Federal Court of Australia

Federal Court of Australia Practice News No. 66, January 2009

Notice to Practitioners and Litigants issued by the Chief Justice: Revised Practice Note No 17 - The use of technology in the management of discovery and the conduct of litigation

On 29 January 2009 the Chief Justice issued a new Practice Note No 17 – The use of technology in the management of discovery and the conduct of litigation which replaces the Practice Note No 17 – Guidelines for the Use of Information Technology in Litigation in Any Civil Matter issued in April 2000. A copy of the new Practice Note is available from the Court’s website.

The new Practice Note sets out the framework for the use of electronic documents in proceedings before the Federal Court and directs litigants and practitioners to a number of protocols and checklists (the related materials).

The aim of the Practice Note is to encourage and facilitate the effective use of technology in proceedings before the Court by:

setting out the Court’s expectations as to how technology should be used in the conduct of proceedings before the Court; and
recommending a framework for the management of documents electronically in the discovery process and the conduct of trials.

The Practice Note will apply, unless the Court otherwise orders, to proceedings in which the Court has ordered that discovery be given using electronic documents, or the hearing is to be conducted using electronic documents. It is expected that the Practice Note will apply in any proceeding in which:

a significant number (in most cases, 200 or more) of the documents relevant to the proceeding have been created or are stored in an electronic format; and
the use of technology in the management of documents and conduct of the proceeding will help facilitate the quick, inexpensive and efficient resolution of the matter.

The related materials mentioned in the Practice Note comprise:

a Default Document Management Protocol (suitable for matters involving from 200 to 5,000 documents in electronic format)
an Example of an Advanced Document Management Protocol (suitable for matters involving more that 5,000 documents in electronic format)
a Pre-discovery Conference Checklist (setting out matters that the parties are expected to consider when reaching an agreement on the protocols to be used for the electronic exchange of documents and other issues relating to efficient document management in a proceeding)
a Pre-trial Checklist (setting out matters that the parties are expected to consider in order to help ensure that technology is used efficiently and effectively in preparation for, and conduct of, the trial)
a Glossary of technical expressions used in the Practice Note and related materials.

A copy of the related materials may be obtained from the Court’s web site.

The aim of the document management protocols is to ensure that parties and their lawyers have sufficient information to be able to manage documents and related technology issues in light of what is expected by the Court. If the protocols are not suitable in the circumstances of a particular proceeding, it is open to the parties to agree to alternative protocols subject to the Court being satisfied that they are appropriate to its needs as well.

In each registry one or more registrars have been nominated to provide advice and assistance in relation to the implementation of the Practice Note. These registrars are referred to as ‘eRegistrars’. Lawyers or parties requiring information or assistance about the application of the Practice Note or the use of technology in litigation in the Court are encouraged to contact an eRegistrar. Contact details for the eRegistrars can be found at http://www.fedcourt.gov.au.

If you have any queries please contact me on (02) 9230 8336.

Philip Kellow
Acting Registrar
30 January 2009

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