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The pre-trial review should be fixed to occur after completion of discovery, exchange
of expert reports and witness statements. It should be listed to take place two to three
months before the trial date or the start of the trial period. At the pre-trial review, the
judge or master would :-
(a)
fix the starting date for the trial if a trial period has been fixed at the summons
for directions or case management conference stage;
(b)
confirm or vary the estimated length of the trial in the light of completed
interlocutory steps;
(c)
give any further directions needed (including any needed extensions of time for
interlocutory tasks not yet completed, on any appropriate "unless order" terms
or terms as to costs) provided that such directions will not impinge upon the
trial date.
As with other listing arrangements, the fixing of trial periods at the summons for
directions stage, the fixing of pre-trial reviews and finalising the start dates for the trial
at the pre-trial review are all matters of court management and administration which
are not susceptible to detailed regulation in rules of court. Such arrangements will
need to undergo a process of consultation and adjustment with experience under the
supervision of the Chief Judge of the High Court.
Recommendation 56: A date for a pre-trial review and the trial date or the trial
period should be fixed as milestone dates either at the summons for directions
or at any case management conference held.
(iii)
Time-limits between milestones
As suggested in Proposal 19, the parties should be allowed a great deal of flexibility
to vary time-limits by agreement for events falling between milestones (without the
need for applying to the court), so long as the milestone dates themselves are not
affected. A party needing more time for a particular intermediate step, could agree an
extension, but would then have to accelerate work on the next phase of the case so as
to make up for lost time before arrival of the next milestone date.
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