Effective January 15, 2024, Chief Justice Hinkson has made a number of changes to the Court’s practice directions and administrative notices:
- Practice Direction 64 – Form of Address (attached) has been issued. It sets out the form of address for judges, associate judges, the registrar and district registrars, and how parties and counsel can advise the Court of their form of address. It consolidates and replaces Practice Direction 32 – Manner of Address for Registrars, Practice Direction 59 – Forms of Address for Parties and Counsel in Proceedings and Practice Direction 60 – Form of Address (Justices).
- All practice directions and administrative notices that refer to masters have been updated to instead refer to associate judges. For a complete list of updates, please see the cumulative index on the Court’s website, here.
- Practice Direction 65 – Consent Adjournments of Applications and Petitions on the Chambers List (attached) has been issued. It replaces Practice Direction 28 - Chambers Practice and continues the current requirements for notifying the Court of consent adjournments of applications and petitions on the hearing list. The remainder of the procedures previously set out in PD-28 have been incorporated into the Supreme Court Civil Rules and the Supreme Court Family Rules pursuant to OIC NO. 627/2023.
- Administrative Notice 10 – Late Application Records; Reinstatements to Chambers List and Administrative Notice 16 – Vexatious Litigants – Request for Leave to File Process or Documents have been rescinded. The procedures that were set out in these administrative notices have been incorporated into the Supreme Court Civil Rules and the Supreme Court Family Rules pursuant to OIC NO. 627/2023.
- Practice Direction 63 – TMCs, Trial Briefs, and Trial Certificates – Transitional Guidance has been rescinded.
Please see the announcements on the Court’s website, here, for more information about these changes.