Matters of practice in the Court of Appeal: an open letter from Allsop P

14/05/2009

The Hon Justice Allsop has written to President Anna Katzmann SC regarding the requirements of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules Part 51 and the Practice Note (SC CA 1 - issued on 27 March 2009). The letter is reproduced below.

It is important that any practitioner appearing in the Court of Appeal is familiar with the requirements both of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules Part 51 and the Practice Note (SC CA 1 - current issue 27 March 2009). I wish to raise three matters in particular.

The first issue concerns written submissions. Paragraphs 34 to 39 bring to the attention of practitioners important aspects of the rules concerning summaries of argument, written submissions and chronologies.� It is apparent that some practitioners are not familiar with the underlying rules.� In particular, practitioners should be aware of the requirements of Part 51 Rule 51.36.

Secondly, paragraph 38 of the Practice Note requires a letter to be sent to the Registrar of the Court of Appeal at the earliest opportunity if a decision of the Court of Appeal or another Australian intermediate appellate court is to be challenged. Leave to challenge any such decision is required.� It is important that practitioners comply with this rule in order that an appropriate bench can be constituted. A bench of five may be required.

Thirdly, paragraph 46 deals with lists of authorities. Lists of authorities are to be placed in the Court of Appeal box (on Level 12) 24 hours before the hearing of an appeal or other proceeding. The requirements of paragraph 46 should be well known and must be followed.� If the Practice Note is not observed that raises questions whether this is because the practitioner is unaware of the contents of the Practice Note (in which case he or she should not be appearing in the Court of Appeal) or because the practitioner has made a decision not to comply with the Practice Note (which would or might raise a matter of professional conduct).

The failure to comply with the Practice Note can cause delay and, in relation to paragraph 38, might cause an adjournment for any required reconstitution of the Court. If such delay or adjournment is the result of a practitioner failing to comply with the Practice Note questions of costs payable by the practitioner will arise.

**14 May 2009 **