On 5 April 2016, the Federal Court of Australia held a consultation forum at the NSW Registry to seek feedback on the draft Practice Notes in the Commercial and Corporations National Practice Area. The forum was presented by Justice Foster.
The Federal Court of Australia is in the process of implementing a National Court Framework (NCF).
The key purpose of the NCF is to reinvigorate its approach to case management by further modernising the court’s operations so that the court is better placed to meet the demands of litigants, nationally and internationally.
Under the NCF, almost all the work of the Court will be divided into National Practice Areas (NPAs), including the Commercial and Corporations NPA which has the following sub-areas:
- Commercial Contracts, Banking, Finance and Insurance;
- Corporations & Corporate Insolvency;
- General & Personal Insolvency;
- Economic Regulator, Competition & Access;
- Regulator & Consumer Protection; and
- International Commercial Arbitration.
The key component of this reform is the review of the court’s practice documents to ensure nationally consistent and simplified practice.
After extensive internal consultation process involving the judges of the court, various draft Practice Notes have been prepared, copies of which can be found here.
Justice Foster spoke at the forum and indicated that the judges are in the process of finalising the draft practice notes and that this process should be completed by the beginning of the next financial year.
For more information contact ERA Legal.