Rules on Chambers Applications Amended

By now most people involved in the family law justice system are aware that the new Supreme Court Family Rules which came into effect on 1 July 2010 have one particularly important flaw: the timelines for chambers application procedures in Rule 10-6 don't work. On 29 July 2010 an Order in Council was passed which ought to correct the timelines. Here are the key changes.

Calculation of Time: Time is now calculated as "business days," meaning days when the court is open for business. Weekends and statutory holidays are no longer counted.

Notice of Application: The length of this form is now capped at 10 pages. Changes are made to the text of the form to reflect the new timelines.

Time for Serving Notice of Application: Filed copies of the Notice of Application and new supporting affidavits must be served on the application respondent:

1. for interim applications, at least 8 business days before the date picked for the hearing;
2. for summary trials, at least 12 business days before the hearing date; and,
3. for applications to vary a final order, at least 21 business days before the hearing date.

Responding to an Application: The application respondent must now serve two copies of his or her Application Response and new affidavits on the applicant. A new subrule, (8.1), says that these materials must be filed in court and served on the applicant:

1. for interim applications, at least 5 business days after service of the Notice of Application;
2. for summary trials, at least 8 business days after service; and,
3. for applications to vary a final order, at least 14 business days after service.

This replaces the rule which allowed an application respondent to delay delivering his or her responding materials until two days before the hearing regardless of when they were available.

Responding to a Response: The applicant is required to file and serve copies of any new affidavits prepared in reply to the application respondent's materials by 4:00pm on the day that is one business day before the hearing date.

Application Records and Application Record Indices: The applicant is required to both file an Application Record in court and serve a copy of the index on the application respondent by 4:00pm on the day that is one business day before the hearing date.

These changes, including the change to the Notice of Application, have now been incorporated on my website into the chapters New Rules 101 and The Legal System > Interim Applications.