Review of Registrar’s decision and orders in two notices of motion in Class 3 valuation objection proceedings
Where one notice of motion deals with vacation of hearing dates and another deals with directions regarding further expert evidence
Quick Take
1A registrar's decision to fix hearing dates and refuse leave for further expert evidence is a decision on practice and procedure; review under UCPR r 49.19 normally requires at least demonstration of an error of law, a House v The King error, or a material change of circumstances, and even then the reviewing court may decline to intervene if the result is not unreasonable.
2Under UCPR rr 31.17 and 31.19, expert evidence must be restricted to that reasonably required to resolve the proceedings, and a party's failure to seek directions promptly after the need for further evidence allegedly arose weighs against the grant of leave, particularly where existing experts have provided opinions notwithstanding expressed caveats.
3The unavailability of a party's preferred counsel for allocated hearing dates, while a factor to be considered, is not of itself indicative of justiciable error in a registrar's case management decision to fix hearing dates.
