Rules of Court undergo changes

• Rule 5A: The Supreme Court registrar has authority to not accept documents for filing on the basis of containing clearly abusive material or referencing matters outside the court's jurisdiction; the registrar may also extend the period within which a party must comply with a court rule, direction or order by consent or by a maximum of five working days
• Rule 36: Parties to an appeal must file a table of contents with written submissions; submissions must contain information on the relief sought
• Forms 1 and 2 in Schedule 1: A simplified format has been introduced to improve the clarity of the flow and of the decision being appealed

Changes to the rules on requesting access to court documents

Rule 11 of the Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules and District Court (Access to Court Documents) Rules: The registrar must redact the requestor’s address in the event that a copy of the request is to be given to the parties or their lawyers.

Changes to rules related to self-represented parties

Court of Appeal (Civil) Rule 53A, High Court Rule 14.2, and District Court Rule 14.2: self-represented individuals (parties without a solicitor on the record and represents their own personal interest, including lawyers representing personal interests) can claim proceedings-related costs; updated rates are provided in Schedule 2 of the High Court Rules.

District Court Rules – second case management conference

Rule 7.4: the second case management conference should be presided over by the same judge who presided over the judicial settlement conference where practicable.

Criminal Procedure Rules

Rule 6.1: the inclusion of a provision that correctly refers to the location of the rules governing access to court documents in criminal proceedings:

• District Court (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017 cover the rules for documents that are in the custody or control of the District Court
• The Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017 cover the rules for documents in the custody or control of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal