New Zealand Law Society - New rule added to Supreme Court Rules

New rule added to Supreme Court Rules

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A new rule has been added to the Supreme Court Rules 2004, to change the time at which a respondent wanting to support a judgment on grounds other than those in the judgment appealed from must give notice of that intention.

The Supreme Court Amendment Rules 2018 were notified in the New Zealand Gazette on 17 May 2018 and will come into force on 14 June 2018.

At present a respondent is required to give that notice in written submissions in relation to the application for leave to appeal.

The new rule, 20A, aims to take account of the difficulty that a respondent may have in giving notice of the intention before the respondent knows whether the appellant will be granted leave to appeal.

When in force, the new rule will enable a respondent either to notify their intention in their submissions or to give notice of the intention, in writing, within 10 working days of the Court giving leave to appeal.

The rules make a number of amendments to the principal rules. These include:

Changes to provide for procedural matters relating to applications by the Solicitor-General for leave to refer a question of law to the Court under subpart 11 of Part 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011.

Inclusion of a definition of the term "permanent Judge". This was defined in the Supreme Court Act 2003, but the replacement Senior Courts Act 2016 has no equivalent definition.

Amendments to require the heading in documents filed in the Court to include the te reo Maori words “I te Kōti Mana Nui”.

Amendments to rule 27 which provides for how a judgment on an application for leave to appeal must be delivered.

An amendment providing that the Court may permit some other ground of appeal to be argued in support of an appeal, as well as the grounds approved in the order in which the Court granted leave to appeal.

An amendment  allowing the Registrar to allocate a hearing date after consulting with the parties, rather than having to wait for the parties to make formal submissions on the appropriate date for the appeal.

An amendment to clarify the Court's power to award costs in relation to an abandoned appeal. Another amendment allows a judgment of the Court on an appeal to be delivered through the Registrar as an alternative to delivery in open court by at least two permanent Judges of the Court as currently required.

A new rule 43A is inserted to provide for the Court or a Registrar who made a judgment or an order to correct certain accidental slips or omissions in that judgment or order.

The Court is also given the discretion to make orders concerning the payment of travel and accommodation costs of an unrepresented party.

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