Chancery Division

Published April 14, 2008

National Westminster Bank plc v King

The High Court’s power of transfer under section 40(2) of the County Courts Act 1984 was not limited to cases which would otherwise be within a county court’s jurisdiction.

Mr Justice David Richards so held in the Chancery Division, on February 20, 2008, when transferring to the county court proceedings brought by the claimant, National Westminster Bank plc, to enforce a charging order over property of the defendant, Patrick King, by an order for sale where the amount owed exceeded the county court limit.

HIS LORDSHIP said that while the county courts had a broad, and often exclusive jurisdiction to make charging orders, their original jurisdiction to enforce them was restricted to cases where the relevant debt did not exceed £30,000.

Section 40(2) provided that subject to certain provisions “the High Court may order the transfer of any proceedings before it to a county court”. The only express qualification to the High Court's power of transfer in section 40(2) were the opening words. The language was otherwise clear and unambiguous.

If given its ordinary meaning, the provision was not constrained by the limits which would otherwise exist on a county court’s jurisdiction.

If, on consideration of the circumstances of an individual case, the High Court decided that it was suitable for determination by a county court, it was in keeping with the modern policy of assigning cases to the appropriate tier in the court system that it should transfer it, irrespective of the county court limit.

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