On 1 October 2024, the latest amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules will come into force. The full text of the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2024 is available here.

The main change of interest to Expert Witnesses is the amendment to the overriding objective (Part 1), with additional amendments to Parts 3, 28 and 44, to promote the use of alternative dispute resolution. This amendment follows a consultation by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee to implement the Court of Appeal's Decision in Churchill v. Merthyr Tydfil CBC [2023] EWCA Civ 1416. 

Dealing with a case justly and at proportionate cost will include "promoting or using alternative dispute resolution", and active case management will include ordering (in addition to the existing encouraging) the parties to use, and facilitating the use of, alternative dispute resolution.