There is no fixed number in the Rules. It is settled case by case, and it is one of the four things the Registrar decides at the appointment.
Order 7 Rule 42(c)
At the appointment to settle the appeal book, the Registrar shall determine the number of copies of the appeal book required.
The bench. The Court sits with at least three Judges under section 161(2) of the Constitution, and with five in a matter of importance. Each Judge needs a copy.
The parties. Each separately represented respondent gets one under Rule 44(b).
The Court file. The examined copy is filed under Rule 43(10) and the Registrar retains copies.
Ask the registry what number to expect when you obtain the appointment under Rule 33, so that copying can be arranged without a second run.
Order 7 Rule 44
Unless the court or a Judge otherwise orders, the appellant shall —
(a) lodge with the Registrar; and
(b) serve on each of the respondents separately represented,
copies of the appeal book as determined under Rule 42 sub-rule (c) in accordance with Order 13 rule 7(2).
Two respondents represented by the same firm receive one copy between them. Two represented by different firms receive one each. The obligation attaches to representation, not to the number of parties.
An unrepresented respondent is separately represented for this purpose in the practical sense that they are not covered by anyone else’s copy, and should be served.
The cross-reference
Order 13 Rule 7(2): No substantive matter shall be added to the Callover List unless a book is filed.
Rule 7(6): A substantive matter shall be added to the Call over List when the Book is filed.
So lodging the copies is not an administrative afterthought. It is the act that puts the appeal into the queue for a hearing date. Until it happens, the appeal exists but cannot be listed.
Order 13 Rule 7(7): the Registrar shall call all matters on the call over list, once every month on the second Tuesday of the month, and may refer matters to the Directions List for directions on setting the matter down, or remove a matter from the call over list to the Summary Determination list.
Missing a callover because the book was lodged a week late costs a month. See setting down for hearing.
Copies and volumes are different things
A volume is a physical binder. Rule 43(2) provides that the thickness of any one volume of the appeal book shall not exceed 38 mm, so a large record becomes several volumes.
A copy is a complete set of all the volumes. Where the Registrar determines that eight copies are required and the record runs to three volumes, that is twenty-four bound books.
Work the arithmetic out before ordering the copying, and paginate continuously across volumes so that a single page number identifies one place in the whole book.
The consequence of not lodging
Because Order 13 Rule 7(2) provides that no substantive matter shall be added to the Callover List unless a book is filed, an appeal whose copies have not been lodged sits outside the listing process entirely. It is not refused a date; it is never considered for one.
And an appellant who has not lodged has not done an act required to be done by or under these rules within Order 7 Rule 48, which allows the Court or a Judge to dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution or to fix a time peremptorily with dismissal to follow on non-compliance.
See want of prosecution.
Who pays for the copies
Rule 45 — subject to s 29 of the Act the costs of the appeal book are costs in the appeal unless the court otherwise orders.
Rule 46 — the costs of copies of unnecessary documents or of documents copied at unnecessary length shall not be allowed.
The appellant funds the book up front and recovers it as part of the costs of the appeal if successful — but only to the extent the contents were justified. See who pays.
Four things worth doing
Confirm the number in writing after the settlement, so there is no argument later about what the Registrar determined.
Print one proof copy first and examine it against the originals under Rule 43(9) before running the rest. Correcting one copy is cheaper than correcting eight.
Keep a spare. Volumes go missing, and a set held back is worth its cost.
Retain a paginated electronic version matching the printed pagination. It makes preparing written submissions and the extract of argument far quicker, and it is what you will need if further copies are called for.
“Unless the court or a Judge otherwise orders”
Where the number determined is impractical — a very large record, or an unrepresented appellant — the number can be varied on application, and Order 11 Rule 10 allows the Registrar, after consultation with the Chief Justice, to waive compliance with the provisions on the preparation of documents or appeal books where compliance would cause unnecessary hardship, expense or delay.
Raise the difficulty at the settlement, when the number is being fixed, rather than after failing to produce the copies.
Sources
- Supreme Court Rules 2012 — O 7 rr 33, 42–46; O 11 r 10; O 13 r 7
- Supreme Court Act (Chapter 37) — s 29
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.