New South Wales Consolidated Acts New South Wales Consolidated Acts
(1) In this Schedule:
"court" includes any person or body that exercises judicial, magisterial or coronial functions, and includes any other person or body that is declared by the regulations to be a court for the purposes of this Schedule.
"ECM court" means a court in respect of which the use of an ECM system is authorised pursuant to an order in force under clause 3.
"ECM system" means an electronic case management system established under clause 2.
(2) In this Schedule, a reference to "filing" a document with an ECM court includes a reference to any other method of lodging a document with, or otherwise sending a document to, the court.
(1) The Attorney General may establish an electronic case management system to do any one or more of the following:(a) to enable documents with respect to legal proceedings to be created in electronic form,(b) to enable documents with respect to legal proceedings to be filed in electronic form,(c) to enable documents with respect to legal proceedings to be issued in electronic form,(d) to enable documents with respect to legal proceedings to be used in electronic form,(e) to enable documents with respect to legal proceedings to be served in electronic form,(f) to enable parties to legal proceedings to communicate in electronic form with other parties to the proceedings and with the court before which the proceedings are being taken,(g) to enable information concerning the progress of legal proceedings to be provided in electronic form to parties to the proceedings and to members of the public generally,(h) to enable information concerning legal proceedings to be exchanged in electronic form between such persons or bodies as are prescribed by rules of court.
(2) For the purposes of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 , the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the State Records Act 1998 , information contained in the ECM system with respect to proceedings in an ECM court (including proceedings that have been finally disposed of) is taken to be information concerning the judicial functions of that court.
(3) An order establishing an electronic case management system under this clause may be published on the NSW legislation website or in such other manner as determined by the Attorney General.
Note: For establishment of electronic case management systems under this clause see Gazettes No 132 of 28.10.2005, p 9221 and No 75 of 9.6.2006, p 4246.
The Attorney General may, by order published on the NSW legislation website, authorise the use of an ECM system by such courts, and for such purposes, as are specified in the order.
Any provision of any law of this jurisdiction that requires a document filed with, or issued by, an ECM court to be in writing is satisfied if the document is filed or issued by means of the ECM system in accordance with rules of court.
(1) Any provision of any law of this jurisdiction that requires a document that is filed with, or issued by, an ECM court to be signed or sealed is satisfied, in the case of a document that is filed or issued by means of the ECM system, if the document:(a) is authenticated by means of a facsimile of the relevant signature or seal, or(b) is authenticated in some other manner in accordance with rules of court.
(2) If authenticated as referred to in subclause (1) (a) or (b), a document that is filed with, or issued by, an ECM court by means of the ECM system has the same effect as a document that has been duly signed or sealed.
Any provision of any law of this jurisdiction that requires an original or certified document to be filed with an ECM court is satisfied by the filing of a copy of the document by means of the ECM system in accordance with rules of court.
Any provision of any law of this jurisdiction that requires multiple copies of a document to be filed or served does not apply to:
(a) a document that is filed with an ECM court by means of the ECM system, or
(b) a document that, having been filed with an ECM court, is served in electronic form, whether by means of the ECM system or otherwise.
A document created by means of the ECM system:
(a) in the case of a document created by an ECM court, being a document that is authorised or required to be issued by the court, is taken to have been issued by the court, or
(b) in the case of a document created by a party to proceedings in an ECM court, being a document that is authorised or required to be filed by the party, is taken to have been filed by the party.
(1) This clause applies to any hearing of proceedings before an ECM court, other than a hearing conducted for the purpose of receiving oral evidence.
(2) A hearing to which this clause applies may be conducted by electronic communication sent and received by means of the ECM system, but only if the rules of court so provide.
(1) This clause applies to proceedings:(a) that are commenced in a court by a document filed by means of the ECM system, or(b) that are remitted to a court under this clause.
(2) On determining that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the whole or any part of the proceedings, the court:(a) may remit the proceedings to such other court as appears to it to have jurisdiction to do so, and(b) may make such other orders as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.
(3) Proceedings that are remitted to a court under this clause are taken to have been commenced in that court on the date on which they were originally commenced.
For the purpose of ascertaining when it has occurred, any transaction effected by means of the ECM system is taken to have occurred in Sydney.
Note: Persons accessing the ECM system from within Broken Hill or Lord Howe Island will therefore be taken to have done so according to New South Wales standard time or New South Wales summer time, as the case requires, and not according to standard time or summer time in Broken Hill or Lord Howe Island.
(1) No action for defamation or breach of confidence lies against the State or any other person by reason only of the publication, by means of the ECM system, of information contained in that system.
(2) For the purposes of the law relating to defamation and breach of confidence, the granting of access to information contained in the ECM system does not constitute an authorisation or approval of the publication of the information by the person to whom access is granted.
Any document that (having been filed in, or issued by, an ECM court by means of the ECM system) is served electronically, whether by means of the ECM system or otherwise:
(a) if served after 5.00pm on any day, is taken (subject to paragraph (b)) to have been served on the next day, and
(b) if served on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, is taken to have been served on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
(1) In the case of an ECM court whose practice and procedure are governed by rules of court, the powers of the person or body by whom such rules are made include a power to make rules, not inconsistent with this Schedule, with respect to ECM matters.
(2) In the case of an ECM court whose practice and procedure are governed by regulations, the powers of the person or body by whom such regulations are made include a power to make regulations, not inconsistent with this Schedule, with respect to the ECM matters.
(3) The following matters are "ECM matters" for the purposes of this clause:(a) the kinds of proceedings in respect of which the ECM system may or must be used in relation to a court,(b) the kinds of documents that may or must be filed in a court by means of the ECM system,(c) the kinds of documents that may or must be issued by a court by means of the ECM system,(d) the practice and procedure to be followed in connection with:(i) documents that are filed in a court, or issued by a court, by means of the ECM system, and(ii) the conduct of hearings by electronic communication sent by means of the ECM system,(e) the persons to whom, the circumstances in which and the conditions on which access may be given to information contained on the ECM system in relation to the court and proceedings before a court,(f) any other matter with respect to the operation, use or control of the ECM system in relation to a court and proceedings before a court.
(1) The regulations may contain provisions of a savings or transitional nature consequent on the granting or withdrawal of the Attorney General’s authorisation of the use of the ECM system in relation to a court by operation of an order under clause 3.
(2) If the regulations so provide, such a provision has effect despite anything to the contrary in this or any other Act or law with respect to the following matters:(a) the practice or procedure of a court,(b) the filing, issue or service of documents in connection with proceedings in a court,(c) the evidentiary status of documents in proceedings before a court.
This Schedule applies to proceedings that have been remitted to an ECM court by a court that is not an ECM court (including a court of the Commonwealth or a court of some other State or Territory) in the same way as it applies to proceedings that have originated in an ECM court.
For the purposes of this Schedule, proceedings on an application for the assessment of costs under Division 11 of Part 3.2 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 are taken to be proceedings in the Supreme Court.
Note: The ECM system will therefore apply to such proceedings when it applies to proceedings before the Supreme Court, and in its application to such proceedings will be subject to any rules of the Supreme Court that are made under the power conferred by clause 14.
Part 2 does not apply to matters relating to the practice or procedure of a court including, in particular, matters relating to the filing, issue or service of documents.