Changes to Practice and Procedure
Update to Supreme Court Practice Note SC Gen 7 (11/07/08)
This Practice Note was issued on 9 July 2008 and commenced on 1 August 2008
The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out a protocol for the use of technology in courtrooms and jury deliberation rooms and, in relation to civil litigation, to:
- encourage the use of information technology as a means of improving the efficiency of litigation in general;
- emphasise the court’s power to require the use of technology in particular cases or circumstances in order to provide such efficiencies;
- offer guidelines on the matters parties should to take into account in deciding how to make use of technology; and
- offer examples and suggested standards to assist parties in agreeing upon the extent and manner in which they will use technology to exchange information.
Update to Supreme Court Practice Note SC CA 1 (8/04/08)
Practice Note SC CA 1 (Court of Appeal) was reissued on 7 April 2008 and commences on Monday, 14 April 2008.
This Practice Note replaces the previous version of SC CA 1 issued on 17 August 2005. It involves an extensive re-write of the previous Practice Note, highlights the material to be included in appeal forms, and accommodates the provisions of Part 51 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 which replace Part 51 of the Supreme Court Rules 1970.
Update to Supreme Court Practice Note SC CL 7 (18/03/07)
Practice Note SC CL 7 (Professional Negligence List) was reissued on 17 March 2008 and commences on Monday, 31 March 2008.
The object of the revised Practice Note is to align the existing Professional Negligence List Practice Note, so far as practicable, with the current SC CL 5 -General Case Management Practice Note.
The revised Practice Note emphasises more active case management by a Common Law Registrar or Judge; the application of provisions aimed at reducing the time and expense associated with the taking of expert evidence [32-35], mediation [23-24],and the availability of telephone and on-line directions hearings [13-15]. It does not require the provision of a document similar to that specified in the GCM Practice Note.
Updates to Supreme Court Practice Note SC CL 6 (06/11/07)
Practice Note SC CL 6 – Possession List has been reissued and commences 2 November 2007.
This Practice Note applies to proceedings in, or to be entered in, the Possession List. The purpose of this Practice Note is to explain the operation of the List which is provided for by UCPR Rule 45.4.
This Practice Note replaces the previous version of SC CL 6 issued on 17 August 2005.
The revised Practice Note contains amendments, 9 new paragraphs and 2 new annexures, as set out below:
Short form of statement of claim
Para. 6 provides for a short form of statement of claim in the case of a claim for possession, or possession and debt, against a defendant who is a borrower/mortgagor. It is open to a plaintiff to commence proceedings by filing a short statement of claim in accordance with Annexure 1 of the Practice Note. Its purpose is to provide a simplified form of pleading to facilitate an understanding by the defendant as to the nature of the claim and its consequences. The short form is not a prescribed form and is not compulsory (para. 7) The cover sheet (para. 8) is at Annexure 2.
Call-Up of delayed defended matters
Para. 22. There will be a quarterly call-up before the Possession List Judge of defended matters in which there is no listing for final hearing or referral for mediation and in matters where 9 months have elapsed since filing of defence/cross-claim. Parties will explain to the Court why the matter has not been listed for final hearing and what measures are being taken to progress the matter.
Applications
Matter at paragraphs 20-25 of the superseded Practice Note now commences at new para. 24 and continues to para. 34.
Para. 24 Non-urgent applications for stay - arise where no time has been fixed for the Sheriff to take possession
Paras 25-28 Urgent applications for stay - arise where a time has been fixed for the Sheriff to take possession
Paras 29-34 Stay applications generally - apart from the circumstances listed in para. 29 (a)-(c), it is expected that all stay applications in the Possession List will be considered and determined by the Registrar, Common Law Case Management or a Duty Registrar.
Annexure 1 Supreme Court Short Form of Statement of Claim for Possession [and Debt] against Borrower/Mortgagor
Annexure 2 Cover Sheet to Statement of Claim
New delegations under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (04/10/07)
On 4 October 2007, the Chief Justice amended the functions delegated to registrars and chief clerks under the Civil Procedure Act 2005. The new delegations can be accessed through the Delegation of Court Functions link on the Practice and Procedure page.
New sort order for Supreme Court Practice Notes (24/07/07)
Practice Notes on the Supreme Court web site are now sorted into the following categories:
Archived
Common Law
Court of Appeal
Court of Criminal Appeal
Equity Division
General Division
The Archived category contains Practice Notes that have been Repealed or Replaced. All other categories contain Practice Notes that are currently in effect.
To view the Practice Notes, please click on the blue arrow to the left of each category and subcategory.
Practice Notes are sorted in numerical order within each subcategory.
Amendments to Practice Note SC Eq 3 (30 Jul 2007)
Practice Note SC Eq 3 (Supreme Court Equity Division - Commercial List and Technology and Construction List) has been reissued and commences on 30 July 2007.
This Practice Note applies to new and existing proceedings in, or to be entered in, the Commercial List or the Technology and Construction List in the Equity Division and provides for new procedures relating to electronic discovery and electronic Court Books.
Commencing at new paragraph 27 and continuing to paragraph 32, the revised Discovery procedure is outlined. It provides that discovery is to be made electronically, with practitioners advising their opponents to meet to agree on matters such as format, protocol, type and extent of stored information, whether such electronic information is to be discovered on an agreed "without prejudice" basis, and whether there is the need to categorise documents into privileged and non-privileged information.
At any hearing relating to discovery, the Court expects practitioners to have ascertained the probable extent of discoverable documents, to have conferred, given notice of any problem, conferred regarding collection, retention and electronic storing, including cost of access, software issues, electronic formatting, whether documents need to be discovered in hard copy form, and measures for protection of privileged documents.
The Court also expects practitioners to consider preparing a Joint Memorandum signed by senior practitioners who attended the discovery meeting identifying areas of agreement, disagreement, and best estimates as to the cost of discovery.
Commencing at new paragraph 35 and continuing to paragraph 39, the revised Evidence procedure is outlined. "Documents" has the same meaning as in the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW).
The former practice of annexing or exhibiting documents to affidavits or statements will only be permitted in interlocutory applications and otherwise with the leave of the Court. In the preparation of evidence to be relied upon at trial any documents referred to in any statement or affidavit are to be placed into the Proposed Court Book in chronological order. Subject to a Court order or unless otherwise agreed, the Proposed Court Book is to be established in electronic form. See ANNEXURE 3 paragraphs 7 - 13.
The manner in which the electronic form of Court Book is to be established including where it is to be established, which parties will manage it, and its format, should be recorded in Short Minutes of Order for preparation of the evidence in the proceedings. The Electronic Court Book is to be produced at trial. A hard copy of only the parts in dispute is to be produced at the trial.
Amendments to Practice Notes SC CL 3 (16 July 2007)
The Chief Justice, J J Spigelman AC, has re-issued Supreme Court Practice Note SC CL 3 - Administrative Law List. This Practice Note replaces SC CL 3 issued on 9 July 2007.
An alteration to paragraph 25 of the Practice Note was made to clarify the procedure whereby matters ready for a final hearing are allocated dates by the Common Law Case Management Registrar. The change commences from 16 July 2007.
Amendments to Practice Notes SC CL 3 (9 July 2007)
Practice Note (PN) SC CL 3 - Administrative Law List was reissued on 9 July 2007. It explains the operation of the List which is provided for by Part 14D of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules r 45.3. The changes commence from 9 July 2007.
Amendments to Practice Notes SC Gen 12 (8 February 2007)
Practice Note (PN) SC Gen 12 - online court Protocol was reissued on 8 February 2007. The changes are to commence from the same day.
Amendments to Practice Notes SC Eq 3 and SC Gen 7 (29 August 2006)
Practice Note (PN) SC Eq 3 - Commercial List and Technology and Construction List and PN SC Gen 7 – Use of technology were recently amended with the changes to commence from Friday, 1 September 2006. A copy of the amended Practice Notes are available from the Practice and Procedure page on the Supreme Court web site (http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/sc).
New Practice Notes: SC Gen 13 and SC Gen 14 (14 June 2006)
SC Gen 13 - Search Orders (also known as ‘Anton Piller Orders’) and SC Gen 14 - Freezing Orders (also known as 'Mareva orders' or 'asset preservation orders’) are two new Practice Notes that commenced on 14 June 2006.
SC Gen 13 supplements Division 3 of Part 25 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (UCPR) relating to search orders.
SC Gen 14 supplements Division 2 of Part 25 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (UCPR) relating to freezing orders.
The Practice Notes addresses (among other things) the Court’s usual practice relating to the making of search and freezing orders and the usual terms of such orders and applies to the Court of Appeal and to the Common Law and the Equity Divisions of the Supreme Court.
Court of Appeal Mediation Pilot Scheme (14 November 2005)
Some funds have been made available by the Attorney General’s Department to subsidise the cost of mediations in the Court of Appeal. The funds available are limited and are to be expended before 15 June 2006. The Registrar of the Court of Appeal will, at Directions Hearings, choose cases which he regards as suitable and offer the parties the opportunity to participate in the Mediation Pilot Scheme.
Uniform Civil Forms Update (17 October 2005)
Various forms have been prescribed under the Supreme Court Rules for use in the Court. Where a form has been prescribed under the Uniform Rules, the form prescribed under the Uniform Rules takes precedence.
Where a form is not prescribed under the Uniform Rules, the Supreme Court forms should be adapted to accord with the format of documents under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (UCPR).
Forms used in the Common Law Division and the Equity Division (except for Probate) should be adapted in accordance with the UCPR and will be required in that format from 15 October 2005.
There are no changes to the forms used in the Corporations List.
Forms in Probate List may be adapted to the UCPR format.
Forms in the Court of Appeal may be adapted to the UCPR format.
There are no changes to forms in the Court of Criminal Appeal or in the Criminal List of the Common Law Division.
You can access the uniform civil forms and forms prescribed under the Supreme Court Rules here.
Uniform Civil Procedures Bill Update
The Civil Procedure Bill was introduced into Parliament on 6 April 2005. A copy of the Bill can be viewed on the NSW Parliament website.
Draft new forms have been prepared for use in civil proceedings in the Supreme, District and Local Courts. These forms have been prepared in consultation with members of the Legal Precedents Network. The new forms are being progressively made available on the Civil Forms page.
The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules project, commenced in early 2003, will bring about long overdue and welcome changes to NSW’s civil procedures process with the outcomes having far reaching benefits for the judiciary, the legal profession, court users, staff and court processes. One of the greatest benefits will be the introduction of common rules and procedures in civil proceedings in the Supreme, District and Local Courts.
To find out more about the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules Project, visit the Lawlink UCPR site.
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