15 November 2010

Changes to Supreme Court Chambers Practice

Changes continue to be made to the rules governing chambers practice in the Supreme Court. The most recent are set out in a civil Practice Direction (PDF), PD 28, and an Administrative Notice (PDF), AN 7. Both apply to family law matters.

PD 28 says this:
  • Supply an extra copy of the Notice of Application (or Petition) with the Application Record, marked to show which orders will be spoken to at the hearing.
  • Application Records will be accepted for filing between 9:00am three business days before the hearing and 4:00pm on the day that is one business day before the hearing. Application Records that are filed after 4:00pm will not be placed on the hearing list.
  • Applications can be adjourned by filing a Requisition (Form F17) at any time before 9:00am on the day of the hearing. If you can't file the Requisition by the deadline, you'll have to show up in court and ask the judge or master for the adjournment.
  • Applications that have been adjourned can be set for hearing again by filing a Requisition two business days before the new hearing date. The Requisition must: state the new date, time and place of hearing; briefly describe the nature of the application; give a time estimate; and, state whether the application is within the jurisdiction of a master.
The other civil practice directions which apply to family law matters are set out on the Supreme Court's website with the table of family law practice directions.

AN 7 says this:
  • All briefs, records and submissions that are filed in a bound format must have a cover page.
  • The cover page must: give the style of cause, including the court file number and registry; describe the nature of the material (ie: "Rule 11-3 Summary Trial Application" or "Claimant's Argument"); give the contact address and telephone number for the parties or their lawyers; state the time, date and place of the appearance for which the materials are filed; state the name of the party or lawyer filing the materials; and, where the materials relate to a hearing, give a time estimate for the hearing.
In case that was confusing, AN 7 has a helpful example of an approved cover page. I have posted a template of the form in the Resources & Links > The Courts chapter of my website (scroll down to the "Downloads" segment).

For more information on the new Supreme Court Family Rules, click on the "court rules" label below.