9.2 There are three Lists, namely: (1) the Jury List
(2) the Non-Jury List, and (3) the Interim Hearings List. These Lists are described below.
9.3 The Jury List:
9.3.1 Claims for damages for fraud, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment will, upon proper application by the party entitled made in accordance with CPR 26.11(1), be tried by a Judge and jury unless the court orders trial by a Judge alone: see section 69(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981. The application must be made within 28 days of the service of the defence. By section 11 of the Defamation Act 2013 however (enacted on 25 April 2013 and brought into force on 1 January 2014) section 69(1) no longer applies to claims for libel or slander. Thus, in such cases, the action will be tried without a jury unless the court in its discretion orders it to be tried with a jury. Application for trial with a jury will thus have to be made for that purpose, and made in accordance with CPR 26.11(2) which requires the application to be made at the first case management conference.
9.3.2 Where a claim is being tried by a Judge and jury it is vitally important that the jury should not suffer hardship and inconvenience by having been misled by an incorrect time estimate. It is therefore essential that time estimates given to the court are accurate and realistic.
9.3.3 Dates for the trial of substantial claims will be fixed by the Listing Office within the trial window after consideration of the parties’ views.
9.3.4 Furthermore, in substantial claims likely to take more than 10 days to try, the Master will probably have directed a pre-trial review to be heard. The parties will thus be required to obtain
from the Listing Officer an appointment for such PTR on a suitable date to be fixed, and to be heard if practicable by the Judge allocated to conduct the trial.
9.3.5 Jury applications (i.e applications in jury actions other than the trial itself) will enter the Interim Warned List not less than two weeks from the date the application notice is filed. Parties may "offer" a date for hearing the application either within or outside the week for which they are warned. Subject to court availability, the application will be listed on the offered date. Any application not reached on the offered date will return to the current Warned List and will be taken from that List as and when required.
9.3.6 Applications in defamation claims in respect of "meaning" (see paragraph 8.2 above) may be listed for hearing on a specific day allocated for such matters.
9.3.7 Applications for directions and other applications in jury actions within the Master’s jurisdiction should firstly be made to a Master unless:
(1) a direction has been given for the arranging of a trial date or period, or (2) a date has been fixed or a period given for the trial.
Interim applications made after (1) or (2) above should (because they may have the effect of impacting on the trial date) be made to the Judge. In other circumstances the Master will use his or her discretion to refer a matter to the Judge if it is right to do so.
9.3.8 If a party believes that the Master is very likely to refer the application to the Judge, for example where there is a substantial application to strike out, the matter should first be referred to the Master or Practice Master on notice to the other parties without waiting for a private room appointment. The Master will then decide whether the application should be referred to the Judge.
9.4 The Non-Jury List:
9.4.1 This List consists of trials (other than Jury trials), preliminary questions or issues ordered to be tried (for example under CPR 3.1(2)(i)) and proceedings to commit for contempt of court.
9.4.2 The Royal Courts of Justice present unique problems in terms of fixing trial dates. The number of Judges involved and their geographical location has caused, for the time being at least, a different approach to the fixing of trials in the Chancery and Queen’s Bench Divisions.
9.4.3 The requirement of Judges in the Queen’s Bench Division to go on Circuit, sit in the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and to deal with cases in the Administrative Court and other lists makes it difficult to fix dates for trials before particular Judges. Accordingly the following will only apply to the Queen’s Bench Listing Office in the Royal Courts of Justice.
9.4.4 At as early an interim stage as practicable, the court will give directions identifying the trial window (see paragraph 9.1.1 above).
9.4.5 The Master will usually direct that the claimant do by a certain date obtain a listing appointment from the Listing Officer to fix a trial date or period within that window and give notice of the appointment to the other parties. The Master may also in appropriate cases give specific directions, for example that the trial do not begin earlier than a specific date to provide the parties enough time to complete any necessary preparation; or that the trial do if practicable begin within a specified short period.
9.4.6 Where directions are given as in 9.4.5 above the onus is on the claimant to obtain a listing appointment with the Listing Officer in accordance with the direction.
9.4.7 If the claimant fails to do so any other party may seek such appointment; or the Listing Officer himself may make the appointment and give notice of the appointment to all parties.
9.4.8 At the listing hearing the Listing Officer will take account, in so far as it is practicable to do so, of any difficulties the parties may have as to availability of counsel, experts and witnesses. He will, nevertheless, try to ensure the speedy disposal of the trial by arranging a firm trial date or period as soon as possible within the trial window or, as the case may be, after the "not before" date directed by the court under paragraph 9.4.5 above. If exceptionally it appears to the Listing Officer at the listing hearing that a trial date cannot be provided within a trial window, he may fix the trial date outside the trial period at the first available date. If a case summary has been prepared (see the Part 29 Practice Direction paragraphs 5.6 and 5.7) the claimant must produce a copy at the listing hearing together with a copy of particulars of claim and any orders relevant to the fixing of the trial date. 9.4.9 The Listing Officer will notify the Masters’ Support Unit of any trial date or trial period given. In accordance with rule 29.2(3) notice will also be given to all the parties.
9.4.10 A party who wishes to appeal a date or period allocated by the Listing Officer must, within 7 days of the notification, make an application to the Judge nominated to hear such applications. The application notice should be filed in the Listing Office and served, giving one day’s notice, on the other parties.