Form upPart 4 - Forms practice direction (PD) is new.

It lists the forms to be used in civil proceedings and for claims to which the Part 8 alternative procedure is applicable, and it should be read in conjunction with the Part 8B PD (see below).

Modified forms will be accepted if they contain all the essential information and include the notes for the recipient.

Table 1 in the PD lists the 'N' forms to which various PDs refer and require to be used, such as the N1 - the Part 7 (general) claim form.Table 2 lists the former Prescribed Forms and the Queen's Bench and Chancery Masters' Practice Forms.

Unless prescribed, solicitors should substitute witness statement for affidavit.Table 3 lists the former county court survivors, which include the land possession originating forms for landlords and mortgagees, but remember that the plaintiff becomes the claimant.Start with a PartPart 7 - How to start proceedings PD subjects conditional sale agreements to the same requirements that relate to hire purchase claims.

There are consequential amendments throughout the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR).7C - (Summons) Production Centre PD is new.

Claimants will not be affected unless they are permitted to issue claims through the centre.

A defended claim will be transferred to the defendant's home court if the claimant wishes to pursue the claim, as will applications to set aside a judgment and applications to enforce the judgment (CCR order 25 rule 2 survives).7D - Claims for the recovery of taxes PD is new.

Defended claims will be automatically listed in a 'Collector of Taxes' list when they will be disposed of or case management directions will be given.

If the collector produces an appropriate certificate as to the amount owing, the defendant must expect judgment against him there an d then.Find them now - these were formerly originating summonses and applicationsPart 8B - Alternative procedure for claims PD.

This PD explains how to start the claims referred to in sections A and B, which form to use as the claim form and the procedure those claims will follow.Section A is for the High Court and applies if the claim is listed in table 1.

The claimant must use a Part 8 claim form where before 26 April 1999 the application is one which a statute or the former Rules of the Supreme Court (RSC) provided should be brought by originating summons.

The statutes include the Landlord and Tenant Acts, Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the Solicitors Act 1974 and the applications include a charging order, a mortgagee's or a landlord's summary application for possession of land.Section B applies if the claim is listed in table 2.

This table includes an additional list of applications to the High Court or to the county court under various statutes, the RSC or the County Court Rules (CCR) which before 26 April would have been brought in the High Court by originating motion and in the county court by originating application or petition.Recovery of landMortgagee and landlord's claims for the recovery of land in the county court may generally only be started in the defendant's court.

Claimants may continue to use the old claim form, which survives (see above).

The procedure is similar to the former county court fixed date summons.

The defendant is not required to serve an acknowledgement of service.

The court may on the hearing date dispose of the claim or allocate the claim to a track and give case management directions.

County court possession claims will now generally be listed in private with the result that oral evidence will not normally be taken.

To save slip-ups, endorse the claim form with a statement of truth or serve any separate statement of evidence at the same time as the claim form.

If a defence is filed to a claim for possession of land, the court will allocate the claim to a track and give case management directions on the hearing date.

In these circumstances, agree proposed directions and ask the district judge to dispense with an allocation questionnaire.Form N312, the originating application for summary possession of land survives as do the N5A and 5B for applications for possession (assured tenancies).

A statement of truth should support them.Form N397, the application for a new tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 survives.

Use the new N208 for applications for an exclusion under s.38 of the 1954 Act.

Endorse both forms with a statement of truth.

Expect new tenancy applications to be given a case management timetable.

Exclusion orders will almost invariably be determined without a hearing.Case management where there is a Part 20 defenceThe main claim and Part 20 claim must be managed together, if possible.

Part 20 PD rule 5.1 has been amended to exclude the requirement for the court to arrange a case management conference when a defence to a counterclaim is filed.Family and friendsPD 23 - general rules about applications PD.

The PD is amended to allow telephone hearings to be routed through any supplier.

It is suggested that the easiest way to set up a telephone appointment is to book it either for 10 am or 2 pm.

A date set by a judge for compliance with an order should make allowance for service of the order but not for delay while the court draws it up.

Where the parties were present when a procedural order was made, the Part 1 over-riding objective n ow means that the parties will be expected to comply with the order without waiting for the written order to arrive.Costs youPart 25 - Interim remedies PD.

Rule 25.11 now makes clear that if the claim is struck out for non-payment of court fees, an interim injunction will automatically cease, 14 days later.Part 26 - Case management - preliminary stage PD.

Paragraph 2.1 cross-refers to paragraph 4.5(1) of the costs PD that requires an estimate of the costs to be filed and served with the allocation questionnaire.

Expect district judges to enforce this provision.

Paragraph 4.4(4) now declares what happens when an admission reduces a disputed money claim but not a damages claim, to £5,000 or less.

The claimant may enter judgment for the amount admitted.

The claim will normally be allocated to the small claim track when the court will have discretion to allow pre-allocation costs.Part 29 - Multi-track PD - Paragraph 5.5(2) - now makes it clear that a party which obtains expert evidence does so at his own risk as to costs unless that evidence was obtained either in accordance with a direction or in compliance with a pre-action protocol.Part 36 rule 20 - Costs consequences of claimant failing to better a Part 36 offer.

A revision makes the original intention of the rule clear, if the claimant fails to beat his own Part 36 offer, he will not have to pay the defendant's costs.

It is a different matter if the defendant can show the claimant has exaggerated the claim (see Part 44 rule 3).Part 37 - Miscellaneous provisions about payments into court PD are new.

From 26 April, High Court District Registries will operate in the same way as county courts.

They will receive a payment in, retain it for 21 days and if it is not accepted, send to the Court Funds Office.