Current ProjectsThe Rules Committee continuously reviews the rules in light of national and overseas developments. It monitors Australian and United Kingdom reports and reforms to identify areas where New Zealand could adopt or adapt ideas. The review process is a perpetual one. The following information is intended to provide an update of the current projects occupying the Rules Committee, although the list is not exhaustive. The Committee welcomes comments and inquiries from the profession and the public about existing projects or other concerns relating to procedural rules which it is thought should be brought to the Committee’s attention.
Current projects include the District Court Rules 2009 reform and the development of a protocol on electronic bundles for trials. A copy of the draft protocol can be accessed here.
Recently the Committee has worked on reforms to the case management, default judgment and formal proof regimes of the High Court Rules. The High Court Amendment Rules (No 2) 2012, which incorporate these reforms among other changes, have been made and will commence 4 February 2013. Please check www.legislation.govt.nz where these rules will be uploaded. Seminars on the new case management processes will be held in February 2013. Parties interested in attending are advised to contact the Education branch of the New Zealand Law Society for details.
We welcome feedback on any of these issues. Please direct comment to the Clerk at rulescommittee@justice.govt.nz. Past projects Past projects include the review of the Discovery rules, consultation on Written briefs as well as the duties on parties to comply with the High Court Rules and lawyers to assist. A draft Class Actions Bill and Rules were handed over to the Secretary for Justice in July 2009, with the Committee releasing the following note on class actions: Document Actions |
