Civil Procedure Rules in the context of "Proportionality (law)"

A plaintiff (Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order (e.g., an order for damages). Plaintiff is the term used in civil cases in most English-speaking jurisdictions, the notable exceptions being England and Wales, where a plaintiff has, since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999, been known as a "claimant" and Scotland, where the party has always been known as the "pursuer". In criminal cases, the prosecutor brings the case against the defendant, but the key complaining party is often called the "complainant".

In some jurisdictions, a lawsuit is commenced by filing a summons, claim form or a complaint. These documents are known as pleadings, that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the defendant or defendants with a demand for relief. In other jurisdictions, the action is commenced by service of legal process by delivery of these documents on the defendant by a process server; they are only filed with the court subsequently with an affidavit from the process server that they had been given to the defendant according to the rules of civil procedure.

In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of one party's claims or defenses in response to another party's complaint(s) in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adjudicated in the action.

The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) govern pleading in England and Wales.

The rules of civil procedure in England and Wales that govern the conduct of litigation in the civil courts primarily stem from the Civil Procedure Rules adopted in 1999 as part of the Woolf Reforms, but also from the accompanying Practice Directions, other legislation and case law.

The rules that apply differ depending on the type of claim, but ultimately govern the entire cycle of a case before the courts, including the steps that must be undertaken before the claim is issued, service to the other parties, allocation of the case to the different tracks, adding or substituting parties to a claim, default judgment, summary judgment, striking out all or part of a claim, and disclosure of evidence. The rules also deal with how hearings are conducted both pre-trial and at trial, as well as the remedies (both interim and final) that the court can grant, how they are enforced or appealed, and the assessment of costs.

The Rules of the Supreme Court (RSC) were the rules which governed civil procedure in the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (since 2009 called the Senior Courts) from its formation in 1883 until 1999.

The RSC applied to all civil cases in the Supreme Court in England and Wales commenced after the merger of the courts of common law and equity in 1883 by the Judicature Acts until they were superseded by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) in 1999 on 26 April 1999. Civil proceedings in the county courts during this period were governed by the separate County Court Rules.

Pleading in England and Wales is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). These rules set a high priority on attempts to resolve all matters able to be resolved by the parties, prior to hearing (or trial).

The pleadings are contained in various Statements of Case - usually the Claim and any associated Particulars of Claim, the Defence, and an optional reply to the Defence. The Claim, Particulars of Claim, and Defence, are broadly equivalent to the Summons, Complaint and Answer filed in some other jurisdictions). The pleadings set out succinctly the claims made by each side, and their legal basis, and provide a basis to explore the issues in the case. They must specify the basic facts which are alleged, but need not evidence those facts or any extensive legal argument (these are addressed at later stages of the process). Some types of allegation must be expressly stated in the appropriate statement of case, if they will be alleged or relied upon at a later stage.