1. Supreme Court Registry & Court of Appeal Office
PD 1.2.6
Supreme Court of Western Australia
Consolidated Practice Direction
30. The following requirements apply:
Media
Requirements
Closed circuit TV
(eg for
complainants and
special witnesses)
•
Orders required pursuant to
Evidence Act 1906
(WA) (may be made by consent).
•
A Courtroom Technology Booking Request
form is to be sent to Registry 14 days prior to
the hearing so
that a courtroom with the
relevant capability can be allocated.
Media
Requirements
Video conference
•
For reception of evidence, order required
pursuant to
Evidence Act 1906
(WA) s 121 (may
be made by consent).
•
Permission
for
counsel
to
appear
at
interlocutory
hearings
is
dealt
with
administratively, by letter or email to the
associate to the judicial officer presiding over
the hearing. Such request is to be sent to the
relevant associate
not less than three days
before the hearing date.
•
A Video Link Booking Request Form is to be
sent to the Court not less than 14 days before
the hearing date (in the form published by the
Court on the website).
•
The requesting party also needs to book the
facility from which the witness will give
evidence.
•
Fees may apply (
Evidence (Video and Audio Link
Fees and Expenses) Regulations 1999
).
1. Supreme Court Registry & Court of Appeal Office
PD 1.2.6
Supreme Court of Western Australia
Consolidated Practice Direction
Audio conference
•
For reception of evidence, order required
pursuant to
Evidence Act 1906
(WA) s 121.
•
Permission
for
counsel
to
appear
at
interlocutory
hearings
is
dealt
with
administratively, by letter or email to the
associate to the judicial officer presiding over
the hearing. Such request should be sent to the
relevant associate not less than three days
before
the hearing date, however that time
may be abridged at the discretion of the
judicial officer.
•
Counsel appearing by audio conference must
provide a
direct
telephone contact number to
be called by the Court during the hearing.
Counsel should do their utmost to ensure that
the Court is not connected to administrative
staff or placed on 'hold'
function during a
hearing.
31. The Court's policy on witnesses giving evidence by video link is set out
in Practice Direction 1.2.7 - Taking of Evidence by Video or Audio Link.
The Practice Direction imposes an obligation on a party who has
obtained an order for the use of video link facilities to use reasonable
endeavours to ensure that the video link facility is one set out in the
Court's list of
Preferred Video Link Facilities
.
The Practice Direction
also sets out some specific obligations to ensure that the dignity and
solemnity of the Court is maintained throughout the reception of the
evidence by video link or audio link.
31A. Whether counsel may appear remotely at interlocutory hearings (by
either video or audio conference) is at the discretion of the judicial
officer. Counsel seeking to appear remotely should make their request
to the judicial officer in accordance with par 30 above. The parties
should not file consent orders agreeing to remote appearances.
31B.
For directions hearings, appearance of counsel by audio conference is
usually preferable to video conference.