Article 4 Court’s duty to manage cases

(1)

The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases.

(2)

Active case management includes—

(a)

encouraging the parties to co-operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings;

(b)

identifying at an early stage—

(i)

the issues; and

(ii)

who should be a party to the proceedings;

(c)

deciding promptly—

(i)

which issues need full investigation and hearing and which do not; and

(ii)

the procedure to be followed in the case;

(d)

deciding the order in which issues are to be resolved;

(e)

encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution procedure if the court considers that appropriate and facilitating the use of such procedure;

(f)

helping the parties to settle the whole or part of the case;

(g)

fixing timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the case;

(h)

considering whether the likely benefits of taking a particular step justify the cost of taking it;

(i)

dealing with as many aspects of the case as it can on the same occasion;

(j)

dealing with the case without the parties needing to attend at court;

(k)

making use of technology; and

(l)

giving directions to ensure that the case proceeds quickly and efficiently.