ROYAL COURT
OF JERSEY
RC 24/04
Affidavits for use in Proceedings before the Royal Court
and the Master or other applications made to the Bailiff,
the Master or the Judicial Greffier
1. Practice
Direction 05/30 provides that “All affidavits filed by parties in support of
hearings before the Royal Court and the Master or other applications made to
the Bailiff, the Master or the Judicial Greffier will
be returned…within a period of three months from the date on which the decision
was made based on the contents of that affidavit”.
2. This
Practice Direction reflects an obligation to file original affidavits with the
Judicial Greffier where those affidavits are to be
used “before the Royal Court and the Master or other applications made to
the Bailiff, the Master or the Judicial Greffier”.
3. In
practice, compliance with that obligation is far from uniform. Further, given the volume of material filed
and the extremely limited occasions when recourse is had to that material,
compliance with the obligation does not necessarily assist with the efficient
dispatch of justice, particularly as most affidavits are filed by Jersey
lawyers, who are officers of the Court and have obligations to preserve
documents.
4. Accordingly,
from the date of this Practice Direction:
a. Litigants
represented by Jersey law firms or the Law Officers’
Department shall not file affidavits (or their exhibits) with the Judicial
Greffe unless the Court otherwise orders or the Royal Court Rules so provide;
b. All other
litigants are reminded that they must file with the Judicial Greffe a copy of
any affidavits and exhibits to be relied upon in any matter before the Royal
Court;
c. Where an
affidavit is required to be filed with the Judicial Greffe, unless otherwise
ordered:
i. a
copy of the affidavit and any exhibits shall be filed electronically by sending
the documents to JGRcourtdocuments@courts.je and including in the subject line
the word “Affidavit”, the case title and the case
reference;
ii. should it
be impractical for a litigant to file a copy of any affidavit electronically,
they should contact the Judicial Greffier who will
arrange for the affidavit to be filed electronically and the original to be
returned to the litigant;
iii. the
Judicial Greffe shall retain an electronic copy of the affidavit and exhibits
for a period of three months from the conclusion of the matter.
d. The
Judicial Greffe will return to the respective Jersey law firms and/or the Law
Officers’ Department any original affidavits (and exhibits if relevant) filed
before the date of this Practice Direction.
5. Nothing in
this Practice Direction impacts on:
a. the power
of the Court to impound an affidavit under Article 2(2) of the Affidavits
(Advocates and Solicitors) (Jersey) Law 1992; or
b. affidavits
uploaded to the Court’s Case Centre bundling platform for use as part of a
Court bundle.
6. Practice
Direction 05/30 is hereby revoked.