ByLawyers News and Updates

Affidavits and exhibits – Supreme Court – VIC

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The way affidavits and exhibits are prepared and filed in the Supreme Court’s Common Law Division and Commercial Court is changing.

From 1 October 2021 the Court will no longer accept affidavits for filing that include multiple exhibits, or which separate the affidavit and any exhibit. Affidavits must be in a single fully text-searchable PDF format file including any bundle exhibit.

Affidavits must be filed as a single, searchable PDF document, with all pages consecutively numbered. This includes the pages of any exhibit – see Exhibits to affidavits and Filing and service of affidavits in the By Lawyers Supreme Court (VIC) commentaries for more information.

There may only be one exhibit to an affidavit, except for confidential affidavits.

Where more than one document is exhibited to an affidavit, the documents must be combined into a single ‘bundle exhibit’, ordered in the sequence they are referred to in the affidavit. The exhibit must be part of the affidavit, in a single fully text-searchable PDF format file, with legible page numbers at the bottom right-hand corner of each page that correspond with the digital display page numbers of the PDF, that commence from the first page of the affidavit to the last page of the bundle exhibit.

See Affidavits and exhibits in the By Lawyers Supreme Court (VIC) publication for more information.

In a separate but related change to procedure, from 1 October 2021 all evidentiary documents filed in proceedings in the Common Law Division and Commercial Court may not be inspected by any non-party until the document has been read or relied upon in open court. This applies to affidavits, exhibits, witness statements, expert reports, written submissions, outlines of argument and chronologies.

See Practice Note SC Gen 20 Inspection of Civil Court Files by Non-Parties and Notice to the Profession (Changes to File Inspections and Affidavits) for more information.

Supreme Court – urgent applications – VIC

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The By Lawyers Victorian Supreme Court litigation publication has been reviewed by our author, resulting in consolidation and enhancement of the commentary, especially relating to urgent applications.

Both the Acting for the Plaintiff and Acting for the Defendant guides in the Supreme Court publication have been reviewed.  The matter plans and related commentary have been re-ordered, with additional subheadings for improved searchability. The commentary on Urgent cases and applications has been expanded. Direct links have been added to the relevant Supreme Court webpages with contact details and specific procedures for making urgent applications.

See the subfolder If required – Urgent applications and injunctions, in folder C. Going to court and folder D. Interlocutory steps on both matter plans, for the relevant commentary, links and precedents. Folder D also contains commentary and precedents covering all types of interlocutory applications, urgent and otherwise.

The Victorian Supreme Court publication also includes an Enforcement Guide, which provides practitioners with comprehensive practical assistance on enforcing judgments for their clients.

Also included in the publication is the popular reference manual 101 Subpoena Answers. This valuable resource substantially augments the commentary in the Supreme Court guide regarding the law and practice on issuing and responding to subpoenas.

This author review is part of By Lawyers continuing commitment to enhancing our content and helping our subscribers enjoy practice more.

Supreme Court – VIC

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The By Lawyers Supreme Court Civil (VIC) Publication has been reviewed and updated to ensure that the precedents and commentaries are in line with current law and practice.

Publication review

The extensive review was performed by our author Nawaar Hassan, barrister at Isaacs Chambers. Like all By Lawyers authors, Nawaar takes a practical approach to practice and procedure in the Supreme Court, drawing on her considerable experience to focus on information that will help lawyers confidently represent their clients and successfully run their matters.

Some of the enhancements to the By Lawyers Supreme Court Civil (VIC) Publication as a result of this review include:

  • Expanded commentary on costs disclosure and ensuring costs are fair and reasonable.
  • Rationalised commentary on case management procedure including practice notes and directions.
  • Expanded commentary on Alternative Dispute Resolution and settlement.
  • Practical tips when briefing counsel added.
  • Expansion of commentary on Civil Procedure Act obligations.
  • New commentary on effectively communicating with the court.
  • New commentary on urgent applications.
  • Expanded commentary on service, including service overseas.
  • Expanded commentary on preparing and filing a defence.

New precedent

A new precedent ‘Example content – Consent orders – Discontinuance of proceedings’ has been added to both plaintiff and defendant guides. All of the existing precedents in the guides have also been reviewed to ensure they reflect current law and practice.

We invite subscribers to explore this publication and to consider the wealth of assistance it offers for lawyers appearing for clients in civil matters in the Supreme Court.

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