The approved minutes of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (“<span class="news-text_medium">CPRC</span>”) annual open meeting held on 8 May 2026 were made publicly available on 11 June 2026. The meeting was described by Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, as a “landmark occasion”. It was the first CPRC meeting to be held outside London and the first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several points from the minutes will be of interest to civil litigation and dispute resolution practitioners. One significant update concerned the Online Procedure Rules Committee (“<span class="news-text_medium">OPRC</span>”). The first set of core Online Procedure Rules is expected to be promulgated very shortly. Further work is also anticipated on a statutory instrument that would enable the OPRC to take responsibility for the online civil money claims and damages claims pilots.
The minutes also refer to the simplified costs budgeting pilot under Practice Direction 51ZG1. Consultation with leadership judges across England and Wales has now concluded and support was expressed for a national roll-out of the pilot. The matter will be considered by the CPRC in due course. Another development concerns the small claims paper determination pilot.
A consultation on proposed amendments to CPR 27 and Practice Direction 27A was expected imminently at the time of the meeting. That consultation has since been published, inviting comments by 22 June 2026. The proposed amendments would allow judges to give directions for certain matters to be determined on the papers without requiring the consent of all parties.
The CPRC also agreed to approve amendments to CPR 52 and CPR 62 concerning permission to appeal in arbitration claims. The amendments are intended to clarify the time limit and procedure for seeking leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal where a party wishes to challenge a decision refusing permission to appeal against an arbitration award under section 69 of the <span class="news-text_italic-underline">Arbitration Act 1996</span>.
As part of those changes, a new CPR 62.10A will be introduced. CPR 52.3 will also be amended to carve out appeals falling within the scope of the new CPR 62.10A from the general permission to appeal procedure. In addition, Practice Direction 62.12.6 will be amended in relation to respondents’ notices in section 69 arbitration appeals. The minutes indicate that these amendments are expected to appear in the next mainstream CPR update.
The meeting also included a public question forum. Responses were given on a wide range of topics, including fixed recoverable costs, Part 36, ADR, Practice Direction 51ZH on the access to public domain documents pilot, service, disclosure, issues arising from<span class="news-text_italic-underline"> Mazur</span> and the CPRC’s future priorities. Some questions are to be considered outside committee.
The publication of the minutes provides useful insight into forthcoming procedural reforms and areas of continuing focus for the CPRC, particularly for practitioners involved in civil litigation, arbitration-related court applications and dispute resolution more broadly.
