PART 1OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE

Court’s duty to manage cases1.4

1

The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases.

2

Active case management includes —

a

encouraging the parties to co-operate with each other in the conduct of the proceedings;

b

identifying the issues at an early stage;

c

deciding promptly which issues need full investigation and trial and accordingly disposing summarily of the others;

d

deciding the order in which issues are to be resolved;

e

encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution(GL) procedure if the court considers that appropriate and facilitating the use of such procedure;

f

helping the parties to settle the whole or part of the case;

g

fixing timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the case;

h

considering whether the likely benefits of taking a particular step justify the cost of taking it;

i

dealing with as many aspects of the case as it can on the same occasion;

j

dealing with the case without the parties needing to attend at court;

k

making use of technology; and

l

giving directions to ensure that the trial of a case proceeds quickly and efficiently.