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Consultees' responses were largely supportive and the Working Party makes the
following recommendations :-
(a)
Court-determined timetables which take into account the reasonable wishes of
the parties and the needs of the particular case should be introduced.
(b)
To help the court to fix a timetable, a questionnaire containing relevant
information and any directions proposed by the parties should be filed as part of
the summons for directions procedure, due allowances being made for
unrepresented litigants.
(c)
The timetable set by the court should be realistic and should fix milestone dates
normally consisting of a pre-trial review and the first day of trial or a specified
period during which the trial is to commence.
(d)
Where the case is such that the usual milestones cannot realistically be set at the
summons for directions stage, the court should set as the first milestone a case
management conference during which the pre-trial review and trial date or trial
period can be fixed in the light of what is known at that stage.
(e)
Milestone dates should in practice be treated as immutable with the parties
given flexibility to agree to variations of non-milestone timetables without
reference to the court. Only in the most exceptional circumstances should a
milestone date be changed.
(f)
Where a party cannot secure the agreement of all the other parties for a time
extension relating to a non-milestone event, the court should exercise its
discretion to grant such an extension only if sufficient grounds are shown and
provided that the extension does not necessitate changing the trial date or trial
period. If an extension is granted, it should involve an immediate "unless
order" specifying a suitable sanction in the event of further non-compliance.
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