Judicial settlement conferences
The allocation of judicial settlement conferences in the High Court: practice as at February 2013
In 2012 the High Court undertook a review of how judicial settlement conferences are allocated to proceedings.
In large part, this review was undertaken because the volume of judicial settlement conference work was leaving inadequate time for associate judges to deal with core judicial (adjudicative) work. Following this review it was decided that from 1 February 2013 a judicial settlement conference will only be allocated where private mediation is, for some reason, inappropriate.
Decisions on the allocation of judicial settlement conferences
There are no rigid rules about when a judicial settlement conference will be allocated. The approach to requests for judicial settlement conferences will be that they are appropriate in cases unlikely to settle without judicial input, whether because of the nature of the issues, the intransigence of the parties (such as where a mediation has already failed) or because the parties cannot afford private mediation. Given the nature of the High Court jurisdiction, the latter would probably be an unusual case.
Role of judicial settlement conferences in the High Court
During consultation with the profession in relation to case management, it also became apparent that there was some confusion about the role of judicial settlement conferences in the High Court. Some view judicial settlement conferences as an opportunity to obtain a “rough and ready” judicial view on the merits of the proceeding. In a judicial settlement conference in the High Court, the judge will not express a view in the nature of an interim judgment or ruling on the case and will not be involved in caucusing. However, because the process is designed to enable the parties to self-evaluate their position, the parties can expect that the issues will be examined and each will have the opportunity of testing the other side’s position on an issue.
The use of issues conference
Under the case management rules which came into effect on 1 February 2013, there is an opportunity to request an issues conference and in some cases an issues conference will be directed by a judge. Issues conferences are longer style case management conferences, the principal purpose of which is to identify and refine the issues, working both with counsel and the parties on this task. It is anticipated that at least in complex litigation, the issues conferences will largely displace the need for judicial settlement conferences.
For further information about judicial settlement conferences in the High Court please see the judicial settlement conference guidelines below.