ROYAL COURT OF JERSEY
RC 21/01
Production and Content of Electronic
Bundles for hearings in The Royal Court
1)
This Practice Direction is produced to
set out how parties should load documents onto the electronic bundle platform,
CaseLines, which the Royal Court is now licensed to use.
2)
This Practice Direction applies in
respect of any matter where the Royal Court has decided that a hearing will be
conducted using CaseLines. As the system is rolled out across different courts,
CaseLines will become the default system for the supply of bundles for court
hearings.
3)
This guidance covers all matters before
the Royal Court other than proceedings covered by the Criminal Procedure
(Jersey) Law 2018 (subject to paragraph 4 of this guidance). This includes
interlocutory proceedings before the Royal Court, the Judicial Greffier, or the
Master of the Royal Court. It also applies to any proceedings before one of the
Family Judges subject to the guidance contained in Practice Direction FD20/01.
4)
Until any guidance is issued under the
Criminal Procedure (Jersey) Law, this practice direction will also apply to all
sentencing hearings where CaseLines is to be used.
5)
When a party applies for a hearing date,
or the Court fixes a date of its own motion, and CaseLines is to be used, the
parties will be informed accordingly.
6)
For each new hearing in civil matters a
separate bundle will be created. For other matters, unless the Court directs
otherwise, the same bundle will be used for all hearings.
7)
Permissions will be set up on the CaseLines’
system for the parties and their legal representatives to access the relevant
case. Any person given access must register
on CaseLines as a user. CaseLines
provides guidance on how to upload documents and use the system.
8)
To facilitate the uploading of relevant
material, the Greffe will have predetermined the sections required for the hearing
bundle for the applicant to populate.
These sections will be standard templates. If the parties consider that different or additional
templates are required, the applicant/plaintiff shall apply to the Court
official fixing the hearing to vary the standard templates used.
9)
Material uploaded into each section of
the hearing bundle will be sorted into date order automatically by the CaseLines
system. The date of each document must therefore be inserted when uploading a
document. Each document must also be described succinctly.
10)
Any document created by any party shall
use an appropriate font size so that the document is clearly legible on CaseLines. Wherever possible, any other document or authority
that is uploaded shall also be in a format that is clearly legible.
11)
Using the specified templates, the
applicant/plaintiff shall upload all relevant summonses for the application, pleadings,
acts of court, and any affidavits or other evidence already filed with the
Court. This shall be done within 2 working days of the date fix hearing.
12)
The applicant shall also upload any
other relevant documents, correspondence and authorities to be cited on which
it wishes to rely. Any other material shall be filed as soon as reasonably practicable
so that it can be referenced in any skeleton argument which is to be filed.
13)
However, in advance of uploading of
material to the hearing bundle, all parties to the action are required to
consult with each other about what is to be uploaded in order to avoid
duplication. The applicant is to take the lead in this consultation by setting
out what documents it considers should be uploaded
14)
Finally, the applicant shall upload a
skeleton argument, any draft order proposed and a list of essential reading. For
interlocutory hearings this will be no later than 2 working days before the
hearing. For Royal Court hearings or any
trial, this will be no later than 1 week before the hearing unless you are told
otherwise. For lengthy hearings the parties should allow a longer period of
time between the completion of lodging all relevant material and the start of
the hearing to allow the court adequate pre-reading time.
15)
The
other party(ies) shall only upload any other relevant documents,
correspondence or authorities to be cited on which it wishes to rely that have not
already been uploaded by the applicant/plaintiff. This shall also be done as
soon as reasonably practicable after a hearing date is fixed.
16)
The other party(ies) shall also upload a
skeleton argument, any draft order proposed and a list of essential reading. The
deadline for uploading these documents is the same time limit that applies to
an applicant.
17)
Once the process of uploading documents
is completed, the final version of the hearing bundle will appear on CaseLines. Any sections created where no documents have
been uploaded will not appear in the final version of the hearing bundle.
18)
For certain types of hearings, the authorities’
section should be pre-populated with the authorities regularly used by the
Court. Ordinarily this will be done by the applicant. In such cases only
additional authorities that add to or explain the approach to be taken by the
Royal Court should be uploaded.
19)
For
a trial or final hearing, a new trial bundle must be created. Again, a standard
template will be set up on CaseLines by the Greffe. If different templates are required, the parties
shall agree these and liaise with the Greffe.
20)
The uploading of material for trial
bundles is the primary responsibility of the plaintiff, who shall consult with
other parties before finalising the content of trial bundles. The uploading
shall be completed by the date set out in any directions issued for the conduct
of the trial. Each party shall be responsible for uploading its own skeleton
argument and list of essential reading.
21)
The uploading of documents for any
hearing including a trial must be completed by the dates specified by the
Court. Any uploading beyond any date
specified by the Court will not be permitted and will require an application to
the Court to upload any extra material.
22)
It is the intention of the Court to enforce
the requirements of this Practice Direction. In appropriate cases, it may award
costs against a defaulting party, or against the lawyer representing that party
personally if that party fails to adhere to this Practice Direction without
reasonable excuse. Any non-compliance
may also lead to restrictions on how long a party may address the Court or to
adjournments.
23)
Any material uploaded to CaseLines may
only be used for the hearing for which it is uploaded and may only be viewed by
those persons granted the permission to use CaseLines for that hearing. No material may be shared with any other
person. Users should also take care not
to allow inadvertent disclosure of any material to anyone not authorised to
view it. Any unauthorised release or reading of information may result in
serious consequences for the party permitting the release as well as the person
who is given access to or sees the same.
This
Practice Direction will come into force with immediate effect