Application notice
Disputes & Litigation

Application notices are usually filed and served during the course of litigation to seek action on the part of the court, in the form of a court order. Unless the parties are able to agree to the terms of a “consent order”, the Application Notice will prompt the court to list the application for a hearing. They may, in appropriate circumstances, be filed prior to the commencement of proceedings.

Applications must specify the orders that are to be sought at the hearing of the application and the reasons why orders are sought. They must be supported by evidence, and should have a draft form of order sought annexed to it at the time of filing. In the ordinary course of events, an application must be served with the evidence in support 3 clear days before the return date. Service may be abridged in cases of exceptional urgency.

The person issuing the application is known as the applicant, and the person against whom orders are sought is the respondent. It must be served with the supporting evidence as soon as practicable after it is filed, and at least 3 days before the return date.

On the return date, the court may give directions for the filing of evidence in support of or opposing the application. The court may also give directions for the filing of evidence in relation to any hearing that it fixes on its own initiative. If the parties are ready to have the matter heard on the return date, the application is referred to as being “effective”, in that the parties are ready to proceed to have the matter heard in an inter partes hearing.

At this hearing of the application, the court will refuse to deal with any matter not sought to be dealt with by a party in the application notice, except in exceptional urgency, where the parties consent, where the overriding objective is furthered in doing so, the court gives permission, or a practice direction allows.

The parties are free to agree terms of an order prior to a hearing, if consensus is able to be reached. Also, a person who has been served and does not appear at the hearing may have the dispute which is the subject of the application decided in his absence.

In order to progress legal proceedings before a court, unless terms of orders are agreed by the parties, an application notice must be filed and served. Therefore, any matter to be dealt with by the court must be initiated by an application notice. To give a flavour for the matters that are dealt with by court after instigation of an application in UK litigation the following matters are obtained by application notice:

1. case management directions (otherwise known as “directions”);
2. permission to serve process outside the jurisdiction
3. stays and dismissal of proceedings;
4. enforcement of a judgment;
5. payment of money into or out of court;
6. costs orders
7. summary judgment;
8. pre-action disclosure;
9. specific disclosure;
10. charging orders;
11. freezing orders;
12. search orders.

This is by means a complete list of matters that require an application notice to move the court.

Special rules may for particular types of applications, for instance those made under The Family Law Reform Act 1969 and the National Debt Act 1870.

Special Circumstances

Where proceedings have not been commenced, an application must be brought in the court that the claim would most likely be commenced. Once filed, the application must be served on the parties against whom orders are sought.

Applications may be filed and heard by the court without notice in exceptional circumstances, such as orders for interim relief, such as freezing orders, search orders, or urgent orders to prevent the destruction of property.