nature of the note of reasons produced following the paper determination. It is expected that similar or equivalent safeguards will feature in any permanent amendments.

The CPRC, chaired by the Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos as Head of Civil Justice, is responsible under the Civil Procedure Act 1997 for making rules of court for the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the County Court, with a view to securing that the system of justice is accessible, fair and efficient.