New rules have been laid before Parliament which open the door to documents to be filed or sent to courts in England and Wales by fax or other electronic means, such as e-mail. However, a further regulatory step will be required.

The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules of 2002 amend the Civil Procedure Rules of 1998 and include a new rule which provides for a “practice direction” to allow electronic filing. According to the amended Rules,

“any such practice direction may:

provide that only particular categories of documents may be filed or sent to the court by such means;

provide that particular provisions only apply in specific courts; and

specify the requirements that must be fulfilled for any document filed or sent to the court by such means.”

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