Date:

02/08/2001

PRACTICE NOTE No 117

CORPORATIONS LIST PRACTICE NOTE




The purpose of this practice note is to explain the operations of the Corporations List.

Proceedings and interlocutory applications that arise out of the Corporations Law or seek relief under that legislation (‘Corporations Law matters’) are usually dealt with in the Corporations List. Matters relating to other incorporated bodies such as co-operatives and incorporated associations may also be dealt with in this List.

Corporations Law matters to be dealt with by a judge may be made returnable before the Corporations List judge on any Monday during term. At the present time the judicial work of the Corporations List is shared principally by the judge in charge of the List along with a second judge designated for that purpose. They are assisted where necessary by the Equity Division judge assigned to the Probate List (also a Monday list) with further access to other judges in the Equity Division if need be.

A party who seeks an abridgment of service for originating or interlocutory process in a Corporations Law matter may approach the Corporations List judge directly on a Monday during court hours, without notice. The Equity Division duty judge is able to deal with Corporations Law matters at times between Mondays, with facility to place the matter for further direction in the Monday list.

The parties should expect that if a matter has been placed in the Corporations List for a particular Monday, the hearing will ordinarily proceed on the appointed day. They should prepare accordingly. Where this would assist the Corporations List judge, brief skeleton submissions should be sent in advance if practicable. Commercial circumstances



normally demand that Corporations Law matters be heard and resolved swiftly. While the demands of the List cannot be fully anticipated, experience shows that short Corporations Law matters (of up to two hours hearing time) can usually be dealt with on the appointed day.

Longer Corporations Law matters are ‘managed’ within the Corporations List in preparation for hearing. Depending on the subject matter and the degree of urgency involved, and the availability of judges, the matter may be set down before one of the usual Corporations List judges for hearing or before another judge of the Equity Division. Otherwise the matter may be allocated as appropriate to the Expedition List, the Duty List, the Short Matters List or the General List, drawing on the expertise of the whole Equity Division including judges from the Commercial List. The Court has video conferencing facilities for Corporations Law matters involving interstate or overseas elements.

Routine insolvency proceedings and applications are dealt with by the Registrar. Examinations under Part 5.9 of the Corporations Law are heard before a Deputy Registrar. Available dates are posted on the Supreme Court website (www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/sc).

Applications are listed before the Registrar each day, except Wednesday, at 11a.m. in the Registrar’s Corporations List. Orders sought include the winding up of corporations, the appointment of a receiver or provisional liquidator, the release of liquidator and dissolution of a corporation, and the determination of a liquidator’s remuneration. Final orders for winding up a corporation, setting aside a winding up order or reinstating a corporation are prepared by the Registry and are sent out in the DX later on the day of hearing.

At the commencement of the list the Registrar deals with referrals to the Corporations List judge, the duty judge or a Master. The Registrar may refer matters to the Corporations List judge for case management. Matters are referred by the Registrar to the Corporations List judge each Monday and on other days, except Wednesday, to the duty judge.

Certain short matters (such as applications to set aside statutory demands, where any cross-examination is generally curtailed) are usually referred to a Master. Referrals to the Master take place each day except Wednesday. The Master endeavours to determine the referrals on the day of referral. However, if the matter is estimated to take more than two days it is specially fixed for the earliest available date. Depending on the

Master’s workload, matters may be referred to the Corporations List judge on the following Monday.





The powers of the Master and the Registrar are to be found in Schedules D and E respectively to the Supreme Court Rules.






8 February 2001 Chief Justice

This Practice Note is available on the Supreme Court’s website: www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/sc