Case Management Process
Where leave has been granted, the Chief Justice assigns the appeal to a judge of the Supreme Court for the purposes of case management. This is simply to ensure that the procedural requirements, as laid down in the relevant Rules of the Superior Courts and Practice Directions, are complied with and the appeal proceeds in an efficient manner. In addition, it provides an early opportunity for all involved to focus on the precise legal arguments to be made at the oral hearing.
Where leave to appeal has been granted, the applicant files a Notice of Intention to Proceed with Appeal, and the parties must then prepare and file written submissions setting out their respective reasons as to why the decision being appealed is wrong and should be reversed or is right and should be upheld. The legal submissions of the parties generally rely on previous court decisions in support of their arguments. The written submissions are reviewed by the judges assigned to hear the appeal before the oral hearing is held.
When written submissions are filed, a case management hearing is arranged and the parties file a joint document setting out matters to be addressed by the case management judge. Practical matters like the duration of the oral appeal are also determined, and the case management judge may issue directions relating to the documentation that the judges assigned to hear the appeal may require in order to decide the appeal.
For further information on the case management process, please refer to paragraph 19 of Practice Direction SC19.