Telephone Hearings

Telephone Hearings in relation to the Technology and Construction Court

[rtbs name=”technology-and-construction-court”]Depending on the nature of the application and the extent of any dispute between the parties, the Technology and Construction Court is content to deal with many case management matters and other interlocutory applications by way of a telephone conference. Whilst it is not possible to lay down mandatory rules as to what applications should be dealt with in this way (rather than by way of an oral hearing in court), it may be helpful to identify certain situations which commonly arise and which can conveniently be dealt with by way of a telephone conference. (a) If the location of the Technology and Construction Court is inconvenient for one or more of the parties then the case management conference and the Pre-trial Review could, in the alternative to the procedure set out in Section 4.2 above, take place by way of a telephone conference. The judge’s permission for such a procedure must be sought in advance. (b) If the parties are broadly agreed on the orders to be made by the court, but they are in dispute in respect of one or two particular matters, then a telephone hearing is a convenient way in which those outstanding matters can be dealt with by the parties and the assigned judge. (c) Similarly, specific arguments about costs, once a substantive application has been disposed of, or arguments consequential on a particular judgment or order having been handed down, may also conveniently be dealt with by way of telephone hearing. (d) Other applications which, depending on their size and importance, may conveniently be dealt with by way of a telephone hearing include limited applications in respect of disclosure and specific applications as to the scope and content of factual or expert evidence exchanged by the parties. Telephone hearings are not generally suitable for matters which are likely to last for more than an hour (although the judge may be prepared, in an appropriate case, to list a longer application for a telephone hearing) or which require extensive reference to documents. Practical matters. Telephone hearings can be listed at any time between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 pm, subject to the convenience of the parties and the availability of the judge. It is not essential that all parties are on the telephone when those that are not find it more convenient to come to court. Any party, who wishes to have an application dealt with by telephone, should make such request by letter or e-mail to the judge’s clerk, sending copies to all other parties. Except in cases of urgency, the judge will allow a period of two working days for the other parties to comment upon that request before deciding whether to deal with the application by telephone. If permission is given for a telephone hearing, the Technology and Construction Court will normally indicate which party is to make all the necessary arrangements. In most cases, it will be the applicant. The procedure to be followed in setting up and holding a telephone hearing is generally that set out in section 6 of the Practice Direction 23A supplementing Civil Procedure Rules Part 23 and the Technology and Construction Court in London and at Regional Centres are “telephone conference enabled courts” for the purposes of that section. The party making arrangements for the telephone hearing must ensure that all parties and the judge have a bundle for that hearing with identical pagination. It is vital that the judge has all the necessary papers, in good time before the telephone conference, in order that it can be conducted efficiently and effectively. Save in very simple cases involving no or only minimal amounts of documentation, it is usually essential that any bundle provided be paginated for a telephone hearing, failing which the judge may cancel it.