# County Court Rules (Northern Ireland) 1981, Rule 27: [ Service by FAX

Extent: N.I.

(1) In this Rule:
(a) “FAX” means the making of a facsimile copy of a document by the transmission of electronic signals;
(b) “business day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a public holiday.
(2) Any document the service of which by post is permitted in these Rules other than a civil bill, petition, summons, notice or other document required or authorised to be served for the purposes of initiating any proceedings in a county court may be served by FAX in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4).
(3) Service by FAX may be effected where—
(a) the party serving the document acts by a solicitor;
(b) the party on whom the document is served acts by a solicitor and service is effected by transmission to the business address of such a solicitor;
(c) the solicitor acting for the party on whom the document is served has indicated in writing to the solicitor serving the document that he is willing to accept service by FAX at a specified FAX number and the document is transmitted to that number; and for this purpose the inscription of a FAX number on the writing paper of a solicitor shall be deemed to indicate that such solicitor is willing to accept service by FAX at that number in accordance with this paragraph unless he states otherwise in writing; and
(d) as soon as practicable after service by FAX the solicitor acting for the party serving the document despatches a copy of it to the solicitor acting for the other party by any of the other methods prescribed for service in these Rules, and if he fails to do so, the document shall be deemed never to have been served by FAX.
(4) Where the FAX is transmitted on a business day before 4.00pm it shall, unless the contrary is shown, be deemed to be served on that day, and, in any other case, on the business day next following.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/1981/225/part/43/rule/27 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/county-court-rules-northern-ireland-1981/part-43/rule-27
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.