Seamus E. Byrne's - In Pursuit of Relevance

Preliminary

On 23 December 2008, Chief Justice Spigelman issued a new Practice Note: 'Expert Evidence in the Equity Division' ("SC Eq 5").

The Practice Note commences on 2 February 2009 and applies to all new and existing proceedings in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Purpose

The object of this Practice Note is to supplement the Expert Evidence Rules and ensure the Court's processes are consistent with the overriding purpose set out in s 56 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW).

This Practice Note aims to:

• encourage prospective parties to discuss the extent to which they intend to rely on expert evidence before commencing proceedings
• ensure parties promptly obtain expert evidence directions in accordance with UCPR 31.19,
• minimise the costs of obtaining expert evidence, and
• reduce the hearing time of a case.