CPR 2.8 tells you how to count a period stated in days. The length of the period and the date from which it runs come from the relevant rule, practice direction, judgment or order.
The calculation therefore starts with the source of the deadline. Identify the required number of days and the legally effective trigger or event date. CPR 2.8 then supplies the counting rules:
| Provision | What it changes |
|---|---|
| CPR 2.8(2)–(3) | The first day is excluded. The event day is also excluded when the period is defined by reference to an event. |
| CPR 2.8(4) | For a period of five days or less, Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday are excluded. |
| CPR 2.8(5) | If the last day for an act at the court office falls when the office is closed, the act is in time on the next day the office is open. |
CPR 2.8 does not apply to every deadline connected with a court case. CPR 2.1 sets out the scope of the Civil Procedure Rules. Different rules apply in Scotland, Northern Ireland, family proceedings and some specialist regimes. The Scottish court-holiday guide, for example, deals with SCTS closure dates.
Start with the effective trigger or event date
A period may run from service of a document, the date of an order or another specified event. Use the date recognised by the governing provision, which may not be the date on which someone sent or received a document.
For service, CPR Part 6 contains the relevant rules. CPR 6.14 covers deemed service of a claim form. CPR 6.26 provides a method-specific table for other documents. Another Part, practice direction or order may make different provision.
Establish the effective service date before applying CPR 2.8. An email timestamp, postal receipt or filing-system record may help establish what happened, but it does not replace the applicable service rule.
If an order states the deadline as a calendar date and time, use that stated deadline. CPR 2.9 asks courts to include those details where practicable.
Which days are clear days?
The first day of a period is excluded. Whether the date at the other end is also excluded depends on how the period is expressed.
| Type of period | First boundary | Other boundary |
|---|---|---|
| A number of clear days before an event | Excluded | The event day is excluded |
| A number of days after a trigger, with an act due on the final day | Excluded | The final day is included, subject to the court-office rule |
For notice before a hearing, the hearing date is excluded because it is the event used to define the period. By contrast, the example in CPR 2.8 of particulars of claim due within 14 days after service excludes the service date but includes the day on which compliance is due. Service on 2 October produces a deadline of 16 October.
The calculator reflects this distinction through two workflows in Court Rules mode. Notice counts backwards from an event and excludes both boundaries. Filing counts forwards from a trigger, excludes the trigger date and includes the final day. Select the workflow that matches the wording of the rule, direction or order.
When weekends and holidays are excluded
CPR 2.8(4) applies only when the specified period is five days or less. For those short periods, do not count Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day or Good Friday.
| Period stated in the rule or order | Treatment of the listed days |
|---|---|
| 5 days | Excluded from the count |
| 6 days | Included in the count |
The six-day period in the table is not a working-day period. Weekends and bank holidays within it remain part of the count unless another applicable rule says otherwise.
A substitute weekday shown on the England and Wales bank-holiday calendar is a bank holiday. An ordinary weekday between Christmas and New Year is not excluded under CPR 2.8(4) merely because an office chooses to close.
What if the court office is closed on the last day?
CPR 2.8(5) applies when an act must be done at the court office and the period ends on a day when that office is closed. The act is in time if it is completed on the next day the court office is open.
This rule changes the final day. It does not remove every weekend or closure date from a period longer than five days. In the calculator, use the Filing workflow only after confirming that the act and court office fall within the rule.
Example: three clear days before a hearing
Assume that a provision requires at least three clear days' notice before a hearing on Tuesday 4 August 2026. The question is the latest date on which service can legally take effect.
| Date | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 4 August | Hearing date: excluded |
| Monday 3 August | Clear day 3 |
| Sunday 2 August | Excluded because the specified period is no more than five days |
| Saturday 1 August | Excluded for the same reason |
| Friday 31 July | Clear day 2 |
| Thursday 30 July | Clear day 1 |
| Wednesday 29 July | Service boundary: excluded |
The latest effective service date is Wednesday 29 July 2026. Thursday, Friday and Monday are the three clear days between service and the hearing.
Enter the example as follows:
| Setting | Selection |
|---|---|
| Mode | Court Rules |
| Jurisdiction | England and Wales |
| Workflow | Notice |
| Event date | 4 August 2026 |
| Number of days before event | 3 |
Open the three-clear-day example in the calculator.
The result is the latest date on which service may take legal effect under the assumptions entered. If service is by post, email or another method, apply the relevant service rule to work out when service takes effect. Also confirm that three days is the correct notice period for the document and hearing in question.
Sources
- CPR Part 2, rules 2.1 and 2.8–2.10 — scope, clear days, the short-period rule, court-office rollover and the calendar-date requirement; checked 26 July 2026
- CPR Part 6, the service and deemed-service provisions that supply the trigger date
- GOV.UK bank holidays for England and Wales, current and substitute dates
