Fact sheet
Supreme and District Courts - civil
The following fact sheet may assist you
Case flow management
Case flow management of proceedings in the civil jurisdiction of the court in Brisbane is regulated by Practice Direction No 4 of 2002. (PD 4/2002).
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules
The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (UCPR) prescribe time frames and other procedures for parties/practitioners to progress proceedings to a timely and cost-effective resolution.
Rule 5 provides that the purpose of the UCPR is to facilitate the just and expeditious resolution of the real issues in civil proceedings at a minimum of expense. It also provides that in a proceeding in a court, a party impliedly undertakes to the court and to the other parties to proceed in an expeditious way. If that is not done the court may impose appropriate sanctions.
The purpose of PD 4/2002 is to ensure that cases are dealt with by parties, practitioners and the court in a timely and orderly manner so that the real issues in dispute may be dealt with expeditiously.
Practice Direction 4/2002
PD 4/2002 applies to any civil proceedings instituted by claim in the Brisbane registry of the Supreme Court from 1 June 2002 except those cases which are on the supervised case list or the commercial list. The case flow management system sets timelines by which proceedings should progress to specific stages, for example from service of the original claim to filing a defence and filing a request for trial date and monitors the progress of proceedings against those time lines. If the parties do not adhere to those time lines then the court may intervene.
What are the time lines?
A claim goes into the case flow management system once it is served on a defendant and the affidavit of service has been filed. A notice of intention to defend must be filed or a default judgment entered within 30 days from the date of service of the claim.
The occasion for case flow management intervention arises if a request for trial date has not been filed within 180 days of the filing of the notice of intention to defend or the last notice of intention to defend if there is more than one defendant. In such a case the registrar may call on the plaintiff by notice (a CFM2 notice) to show cause why the proceedings should not be deemed resolved
Show cause
When a CFM2 notice is sent to a party, that party has 21 days to show cause.
Paragraph 5 of PD 4/2002 provides that a party must respond to the notice to show cause in accordance with the requirements of that paragraph. The parties must show cause by:
| 1 | entering judgment |
| 2 | filing an application for trial date |
| 3 |
bringing an application to facilitate the timely determination of the proceeding matter |
| or | |
| 4 |
proposing a plan to facilitate the timely determination of the proceeding. |
If the party proposes a satisfactory plan for the timely determination of the matter (the plan) then the case flow manager in the registry will approve the plan and give directions in terms of the plan. A satisfactory plan will be detailed and include a specific date by which a request for trial date will be filed. It must also include a statement acknowledging that if the request for trial date is not filed by that specified date the matter will be deemed resolved.
If there is no case flow plan within the time prescribed or no acceptable case flow plan, the proceeding will be referred to a judge.
If there is non-compliance with the CFM2, or there is non-compliance with the case flow plan that results from the CFM2, the proceeding is referred to a judge.
The responsible judge at present is Justice Atkinson. From the commencement of 2008, she will be hearing case flow matters referred to her from the registry. If the parties do not provide a satisfactory plan, they will have directions for the timely determination of the matter imposed upon them by the court including a specific date by which a request for trial date must be filed. If those directions are not complied with the matter will be deemed resolved.
If a matter is deemed resolved, then it may be reactivated by an application supported by affidavit material:
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explaining and justifying the circumstances in which the proceeding was deemed resolved and |
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proposing a plan to facilitate its timely determination |
The court may reactivate the proceedings and give directions.
If the case settles
If at any time after a claim has been filed and served, the matter settles or is otherwise completed other than by court order, the parties should forthwith notify the registry by email to caseflowmanager@justice.qld.gov.au, facsimile transmission or letter. This ensures that the file can be closed so that the case flow management timetable no longer applies to the matter.
Last updated Thursday, 27 March 2008 8:51
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