HC122

Commercial Court List

Commercial Court List

  1. This practice direction supersedes all previous practice directions in relation to the Commercial List and in particular HC 93, HC 113 and HC 85. This practice direction will come into operation on 2 October 2023 and is issued in accordance with the general authority of the President of the High Court and with section 11 (12) and (13) of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, insofar as it relates to remote hearings.
     
  2. This practice direction relates to cases seeking entry to the Commercial List under Order 63A RSC and to those that have been entered into the List pursuant to Order 63A.

 

Operation of the List

  1. Motions in cases in the Commercial List (including motions for entry to the Commercial List) are given a return date in the Commercial Court Motions List which is heard every Monday during term. The Motions List is held on a hybrid basis such that parties and practitioners can attend either in person or remotely.
  2. Once a case has been entered in the Commercial List, all further steps in the proceedings (including the fixing of a date for the substantive hearing of the proceedings) will be subject to the directions of the Judge in charge of the Commercial List (“the Commercial List judge”). For that reason, there is no list to fix dates in the Commercial List. The Commercial List judge will assign a hearing date once the judge is satisfied that it is appropriate to do so.
  3. On every Friday during term there is a call over on a hybrid basis at 10.45 am before the   Commercial List judge of the cases listed for hearing during the following week. The purpose of this call-over is to ensure that all pre-trial directions given by the court have been complied with in full and that the case is ready to proceed.
  4. In the event of a case settling prior to its hearing date, it is the duty of the solicitors on record to immediately inform the Registrar of that fact by email addressed to CommercialCourt@courts.ie.
  5. If a matter needs to be listed before the court for any reason contact should be made with the Commercial List Registrars at the  CommercialCourt@courts.ie email address  who will arrange to have the matter listed before the Commercial List judge All such emails should be copied to all parties involved.
  6. It is important that directions given by the Commercial Court (including all time limits fixed by the Court) are adhered to. If a party believes that it will not be possible, notwithstanding the exercise of all reasonable efforts, to comply with a direction or time limit, the matter should be brought to the immediate attention of the Court in advance of expiry of any applicable time limit by emailing the Commercial List Registrars to seek a date and time to mention the matter before the Commercial List judge. Such emails should be addressed to  CommercialCourt@courts.ie and copied to all parties involved.
  7. Any communication with the Commercial List Registrars in respect of the Monday List should be made by email by 3pm on the preceding Friday to allow the Registrars and the court time to consider the communication. While it is recognised there may be exceptions in the interests of justice when this time limit cannot be adhered to, any party seeking to communicate beyond this timeframe must set out the basis why it is necessary on this occasion for the communication to be considered. Otherwise, the matter will be adjourned, generally to the following Monday.
  8. Agreed directions or where appropriate draft orders can be emailed to the Registrars via CommercialCourt@courts.ie in advance of the Monday list.

 

Solicitor’s Certificate

  1. The Solicitor’s Certificate issued pursuant to O.63A, r. 4 (2) of the Rules of the Superior Courts grounding an application to enter a case in the Commercial List must be signed by an individual solicitor who is and will be responsible for the conduct of the case. It is not sufficient that the Certificate be signed in the name of a firm. The certificate seeking entry into the list should state the section/s of O.63A r. 1 under which the application is being made.
  2. Such certificate, in addition to containing the other material prescribed by the Rules, must also contain undertakings to the court from the solicitor –

(a) that in the event of the case being admitted to the Commercial List, that the solicitor will use his/her best endeavours to ensure that the court’s directions will be complied with in full; and
(b) that within 14 days of the conclusion of the case in the High Court, whether by agreement, discontinuance, strike out, dismiss or other court order, and whether before or after entry to the Commercial List, such solicitor will use his/her best endeavours to submit by electronic means to the Courts Service at commercialdata@courts.ie a Case Report. The required format of the case report can be obtained by clicking on Case Report or from the Commercial List section of the Courts Service website:  https://www.courts.ie/commercial-court .

  1. An application to enter a case in the Commercial List grounded on a Certificate which does not comply with the provisions of paragraphs 10 and 11 of this practice direction will be refused.
  2. When a case is entered into the Commercial List the other party or parties will be required to nominate an individual solicitor who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the directions of the court.

 

The Use of Electronic Court Books and the Continued Need for Hard Copy Books for Court

  1. For trials and motions, unless directed otherwise, the Court requires both a hard copy of the books of papers as well as an electronic copy. In instances where the book of authorities is extensive, practitioners should ensure that the hard copy book contains the core authorities only. Peripheral authorities can be included in the electronic copy alone.  Hard copy books should continue to be lodged with the Central Office in the ordinary way via the List Room. All papers lodged in the List Room must be properly bound, indexed and paginated and should comply with the format prescribed further in paragraphs 23 to 26 below.   
  2. In the case of Monday List motions, hard copy books of papers are required to be lodged in the List Room no later than 4.30pm on the Wednesday preceding the Monday for which the motion is returnable in the Commercial List.
  3. In the case of matters listed for hearing on Tuesdays to Fridays, hard copy papers for trial are required to be lodged in the List Room no later than 4.30 pm on the Wednesday of the week before a trial. The opening hours for the list room are available here: https://www.courts.ie/content/central-office-high-court .
  4. The same time limits apply to the transmission of electronic books to the court and the Registrars. The mode of transmission is set out below.

The Means of Transmission of Electronic Books to the Court

  1. From 2 October 2023, all electronic booklets must be submitted through the mechanism of ShareFile in accordance with the applicable Transmission Protocol and File Naming Protocol published separately on the Courts Service website. Those protocols are subject to change from time to time. It is therefore essential that, before transmitting booklets by ShareFile, parties and practitioners should consult the Courts Service website for the most up to date version of the protocols.
  2. ShareFile is a proprietary online platform created by Citrix® whereby documents can be uploaded securely by one party in one location and downloaded by a second party in a second location. The Courts Service will use this platform to facilitate the submission of all electronic books for use in the Commercial List.
  3. The processes in the Transmission Protocol and the File Naming Protocol must be adhered to. Failure to do so may result in suspension of a practitioner’s ShareFile account with the Courts Service and will thus affect the ability to transmit electronic books to the Commercial Court. The manner in which electronic papers are to be transmitted is described in the Transmission Protocol while the File Naming protocol prescribes the way in which booklets should be named and referenced.
  4. Sharefile is not to be used as a means of corresponding with the Registrar or the Courts Service, including for any urgent matters or applications. Parties are asked to use CommercialCourt@courts.ie if they need to contact the Commercial Court Registrars in relation to the business of the Court.
  5. The deadline for submission of electronic books for motions and trials remains 4:30pm on the Wednesday of the preceding week. Please note it may take up to one business day to set up a new ShareFile and it is therefore essential that applicants for entry should make contact as early as possible by email to CommercialCourt@courts.ie and if necessary in advance of issuing the motion for entry.

 

The Format of the Court Books for a Motion

  1. All electronic booklets should be in pdf format. Pdf. booklets submitted via ShareFile should be furnished duly paginated and with indices that contain hyperlinks to each document. The Electronic Court Books should be a replica of the hard copy books of papers.
  2. The following core books should be provided in both hard copy and electronic format: -

(1) A book of Pleadings in date order containing each of the following (to the extent that they have been delivered or made): -

• The Summons
• The affidavit grounding the motion for entry into the Commercial List
• Memorandum of Appearance
• Statement of Claim
• Notices for Particulars and Replies
• Defence/Counterclaim
• Reply
• Any Further relevant Particulars and Replies
• Notices to Produce
• All Orders of the Court

(2) A book of Motion Papers to include the following: -

• Notice of Motion
• Grounding Affidavit (with exhibits unless they are voluminous in which case they can be provided in separate booklets)
• Any Replying Affidavits and further exchanges of Affidavits
• The Moving Party’s Written Submissions
• The Responding Party’s Written Submissions

(3) A book of Authorities containing the Relevant Authorities from all parties to include the following:-

• A copy of the provisions of the Rules of the Superior Courts under which the relief is sought (if applicable)
• All relevant statutory provisions
• Core Authorities most likely to be mentioned during oral submissions.

(4) In the case of other authorities that are more peripheral to the submissions, for example where a judgment might rely on another judgment/s, those other authorities should be contained in a separate book of non-core authorities. It is acceptable if these peripheral authorities are furnished solely in electronic form.

 

The Format of the Court Books for a Trial

  1. Similar to a motion both hard copy booklets and electronic booklets should follow the format prescribed below .Pdf booklets should be furnished duly paginated with indices that contain hyperlinks to each document. The Electronic Court Books should be a replica of the hard copy books of papers.
  2. The following core books should be provided in both hard copy and electronic form:-

(1) A book of Pleadings in date order, as follows: -

• Summons
• Memorandum of Appearance
• Statement of Claim
• Notices for Particulars and Replies
• Defence/Counterclaim
• Reply
• Any Further relevant Particulars and Replies
• Notices to Produce
• The Orders made by the Court

(2) A book of core documents

This book should contain the core material which each party proposes to address at the trial of the action. It should be in a format agreed between the parties well in advance of the trial and include the relevant discovery reference from the discovery made by the parties (where it is a document discovered by one or both parties).

(3) A book of legal submissions containing:

• The Plaintiff’s Written Submissions
• The Defendant’s Written Submissions
• Any other Written submissions (from Notice Parties/Third Parties etc)

(4) A book of witness statements from each party

This book should also contain copies of any materials appended to the original witness statements as delivered

(5) A book of Authorities containing the Relevant Authorities from all parties to include the following: -

• A copy of the order of the Superior Court Rules under which any relief is sought (if applicable)
• A copy of any relevant statutory provisions.
• The Core Authorities most likely to be mentioned during oral submissions

(6) In the case of other authorities that are more peripheral to the submissions, for example where a judgment might rely on another judgment/s those other authorities might be contained in a booklet of non-core authorities. It is acceptable if these peripheral authorities are furnished solely in electronic form.

 

David Barniville
President of the High Court
Dated: 13 September 2023


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