The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and District Court were among those impacted
The Rules of Court have undergone changes as of 1 September.
The Ministry of Justice notified the following amendments:
- Supreme Court Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/142)
- Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/143)
- District Court (Access to Court Documents) Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/139)
- Court of Appeal (Civil) Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/140)
- High Court Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/151)
- District Court Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/141)
- Criminal Procedure Amendment Rules 2024 (SL 2024/145)
Changes to Supreme Court Rules
Rules 5A, 36, and Schedule 1 forms were amended for the Supreme Court in the following ways:
- 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
