Consolidated practice directions

parties. 
7. 
Practitioners wishing to use a laptop to present evidence or submissions 
should test the connections before the commencement of the sitting.
8. 
Where a practitioner wishes to use the court AV system with a laptop, 
the party must send to the Court a Courtroom Technology Booking 
Form not less than 14 days prior to the date on which the hearing is to 
commence. The 
Courtroom Technology Booking Form
 is annexed at the 
end of this Practice Direction. The reason for this requirement is to 
allow the Court to allocate a courtroom with the relevant capability. 
9. 
Counsel benches in all Perth courts and many circuit courts are 
equipped with power points for laptops and other devices. 
Video material on DVD and audio material on CD 
10. Courtrooms in Perth in which the Supreme Court sits have a device that 
can replay DVD-Video (MPEG2 format). The DVD player can also play 
standard audio CDs (not data CDs.). However practitioners are 
encouraged to bring their own laptops if possible, as familiarity with the 
laptop layout can assist practitioners to locate and display the relevant 
material. 
11. Material presented on a DVD or CD can originate from many sources. It 
is critical that proceedings are not disrupted or delayed due to 
incompatible systems, so parties intending to present DVD or CD 
material are to test their material on the Court's equipment not later 
than seven (7) days prior to the hearing. Testing arrangements can be 
made 
by 
emailing 
the 
Court 
Technology 
Officer 
at 
[e-mail]
. 
12. If audio or video material was not originally recorded in DVD or CD 
format, a party must immediately contact the Court Registry to 
determine whether an appropriate courtroom is available. Upon 

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1. Supreme Court Registry & Court of Appeal Office 
PD 1.2.6 
Supreme Court of Western Australia 
Consolidated Practice Direction
contacting the Court Registry, a court officer will advise whether a 
courtroom is available and the next course of action if the courtroom is
not available. Failure to contact the Registry may result in delays to the 
court proceedings and possible additional costs for the parties to the 
proceedings. 
13. Most audio or video material will be compatible with the Windows 
media player, VLC media player and GOM player. Other audio or video 
material such as video surveillance footage originally stored on a hard 
drive should be presented to the Court seven (7) days prior to the 
hearing to determine whether the evidence can be displayed in the 
courtroom. The reason is to allow the relevant material to be tendered 
as an exhibit through the tender of the DVD, CD or USB device.
14. The DVD, CD or USB device must be labelled with, or accompanied by, 
the information listed below: 
•
Name of proceedings; 
•
Name and contact details of lodging party; 
•
Court file number and name (party); 
•
List of all file names on storage device and a description of each 
file; 
•
The specific player / software that is required to display / play the 
evidence; 
•
Length of time of the audio/video recording
•
A signed declaration that the storage device has been checked for 
viruses; 
•
A signed declaration advising if the device contains objectionable 
material; and 
•
A statement as to whether the lodging party requires the return of 
the storage device. 
15. If the evidence needs to be reformatted to enable the evidence to be 
displayed in the courtroom, there will need to be continuity evidence 
given to support the tender of the actual exhibit in the absence of 
agreement between the parties. 
16. The relevant disc or USB device should be made available to the 
associate to the trial Judge two clear days prior to the commencement of 
the hearing so that the associate can make sure that the relevant 
presentation device is turned on and available when required by the 
practitioner. Note also the testing required of the parties wishing to use 
the disc or USB device. That testing is referred to in par 11. 

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1. Supreme Court Registry & Court of Appeal Office 
PD 1.2.6 
Supreme Court of Western Australia 
Consolidated Practice Direction
17. From time to time when practitioners in a trial have sought to play an 
audio recording on a CD or DVD, the sound produced has been barely 
audible in the courtroom. The reason for this appears to have been that 
the sound level on the recording was at a lower than usual audio level 
(for example, a recording of a telephone intercept).
18. Practitioners are requested to check the audio levels of any recording to 
be played in court. If the recording is quiet, practitioners are requested 
to ascertain from the source of the recording whether the recording level 
can be improved and then make arrangements to test whether the 
recording will be audible when played on the court's audio systems.
These arrangements can be made by emailing the Court Technology 
Officer at 
[e-mail]
 not less than seven (7) days prior to 
the hearing.