A listing system is used to manage the work of the High Court. Court cases are organised into a number of lists depending on the nature of the case. By using this system it is possible to ensure a more even distribution of work for Judges and to ensure that similar types of applications appear in Court together. The President of the High Court assigns Judges to be in charge of each list supported by other judges. You may not choose the judge your case comes before.
Cases come to be listed before the High Court in one of the following ways:-
1. The case is commenced by a document pursuant to the Rules of the Superior Courts and in respect of which a Court date is allocated by the Central Office (for example a Special Summons)
2. An appeal is lodged against an Order of the Circuit Court and the Central Office will list the matter for mention only
3. A case commenced by Plenary or Summary Summons has been set down for trial, certified if necessary, and a date is sought as set out in the table below
4. A pre-trial Notice of Motion has issued from the Central Office of the High Court, on notice to the other side, for an order directing that something be done within existing proceedings. The application will be set out in writing and is usually supported by an Affidavit. The Motion directs the parties to attend before a particular Court at a specified time on a specified day.
5. On occasion a case can only be commenced by applying ex parte to the Court in the first instance. This applies in most applications for judicial reviews. The circumstances in which such an application can be made are set out in Court rules and/or legislation.
6. A case stated has been filed. When the case is filed the Central Office assign a hearing date.
Legal Diary
The list for each Court for each day is published in the Legal Diary. The note at the top of each list and the “notices” section is used by List Registrars to notify practitioners of changes to the management of lists
Advance Warning List (ADV LIST)
This is a list of cases that a particular judge has seisin of and that are listed before him on a particular day. This list will always include any case that is being heard by the judge together with any motions or applications in respect of any other cases that he has been dealing with for example part heard cases, matters for mention, for case management or for judgment. The judge’s advance list is usually called first and is dealt with before the Court deals with any other matters before it that day
Find out more about each type of list and view a table with an Allocation of Hearing dates during the legal term below
