Local Court Rules 2009

These rules are the Local Court Rules 2009.

These rules commence on the day on which they are published on the NSW legislation website.

In these rules—

accused person includes—

in relation to proceedings for a summary offence, a defendant, and

in relation to application proceedings, a respondent.

approved form, in relation to a document, means—

in relation to civil proceedings, the form approved for that document under section 17 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005, and

in relation to application proceedings, the form approved for that document under section 72 of the Local Court Act 2007, and

in relation to criminal proceedings, the form approved for that document under rule 8.6.

correctional centre has the same meaning as it has in the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.

legal practitioner means an Australian legal practitioner.

party includes—

in relation to application proceedings—an applicant or respondent, and

in relation to criminal proceedings—a prosecutor or defendant.

person named, in relation to a subpoena, means the person to whom the subpoena is addressed.

prosecutor has the same meaning as it has in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986.

relevant legal practitioner for a person means—

if the person is represented only by a solicitor—the solicitor, or

if the person is represented only by a barrister—the barrister, or

if the person is represented by both a solicitor and a barrister—the solicitor.

summary proceedings means proceedings for summary offences, including proceedings for indictable offences that are being dealt with summarily.

subpoena has the same meaning as it has in Part 3 of Chapter 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986.

Notes included in these rules do not form part of these rules.

The registrar is to cause the following documents to be sealed or stamped with the seal of the Court—

any order, notice, warrant, certificate, judgment or process made, given or issued by the registrar (or any copy of such a document issued by the registrar),

any other document issued by the registrar that rules of court require to be sealed.

Without limiting subrule (1), a document may be stamped with the seal of the Court by any of the following means—

affixing the seal on the document by means of a rubber stamp,

affixing an adhesive label on the document with a representation of the seal printed on it,

printing a representation of the seal on the document by electronic or mechanical means.

The Local Courts (Civil Procedure) Rules 2005 and the Local Courts (Criminal and Applications Procedure) Rule 2003 are repealed.

This Part applies to—

proceedings in the Court sitting in the Court’s Small Claims Division, and

the transfer of proceedings to or from the Small Claims Division.

Proceedings are to be transferred to the Court’s General Division if a cross-claim is made in the proceedings for an amount exceeding the jurisdictional limit of the Court’s Small Claims Division.

Note—

As at the commencement of these rules, the jurisdictional limit of the Court sitting in its Small Claims Division was $10,000.

The Court may, on the application of a party or of its own motion, transfer proceedings from the Court’s Small Claims Division to the Court’s General Division if, at any time before judgment is given, the Court is of the opinion that the matters in dispute are so complex or difficult, or are of such importance, that the proceedings ought more properly to be heard in the Court’s General Division.

The Court may, on the application of a party or of its own motion, transfer proceedings from the Court’s General Division to the Court’s Small Claims Division if, at any time before judgment is given, the Court is of the opinion that—

any complex, difficult or important issues have been resolved, in whole or in part, or

it is appropriate to do so.

The Court may, on the application of a party or of its own motion, transfer proceedings that have been transferred to the Court’s General Division under subrule (1) back to its Small Claims Division if the Court considers it appropriate to do so.

An application for proceedings to be transferred under this rule may not be made by a party to the proceedings later than 28 days before the day fixed for the trial of the proceedings.

Unless the Court otherwise orders, proceedings in which a defence is filed are to be listed for pre-trial review.

The registrar must cause notice of the date, time and place of the pre-trial review to be sent to the plaintiff and to each defendant who has filed a defence.

In any pre-trial review of proceedings, each of the parties to the proceedings—

must be in attendance at the review, either in person or by a legal representative having authority to negotiate a settlement of the proceedings, and

must disclose the names of the witnesses who may provide statements on which the party intends to rely at the trial and the nature of any other documents on which the party intends to rely at the trial (to the extent that such information is available at the time of the pre-trial review).

For the purposes of subrule (1)(a), a person who appears by telephone, audio-visual link or any other means of electronic communication, as referred to in rule 2.8, is taken to be in attendance.

In the pre-trial review, the parties to the proceedings may apply for any interlocutory orders necessary for the preparation of the matter for trial.

In the pre-trial review, the Court—

must identify the matters in dispute between the parties and attempt to bring the parties to a settlement that is acceptable to them, and

for that purpose, may require that the parties seek mediation and may make such orders as it thinks fit, including orders as to adjournment, so as to facilitate the mediation.

(Repealed)

If the Court is unable to bring the parties to a settlement that is acceptable to them, the Court is to list the proceedings for trial at an appropriate time and venue and make case management orders in accordance with any relevant practice note. However, the Court may refuse to list proceedings for trial if it is satisfied that the parties have not made reasonable attempts to settle the matters in dispute between them.

If a party fails to attend the pre-trial review after having been given notice in accordance with rule 2.4(2), the Court may adjourn the review to another date and direct that, not less than 5 days before that date, a further notice be given to the party in default advising—

if the party in default is the plaintiff, that the party’s claim may be dismissed, either in whole or in part, or

if the party in default is the defendant, that the party’s defence may be struck out, either in whole or in part,

if the party fails to attend the adjourned review.

If a party fails to attend the adjourned review after having been given notice in accordance with subrule (7), the Court may order—

if the party in default is the plaintiff, that the party’s claim be dismissed, either in whole or in part, or

if the party in default is the defendant, that the party’s defence be struck out, either in whole or in part,

and may make such other orders as it thinks fit.

Subject to this Part, the procedure to be followed at a trial of any proceedings is to be determined by the Court.

Unless the Court orders otherwise, proceedings are to be heard and determined on the basis of—

any written statements (whether sworn or unsworn) or other documents that have been filed and served in accordance with any case management orders, and

any submissions made by the parties on the material filed and served in accordance with any case management orders.

Proceedings may be heard and determined by the Court even if one or more of the parties is absent.

In the case of proceedings in which default judgment has been entered in favour of the plaintiff but damages are yet to be assessed, the Court may, when listing the proceedings for trial, give directions as to the manner in which evidence as to damages is to be given.