Rule 47.04 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic) may be used to conduct a 'sequential trial' in which all evidence is heard first, followed by final addresses and judgment on stated tranches of questions. The concerns identified in Murphy v State of Victoria regarding separate preliminary questions are significantly diminished when this model is adopted, because all evidence is available before any question is determined. The power to employ this model resides principally in the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic), with r 47.04 serving as a useful vehicle.
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