As from 1 November 2009 the process for filing a civil claim in the District Court has been radically altered. The focus of the new procedures is on judicial settlement conferences, rather than hearings in recognition of the fact that the vast majority of civil cases are settled. A claim is commenced by filing and serving a standard form, "notice of claim". A defendant who intends to defend a proceeding is required to serve a "notice of response" if the claim is to be defended. The parties then serve "information capsules" on each other, which set out the documents that they intend to rely on together with summaries of what their witnesses will say. There is no obligation to discover documents that may assist another party to the proceeding although it is possible to seek discovery of particular documents from another party at a later stage. If the plaintiff intends to pursue the claim then the proceeding is allocated a short trial or a judicial settlement conference. It is also no longer possible to seek summary judgment until after the parties have been to a judicial settlement conference. If the judicial settlement conference is unsuccessful then the Court will make directions as to the type of trial. For more information on the process see the FAQs for District Court civil proceedings.
