A new Commercial Court Practice Direction (HC113) was introduced on 14 April 2022, which supplements Practice Direction HC93 of July 2020. Practice Direction HC113 addresses the format of electronic books of papers and the manner in which they should be transmitted to the court.
Practice Direction HC113 confirms that hard copy books should continue to be filed with the Central Office in the ordinary way and should be lodged in the List Room no later than 4.30pm on the Wednesday of the week preceding the motion or trial. The same time limits also apply for the submission of electronic books.
Means of submission of Electronic Court Books
Electronic books must be delivered by e-mail to the Registrar and should be prepared in pdf. format with hyperlinks from the index of each book to each document contained in the book. The electronic books should follow the form of the hard copy books and the pagination should be identical.
When using a file-share, the documents should be downloadable from a link in the e-mail which should have no security measures in place to allow for the link to be forwarded to the relevant Judge to access the link if required.
Format of the Electronic Court Books for a Motion
The following core books should be provided:
- Pleadings in date order
- Motion papers, to include the notice of motion, the parties’ affidavits and written submissions
- Book of authorities containing the relevant authorities from all parties, to include core authorities, relevant statutory provisions and provisions of the Rules of the Superior Courts
- Non-core authorities, if applicable
Format of the Electronic Court Books for a Trial
The following core books should be provided:
- Pleadings in date order
- Core documents containing the core material which each party proposes to address at the trial of the action
- Written submissions from each party
- Witness statements from each party
- Book of authorities containing the relevant authorities from all parties, to include core authorities, relevant statutory provisions and provisions of the Rules of the Superior Courts
- Non-core authorities, if applicable
