The Online Procedure (Rules and Practice Directions) Rules 2026

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Rules are the first to be made under the powers to make Online Procedure Rules conferred by Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (c. 35) .

Rule 1 provides for citation and commencement.

Rule 2 provides for there to be a set of Online Procedure Rules (the Online Procedure Rules 2026), which are contained in the Schedule to these Rules, and for how and when those Rules will apply to different types of proceedings (initially only to possession proceedings, with other types of proceedings to be included at a later date). The Online Procedure Rules 2026 are divided into overarching principles about the nature of online procedure under the Rules, “core rules” which are applicable to all types of proceedings to which Online Procedure Rules apply, and rules for particular types of proceedings (as noted above, initially only possession proceedings).

Rule 3 provides for practice directions (made under Schedule 3 to the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022) to be able to make provision for practice and procedure which would otherwise be in the Rules themselves, on a pilot basis so that the practice and procedure can be tested and assessed before being included in the Rules.