Explanatory note
This note is not part of the rules, but is intended to indicate their general effect.
These rules, which come into force on 1 July 2015, amend the High Court Rules (the principal rules).
The amendment to rule 1.3 of the principal rules changes the definition of working day to make it consistent with changes made to the Holidays Act 2003 in 2013.
Rules 6.6, 9.63, and 17.34 of the principal rules are amended to add an additional 2 days to the respective periods after which certain documents served by ordinary post are treated as having been served.
The amendment to rule 7.3 of the principal rules clarifies that memoranda related to case management conferences may be filed by fax or email. The amendment to rule 7.4 of the principal rules requires parties of a second, or any subsequent, case management conference to file a joint memorandum before the conference.
Rule 15.7 of the principal rules is amended to include in the definition of liquidated demand a demand that is quantified in, or can be precisely calculated on the basis of, or by reference to, an enactment relied on by the plaintiff. This change will enable plaintiffs to obtain a judgment by default for such claims, if those claims are not defended, rather than having to proceed by way of formal proof.
The amendments to rules 16.6, 27.39, and 27.40 of the principal rules replace references to a chartered accountant with references to a qualified statutory accountant (within the meaning of section 5(1) of the Financial Reporting Act 2013).
The amendment to rule 19.2 of the principal rules inserts 2 missing references.
The amendments to rules 24.37, 24.38, and 24.39 of the principal rules alter the periods for various actions in relation to applications for discharge from bankruptcy, the issuing of the Official Assignee’s report, and the period during which a creditor may object to an application for discharge, to allow more realistic periods for these actions to be carried out before a hearing. The amendments also remove an inconsistency between the period provided in rule 24.39 of the principal rules and the period provided in regulation 19 of the Insolvency (Personal Insolvency) Regulations 2007 for a creditor to file and serve a notice of opposition, and the grounds of opposition, to a discharge from bankruptcy.
These rules replace Schedule 2 of the principal rules (which relate to appropriate daily costs of recovery) to increase those rates to take account of changes in the New Zealand Producers Price Index since those rates were last adjusted in 2012.
Finally, these rules amend Schedule 10 of the principal rules to draw the attention of parties in judicial review proceedings to the need to have made initial disclosure, and to have considered the pleadings and the documents disclosed, by the time of the first case management conference.
Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.
Date of notification in Gazette: 28 May 2015.
These rules are administered by the Ministry of Justice.