Order 13 Division 13 is one of the most prescriptive parts of the Listings Rules, and it reflects a deliberate policy: hearing dates in the Supreme Court are not to be treated as movable.
Order 13 Rule 13
(1) Proceedings in a Directions Hearing or Status Conference shall not be adjourned generally, even by consent.
(2) If parties require time to consider their position or negotiate a settlement, the proceedings may, with the approval of the Duty Judge, be adjourned for a comparatively lengthy period, but always to a fixed date, with liberty to restore the matter to the Call over List, Directions Hearing or Status Conference within that time.
An adjournment sine die — to no date at all — is prohibited. An adjournment to a fixed date, even a distant one, is available with the Duty Judge’s approval.
So parties who are negotiating can get real time, provided they take a date and liberty to restore. What they cannot do is take the matter out of the system.
Rule 13(3) to (5)
(3) A substantive hearing of a matter shall not be adjourned unless sufficient cause is shown to the Court, by the party applying for an adjournment.
(4) The application shall be in writing, supported by affidavit, to the Bench before whom the appeal is listed for hearing and not to any other Judge(s) or another Bench.
(5) The application must be filed and served 3 clear days before the date allocated for the hearing.
Sufficient cause — and the onus is expressly on the applicant. Counsel’s convenience, a late brief, or an unprepared submission is not cause.
In writing, with an affidavit — not an application from the bar table on the morning.
To the bench hearing the matter — not to the Duty Judge, and not to the Registrar. Rule 13(4) is explicit: not to any other Judge(s) or another Bench.
Three clear days — which means the decision to seek an adjournment has to be made the week before, not the night before.
What might qualify
Likely to qualify: the serious illness of a party or of counsel with carriage; the death of a party requiring substitution; a genuinely late-emerging development that changes the issues; the unavailability of a critical part of the record through no fault of the applicant; a settlement in the course of being documented.
Unlikely to qualify: counsel being briefed in another matter; submissions not being ready; a party being overseas; a wish for more time to consider authorities; the fact that the other side consents.
Consent is worth noting, but Rule 13(1) shows the Rules do not treat consent as decisive even at the directions stage. The listing is the Court’s, not the parties’.
Order 13 Rule 12(4)
If a matter is not heard at the appointed time it must not be adjourned generally. The matter must be fixed or adjourned to either the next sittings of the Court or the next call over or to the next Directions Hearing, whichever is appropriate.
The same policy applies: a matter that is not reached goes back into the cycle at a defined point, rather than falling out of it.
If for any reason an appeal is not heard or disposed of at the sittings of the court for which it was set down, it shall, subject to any direction which may be given by the court or by a Judge, stand adjourned to the next sittings of the court.
That is automatic. An appeal not reached does not need an application; it stands adjourned by operation of the rule.
What happens if you simply do not come
At the hearing, the Court may exercise its discretion to summarily hear and determine any matter where the appellant fails to comply with directions issued at a Directions Hearing or Status Conference.
The Court may also hear a party’s application to summarily dismiss for failure to comply with directions. That application must be in writing and supported by an affidavit, served on the respondent party one clear working day before the hearing.
So an appellant who is not ready and has not applied for an adjournment in time faces summary determination rather than a fresh date.
If you think you will need one
1. Raise it at the Status Conference. Order 13 Rule 10(3) allows the Duty Judge, after hearing the parties, to confirm the hearing date, or adjourn the Status Conference as is necessary, to enable the parties to fully comply with directions. That is the right moment, and it is a week before the sittings.
2. Tell the other side early and seek consent, so that the application is not opposed on top of everything else.
3. File in time. Three clear days, in writing, with an affidavit, to the bench.
4. Offer a solution. A short adjournment to a named date, an undertaking to file submissions by a date, an offer on the costs thrown away. A bench asked to move a date is far more receptive to an application that limits the damage.
Sources
- Supreme Court Rules 2012 — O 7 r 61; O 13 rr 10, 12, 13
- Supreme Court Act (Chapter 37) — ss 5, 11
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Supreme Court Rules 2012 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.