Part 3 – Time, Documents

Time – court to state calendar date

3.1

1. When making any judgment, order or direction which imposes a time limit for doing any act
   the court must, wherever practicable, state –
   1. the calendar date; and
   2. the time of day; by which the act must be done.

Time – computation

3.2

1. This rule shows how to calculate any period of time for doing any act which is fixed by –
   1. any judgment or order of the court;
   2. any practice direction; or
   3. these Rules.
2. All periods of time expressed as a number of days are to be computed as clear days.
3. In this rule –
   “clear days” means that in computing the number of days the day on which the period begins and the day on which the period ends are not included.(Examples
   1. Documents served by post are deemed to be served 14 days after posting: A Document posted on 1st September is deemed to be served on 16th September.
   2. Document must be filed at least 3 days before the hearing – application is to be heard on
      Friday 20th October:

   The last date for filing the document is Monday 16th October.)

4. When the specified period –
   1. is 7 days or less; and
   2. includes –
      1. a Saturday or Sunday; or
      2. any other day on which the court office is closed; that day does not count.

   (Example
   
   Notice of application must be given not less than 7 days before a hearing – Hearing on Friday 20th October:

   Notice must be given not later than Tuesday 10th October.)

5. If the period specified for doing any act at the court office ends on a day on which the court is
   closed, the act is in time if done before close of business on the next day on which the court is
   open.
6. If the period specified for doing any act which does not need to be done at court ends on –
   1. a Saturday or Sunday; or
   2. any public holiday;
      the act must be done before 4 p.m. on the next ordinary business day.

Vacations

3.3

There are 3 vacations in each year, that is to say the –

1. Christmas vacation which begins on 23rd December and ends on 10th January;
2. Easter vacation which begins on the Thursday before and ends on the Saturday after Easter
   Sunday; and
3. long vacation which begins on 1st August and ends on 15th September; and the dates are inclusive.

Hearings in vacations

3.4

1. During vacations the –
   1. Court of Appeal may sit to hear and determine appeals and applications as the Court of Appeal may direct; and
   2. High Court may sit to hear and determine trials and applications as a judge of the court may direct.
2. A party may apply to the Court of Appeal for any appeal or application to be heard in vacation.
3. Any such application may be determined by a single judge of the Court of Appeal.
4. A party may apply to the High Court for any trial to take place or application to be heard in vacation.

Time – vacations

3.5 

1. During the long vacation, the time prescribed by these Rules or by any practice direction for filing or serving any statement of case (other than a statement of claim) does not run unless the court orders or directs that time shall run.
2. In this Rule “long vacation” has the meaning given by Rule 3.3.

Documents

3.6

1. So far as is practicable, every document prepared for use in the Supreme Court must be on “letter size” paper approximately 11 inches (28cm) long by 8.5 inches (21.5cm) wide. Margins of 1” (2.5 cm) must be left at the top and bottom and of 1.5” (3.5 cm) at each side.
2. The Chief Justice may by practice direction –
   1. require any document filed or to be used at court to be in the format that the Chief Justice prescribes to facilitate electronic recording or filing of that document; and
   2. prescribe the conditions under which documents may be served or filed electronically.
3. Every document to be filed at the court must –
   1. be headed with the –
      1. full title of the proceedings; and
      2. title of the document;
   2. State The –
      1. name;
      2. business address;
      3. reference (if any);
      4. telephone number; and
      5. FAX number (if any);
         of the person or persons filing it;
   3. contain its date;
   4. (except in the case of an affidavit) be signed by the person filing
      it; and
   5. state the name of the party on whose behalf it is filed.
4. If a document is signed the full name of the signatory must be set out legibly below the signature.

Filing of documents

3.7

1. A document may be filed by–
   1. delivering it;
   2. posting it; or
   3. sending it by FAX; or
   4. transmitting it by other electronic means of communication as authorized by the Chief Justice in a practice direction;

   to the court office where the claim is proceeding or intended to proceed.

2. A document is filed on the day when it is received at the court office or, if it is received at a time when the court office is closed, on the next day on which the court office is open.
3. If a fee is to be paid, a document is not to be treated as filed until –
   1. the fee is paid; or
   2. an undertaking to pay the fee acceptable to the registrar is receive

Filing and service by FAX

3.8

In addition to any condition contained in a practice direction, any
document –

1. filed; or
2. served;
   by FAX, must include a cover page stating the –
   1. name, address and telephone number of the sender;
   2. date and time of transmission;
   3. total number of pages transmitted, including the cover page;
   4. number of the FAX machine at which documents may be received; and
   5. name and telephone number of a person to contact if problems occur in transmission.

Sealing of documents issued by the court

3.9

1. The court must seal the following documents on issue –
   1. the claim form;
   2. all notices of appeal; and
   3. all judgments, orders or directions of the court.
2. The court may place the seal on any document by –
   1. hand; or
   2. printing a facsimile of the seal on the document electronically or by any other means.
3. All judgments and orders and directions of the court must also be signed by the registrar.
4. A document purporting to bear the court’s seal is admissible in evidence without further proof.

Forms

3.10

1. The forms in the Appendix to these Rules and, where appropriate, practice forms must be used in the cases to which they apply
2. A form may be varied if the variation is required by the circumstances of a particular case.
3. A form must not be varied so as to leave out any information or guidance which the form in the Appendix or practice form gives to the intended recipient of the form.
4. If these Rules require a party to send a blank form to any other party, the party must send it to the other party without variation except the insertion of the title of the case and the court’s address to which that document is to be returned.
5. A form marked with the word ‘Seal’ must bear the seal of the Supreme Court.

Statement of case – address for service

3.11

1. Every statement of case must contain an address within the jurisdiction at which the party filing the statement of case will accept service of documents.
2. The address for service must also state –
   1. if given by a legal practitioner – the name or reference of the person who is dealing with the matter; and
   2. the telephone number and (if applicable) the FAX number of the legal practitioner filing the document or of the party if in person.
3. A party must notify the court and all other parties immediately if the address for service is changed, and any document sent to the original address before notice of such change is received by the party serving the document is regarded as validly served.
   •  Rule 2.4 defines “statement of case”.

Statement of case – certificate of truth

3.12

1. Every statement of case must be verified by a certificate of truth.
2. The certificate of truth should be signed by the party personally.
3.  If it is impracticable for the party personally to sign the certificate required by paragraph (1) it may be given by that person’s legal practitioner.
4.  A certificate of truth given by the legal practitioner must also certify –
   1. that the certificate is given on the client’s instructions; and
      the reasons why it is impractical for the client to give the certificate.
5. If a statement of case is changed under Part 20, the amended statement of case must be verified by a certificate of truth.
6. Information given under Part 34 (whether voluntarily or following an order of the court) must be verified by a certificate of truth.
7. A certificate of truth given by a party personally must be in the following form –
   “I [name] certify that I believe that the facts stated in this [name document] are true.”
8.  A certificate given by the legal practitioner for a party must be in the following form –
   “I [name of the individual legal practitioner giving the certificate] certify that –”
   1. the [claimant or as the case may be] believes that the facts stated in this [name document] are true; and
   2. this certificate is given on the [claimant’s or as the case may be] instructions.
      The [claimant or as the case may be] cannot give the certificate because [state reason]”.

Failure to give certificate of truth

3.13

1. The court may strike out any statement of case which has not been verified by a certificate of truth.
2. Any party may apply for an order under paragraph (1).

Right to inspect, etc. certain documents filed in court office

3.14

1. On payment of the prescribed fee, any person is entitled, during office hours, to search for, inspect and take a copy of any of the following documents filed in the court office, namely —
   1. a claim form;
   2. a notice of appeal;
   3. a judgment or order given or made in court; and
   4. with the leave of the court, which may be granted on an application made without notice, any other document.
2. Nothing in paragraph (1) prevents a party in any proceedings from searching for, inspecting and taking a copy of any affidavit or other document filed in the court office in those proceedings or filed before the commencement of those proceedings but with a view to its com­mencement.
3. Any document filed in or in the custody of a court office must not be taken out of the court office without the leave of the court unless the document is to be sent to another court office or to a magistrate’s court.