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Knowledge · Due Process · Legal Defence · Self-Help Tools

Know Your Rights.
Defend Yourself.

This page does not provide legal advice and The CMS Files does not act as your representative. What it provides is the knowledge, the statutes, the case law, and the tools to defend yourself. The instruments used against you are confirmed void by the government's own written admission. Use that.

The AdmissionDocument CheckYour Rights Defence StepsThe ProcessFAQWhere to Go
The Government's Own Written Admission

"This is the only document that constitutes the order."

DWP Central FOI Team — FOI2026/50177 — 25 June 2026. The CMEL7298 liability order template is a CMS administrative document, not a court order. GLD confirmed in High Court proceedings (Z2500859 para 8) that CMS served the summons — not the court. CMS officials stated on recorded call: "There are no court orders — they're memorandums." These are primary source admissions. They are your starting point for any legal defence.

Investigation

Why Aren't We Talking About This? — Child Maintenance Enforcement

Step 1 — Check Your Documents

Does Your Liability Order
Meet Legal Requirements?

A genuine court-issued summons and liability order under s.33 MCA 1980 must have all of these. Work through this checklist against your actual documents.

Your Summons Must Have:

  • A court seal — embossed or printed, identifying the court
  • A court case reference number — not a CMS SCIN reference
  • The summons issued from the court address — not Plymouth or Wolverhampton
  • A single named signatory — a justice of the peace identified by name
  • Issued on court paper — no CMS letterhead or DWP branding as primary identity

Your Liability Order Must Have:

  • A court seal
  • A court case reference number
  • The name and signature of the district judge or magistrate who made it
  • A record of the hearing at which it was made — date, court, judicial officer
  • An entry on the court's own file — verifiable via HMCTS request

If your documents fail these checks — download the void instrument challenge letter from the Downloads page. Request HMCTS confirm whether a court order exists on file. This is your right. No lawyer required.

Your Legal Rights — Sourced to Primary Authority

What the Law
Guarantees You

Valid Summons — s.51 MCA 1980

s.51 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980: A summons may be issued by a justice of the peace on behalf of a judicial authority. A summons not so issued is void.

Hill [1983] 1 AC 328 (HL): A summons not issued by the court has no legal effect. It is a nullity — void ab initio, not merely voidable. No subsequent proceedings on a void summons can be lawful.

In your case: DWP confirmed in FOI2026/50177 the summons is a CMS administrative template. GLD confirmed CMS served it, not the court. On Hill, that summons is void. Every order built on it is void.

Independent Tribunal — Article 6 ECHR

Article 6(1) ECHR: "Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law" in the determination of civil rights and obligations.

Tsfayo v UK [2006] ECHR 981: Where a primary decision-maker has a direct financial interest in the outcome, the Article 6 violation is not cured by a later judicial review that cannot rehear the facts.

In your case: CMS calculates your debt, applies for your order, and receives the 20% surcharge on every payment collected. It is simultaneously creditor, enforcement authority, and the body that assessed whether you owe anything. That is not an impartial tribunal.

What You CAN and CANNOT Challenge

s.33(4) CSA 1991 (absolute bar): "The court shall not question the maintenance calculation" at enforcement stage. Confirmed absolute by Lord Nicholls in Farley v CSA [2006] UKHL 31.

NOT barred by s.33(4): jurisdictional challenges (was the summons valid?), procedural challenges (was Article 6 complied with?), instrument challenges (is this a genuine court order?).

Your strategy: You likely cannot win by arguing the debt amount is wrong at enforcement stage. You can win by arguing the court never had jurisdiction to make the order — because the summons was void, and the process violated Article 6.

Natural Justice — To Be Heard

Audi alteram partem — hear the other side. A constitutional principle since Magna Carta 1215, Chapter 40: "To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice."

Unison v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51: Denial of effective access to courts is unconstitutional regardless of statutory basis.

In your case: Bulk listing of 48 simultaneous cases denies individual judicial consideration. If your hearing was on a bulk list — raise this explicitly. You are entitled to have your case individually heard. If you were not given that, the order can be challenged.

False Imprisonment — If Committed

Christie v Leachinsky [1947] AC 573: A person detained without lawful authority has an immediate right of release. The lawful authority must exist and be communicated at the time of detention.

If you have been imprisoned: If your committal was under a void liability order, you may have been falsely imprisoned. This is a civil damages claim AND a criminal referral route (Forgery Act 1981 / false imprisonment). Seek independent legal advice. C.J. was imprisoned 42 days under LO 821013797101 — debt confirmed paid, no valid order on court file.

Property — Article 1 Protocol 1 ECHR

A1P1 ECHR: "Every person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law."

In your case: Wage seizure (DEO), home charging orders, bank freezes — all constitute deprivations of possessions. Where the underlying instrument is void, the deprivation has no lawful basis under A1P1. This feeds directly into N244 set-aside applications and judicial review grounds.

Legal Defence — Eight Steps You Can Take Yourself

How to Mount a Legal
Defence — Without a Lawyer

All templates referenced here are on the Downloads page. Every step can be taken by a litigant in person. Use them as your starting point — then seek independent legal advice where you can.

1

Subject Access Request to CMS

Get all data, all calculations, all correspondence, all enforcement documents. 30 days. Baseline everything.

UK GDPR Article 15 · DPA 2018 s.45 · Template: Downloads page
2

Request Court File from HMCTS

Write to the court named on your summons. Ask: does a liability order in my name exist on the court file, bearing the court seal and an identified judicial officer? If HMCTS says no — that is your primary evidence.

HMCTS court records · HMCTS officer Veer confirmed "no order on court file" in the Nicholson case · Template: Downloads page
3

Send Formal Void Instrument Challenge to CMS

Identify the specific defects. Cite FOI2026/50177. Demand CMS suspend enforcement and produce a valid court order within 14 days. Send recorded delivery. If CMS continues enforcement after this letter, that continuation is documented as knowing continuation of enforcement on a challenged instrument.

s.51 MCA 1980 · Hill [1983] · FOI2026/50177 · Template: Downloads page
4

Write to Your MP — Parliamentary Questions

Use the MP letter template. Ask your MP to submit parliamentary written questions to Baroness Sherlock and refer to the Work and Pensions Committee. MPs have parliamentary privilege. Copy Callum Anderson MP and Debbie Abrahams MP directly.

Parliamentary privilege · Template: Downloads page
5

File N244 to Set Aside — County Court

If a county court order exists (charging order, committal), file Form N244 to set it aside. Grounds: underlying LO void (Hill, jurisdictional nullity) + Article 6 violated (Tsfayo, bulk listing). Fee remission available on low income via HWF application. No solicitor required for the N244 itself.

CPR Part 23 · Form N244 · HWF fee remission · Hill [1983] · Tsfayo [2006]
6

Report to Action Fraud

Report your summons as a potential false instrument at actionfraud.police.uk. Reference National Crime Agency referral. Get a crime reference number. This creates a formal police record of your complaint and links it to the wider investigation.

Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 ss.1, 3 · actionfraud.police.uk · NCA Referral Pending
7

Challenge Land Registry / RTL Registration

If a charge is on your home or your credit file shows a CMS liability order entry — challenge via Form CT1 (Land Registry) and the RTL challenge letter. Basis: the underlying instrument is a CMS administrative template confirmed by DWP's own FOI team. Templates on Downloads page.

Land Registration Act 2002 · Registry Trust Ltd · RTL and CT1 templates: Downloads page
8

Upload Your Evidence to the Portal

The evidence portal allows you to securely upload your documents. Your evidence contributes to the collective intelligence base submitted to the SFO, HMCTS, Parliament, and the courts. You retain control. Submissions can be anonymous.

Evidence Portal →
The CMS Process — Each Step and Where It Fails

What CMS Actually Does —
and Where Each Step Fails

STEP 1
CMS Issues "Summons" from Plymouth/Wolverhampton

FAILS: Not issued by a JP. Void — s.51 MCA 1980, Hill [1983].

STEP 2
HMCTS Provides Room Booking — Not Judicial Process

FAILS: 48 simultaneous cases. No individual judicial attention. Article 6 violated.

STEP 3
DJ Processes Uncontested List

FAILS: s.33(4) bars debt examination. Judicial satisfaction becomes administrative rubber-stamp.

STEP 4
CMS Template Served as "Liability Order"

FAILS: DWP admits (FOI2026/50177) it is "the only document that constitutes the order" — a CMS template.

STEP 5
Enforcement: DEO / Charging Order / Arrest

FAILS: All enforcement based on void underlying instruments. False imprisonment risk.

STEP 6
RTL / Land Registry / Credit Registration

FAILS: Registration of administrative template as court judgment. Challengeable at each registration point.

The 2023 Act: Parliament tried to legislate for what CMS was already doing unlawfully. The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 (ss.32M/32N) has never been commenced — and cannot lawfully be commenced in its current form. Read the full 2023 Act analysis →

Frequently Asked Questions — Know the Law

Common Questions,
Legal Answers

These answers are based on primary sources documented in this investigation. They are informational — not legal advice. Consult a solicitor for your specific situation.

What is the s.51 MCA 1980 jurisdictional argument and how do I use it? ▼
Section 51 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 requires that a summons for a magistrates' court hearing be issued by a justice of the peace. The House of Lords in R v Manchester Stipendiary Magistrate ex parte Hill [1983] 1 AC 328 confirmed that a summons not issued by a JP is void — a nullity. Because the summons is void, the court never acquired jurisdiction to hear the case, and the liability order made at that hearing is also void. This is called a "jurisdictional nullity" argument — it goes not to the merits but to the court's fundamental power to act. It can be raised at any stage, including on an N244 application to set aside an existing order. DWP's own FOI admission (FOI2026/50177) confirms CMS issues summonses from Plymouth and Wolverhampton — not from courts.
Can CMS imprison me for a debt? ▼
CMS can apply for a committal order — and courts have made them. Whether they lawfully can, where the underlying liability order is void, is the core question in AC-2025-LON-001412. If you receive notice of a committal hearing, attend it. Raise the jurisdictional nullity argument (s.51 / Hill [1983]) in writing before the hearing and in person at it. If you cannot get legal representation, request an adjournment to obtain it. If a committal order is made despite your objection, it can be challenged by way of appeal (N161) or by habeas corpus application where there is fresh evidence of the void instrument.
Can I challenge the debt amount? ▼
Not at the enforcement (liability order) hearing — s.33(4) CSA 1991 absolutely bars the court from examining the calculation, as confirmed by the House of Lords in Farley v CSA [2006] UKHL 31. You can challenge the calculation by: (1) mandatory reconsideration by CMS (must be requested within one month of the decision); (2) First-tier Tribunal appeal against the calculation; (3) variation application under s.28E CSA 1991 if your circumstances have changed. These are separate routes from the enforcement challenge. You can pursue both simultaneously.
What is the 2023 Act and why does it not help CMS's position? ▼
The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 was Parliament's attempt to create a lawful administrative liability order regime — allowing CMS to issue LOs without going to court. It has never been commenced. The existence of the 2023 Act actually confirms that what CMS has been doing is unlawful — Parliament had to pass a new law to authorise it, which means the old process had no authority. The 2023 Act is also itself unworkable in its current form: it cannot be commenced without appeal regulations (which haven't been made), it replicates the same Article 6 problems, and the Secretary of State's financial interest (the 20% surcharge) means it fails the Tsfayo impartiality test. See the full analysis on the Legal Case page.
Can CMS send enforcement agents to my home? ▼
CMS instructs Equita and Marston Holdings as enforcement agents. Enforcement agents can only take control of goods under a valid writ or warrant under Schedule 12, Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. If the underlying liability order is void — as DWP has admitted — the enforcement agent has no valid warrant. At your door, ask them to produce: (1) their authorisation document; (2) the liability order they are enforcing; (3) their Schedule 12 compliance certificate. Note their name and badge number. Do not physically obstruct them, but you are not obliged to let them in without valid authority. If they cannot produce the underlying court order — document that fact in writing immediately after they leave.
Can I go to court without a lawyer? ▼
Yes. You can represent yourself as a litigant in person in any civil court. You can also have a McKenzie Friend (non-legally qualified supporter) in court who can take notes and quietly assist but cannot usually speak for you. Fee remission (HWF applications) is available on low income for most court fees.
Where to Take Your Case — Self-Referral

Independent Routes —
No Permission Needed

Action Fraud

actionfraud.police.uk — Report your summons as a potential false instrument. Ref NCA Referral Pending. You receive a crime reference number.

SFO

sfo.gov.uk/report-fraud — Online referral. Link to NCA Referral. Cover false instruments, proceeds of crime, TCS BaNCS stolen IP. Template on Downloads page.

WhatDoTheyKnow — FOI

whatdotheyknow.com — Public FOI platform. Submit to DWP and HMCTS. Your requests and responses become publicly visible. Use the FOI templates from Downloads page.

JCIO — Judicial Conduct

judicialconduct.judiciary.gov.uk — If your hearing was bulk-listed or you were denied opportunity to raise a preliminary objection — online complaint form available.

ICO

ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint — If CMS has not responded to your SAR within 30 days, or has unlawfully withheld data. Free. No lawyer needed. ICO can compel disclosure.

Your MP

parliament.uk/find-your-mp — Write using the MP template. Ask for W&P Committee referral and parliamentary written questions to Baroness Sherlock.

Every template you need is pre-drafted, legally referenced, and free to download. The law is on your side. Use it.

Download All Templates Upload Your Evidence →
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