This update provides important information about Applications for Review filed after close of filing on Friday 15 November 2024.
Please be advised that an Application for Review filed on or after 15 November 2024 may not be able to be heard prior to the commencement of the Court shutdown period, being close of business, Tuesday 24 December 2024.
Hearing dates will be allocated having regard to urgency considerations and the overall business of each court.
If parties consent to a Judge determining the Application on the papers without an oral hearing, they are likely to be determined more quickly than those requiring a hearing. Parties are required to confer prior to the filing of any Application for Review to discuss whether they consent to this approach. A hearing on the papers may be jointly requested at the time of filing.
Please be reminded that the Court may list an Application for Review for hearing electronically within 48 hours’ notice being provided to the parties. Requests for an adjournment or alternative re-listing will only be considered by Chambers where it is jointly made and in exceptional circumstances. Failure to attend a hearing date may result in an order for costs.
Parties are reminded of subrule 14.07(2) as to the evidence that may be relied upon in support of an Application for Review. Any further affidavit or exhibit cannot be relied upon without leave of the court.
In the event that an Application for Review is filed in proceedings that are already listed for final hearing within approximately 3 months from the date of filing, the Application for Review will be referred to the Judge hearing the substantive proceedings for consideration of listing, including whether the Application for Review should be listed at the commencement of the substantive final hearing.
Practitioners should carefully consider the utility and merit of an Application for Review before it is made. In financial year 2023-24, only 2.5% of all final order applications and interim applications finalised by Registrars were reviewed, and of those, only 1 in 10 were upheld or partially upheld.
The Judge hearing the Application for Review may order costs against parties or practitioners in circumstances where the Judge determines that the Application for Review is frivolous or without merit, or where there has been non-compliance with the Rules of the Court.
Practitioners and parties are also reminded of the overarching purpose of family law case management and the Central Practice Direction: Family Law Case Management, together with past judgments (some of which are listed below) when considering whether an Application for Review will be filed.
