Practice Notes provide information about particular aspects of the Court's practice, procedure and organisation. They sit alongside the Rules of Court to provide guidance in relation to the conduct of proceedings. Lawyers with the conduct of proceedings are expected to be familiar with their content and act in accordance with that guidance unless directed otherwise.
From 30 January 2017 the Court introduces a new system of publishing and organising its Practice Notes to make them easier to locate and navigate and ensure the information provided is up to date.
Each Practice Note is designated with the letter "SC" followed by an abbreviation denoting the Division of the Court to which it applies or the General designation followed by a number.
| SC CA | Court of Appeal |
| SC CC | Commercial Court |
| SC CL | Common Law Division |
| SC CR | Criminal Division |
| SC GEN | General |
Where changes are made to a Practice Note, it will retain its designation. The body of the Practice Note will contain its new operative date and a history of amendments and a copy of the superseded version will be retained in the Practice Notes Archive.
Notices to the Profession provide information to practitioners about matters of a more temporal nature such as advising which judges are responsible for which specialist lists for the year; reminders to the profession about certain rules and practices if it appears there is confusion or non-compliance and notices from the Prothonotary or a Registrar about a matter of registry practice.
| Practice note | Division | Date of publication | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| This Practice Note was developed by the Forensic Evidence Working Group, comprising Judges, forensic scientists and legal practitioners (including representative of the Office of Public Prosecutions… | Criminal Division | SC CR 3 Expert Evidence in Criminal Trials (docx 63.74KB) SC CR 3 Expert Evidence in Criminal Trials (pdf 156.80KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to explain the Court’s processes with respect to the issue of Practice Notes and Notices to the Profession. | General | SC GEN 1 Practice Notes and Notices to the Profession (docx 52.12KB) SC GEN 1 Practice Notes and Notices to the Profession (pdf 118.01KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out the requirements in relation to the citation of authorities and legislation and the provision of those to the Court and other parties. | General | SC GEN 3 Authorities and Legislation (docx 51.11KB) SC GEN 3 Authorities and Legislation (pdf 128.63KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out matters of protocol in relation to proceedings in the Supreme Court. | General | SC GEN 4 Custom and Protocol (docx 54.57KB) SC GEN 4 Custom and Protocol (pdf 139.27KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out the administrative procedure for the filing of consent orders with the Court. | General | SC GEN 12 Consent Orders (docx 52.55KB) SC GEN 12 Consent Orders (pdf 204.93KB) | |
SC GEN 14 Notification of Matters under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out practices and expectations of parties in relation to notices to be provided under s 35 of the Charter |
General | SC GEN 14 Notification of Matters under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (docx 54.58KB) SC GEN 14 Notification of Matters under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (pdf 147.68KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out the procedure for bringing an application before the Supreme Court to enforce a foreign judgment under common law principles. Some guidance is also… | General | SC GEN 15 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (docx 52.65KB) SC GEN 15 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (pdf 140.63KB) | |
| This Practice Note supplements Order 37B of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 relating to search orders (also known as Anton Piller orders after Anton Piller KG v Manufacturing… | General | SC GEN 16 Search Orders (docx 56.19KB) SC GEN 16 Search Orders (pdf 131.01KB) | |
| This Practice Note supplements Order 37A of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 relating to freezing orders (also known as ‘Mareva orders’ after Mareva Compania Naviera SA v… | General | SC GEN 17 Freezing Orders (docx 54.17KB) SC GEN 17 Freezing Orders (pdf 129.17KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to describe the procedures to be followed in relation to applications for admission where the Victorian Legal Admissions Board has recommended in the compliance… | General | SC GEN 18 Conditional Admission (docx 50.93KB) SC GEN 18 Conditional Admission (pdf 146.62KB) |