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19 October 2010
Issue: 7436 / Categories: Case law , Judicial line
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Automatic stays

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From when should an automatic stay run under CPR 26.4?

From when should an automatic stay run under CPR 26.4?

It may be several months from when the allocation questionnaires have been filed before they are judicially considered and it is often futile to run the stay from then.

The court must order a stay with a view to settlement negotiations where all the parties ask for one in their allocation questionnaires (as distinct from its general  power to order a stay for whatever period it considers appropriate, whether or not the parties ask for or agree to one).

What is no longer mandatory is the period of the CPR 26.4 (1) stay. More often than not, it will be for one month (particularly, because automatic stays are currently dealt with through orders made by court staff under the recently extended pilot scheme for staff to make certain orders – see PD51B) but the court has discretion to stay for a longer or shorter period.

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