New High Court Rules

Details

Created: Tuesday, October 04 2016 14:31

As and from the 1st October 2016 new High Court Rules S.I. No. 255/2016 - Rules of the Superior Courts (Chancery and Non-Jury Actions: Pre-trial procedures) 2016 (“SI255”) were due to come into operation, however their implementation has been temporarily suspended.

SI255, when operational, will introduce new case management rules for the Chancery and Non-Jury list, which will be managed by a list judge who will now have extensive pre-trial powers. The new rules will affect all High Court Chancery and Non-Jury actions which, in essence, will impact on all civil cases other than personal injury, defamation, commercial court and competition law actions.

The rationale for the enactment of the new procedures was due to the long lead in times to trial, cases not settling until trial and trials taking an excessive length of time, all of which created problems for practitioners and clients. The success of the Commercial Court also encouraged the implementation of SI255.

Following the implementation of SI255, a Judge will have wide ranging powers and can order directions as to pleadings, amendments, discovery, inspections and setting timetables.

The new rules will require an increased level of cooperation between the parties to the action, particularly in the area of agreeing certain matters in advance of the pre-trial conference. The provision in relation to the filing and service of witness statements 30 days before trial should streamline the process and encourage cooperation between the parties to the action, which may ultimately lead to increased level of settlements and a more streamlined process.

From a client’s perspective, the new provisions will no doubt be welcomed and, one would anticipate, will lead to greater clarity about how litigation is likely to progress and how long it will take to progress. This should assist in properly assessing, litigating/prosecuting, defending and attempting to settle cases. Whilst the new rules have to be welcomed, the effect of the new rules will put significant pressures on parties, and their legal representatives, to meet deadlines.