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 The body of the Practice Note will contain its new operative date and a history of amendments and a copy of the superseded version will be retained in the Practice Notes Archive.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
SC CR 1 Case Management Procedure for Criminal Trials (First revision) This Practice Note was issued on 1 January 2017 and replaced Practice Notes No. 4 of 2010 and No. 6 of 2014. The Practice Note, as revised, applies to all matters listed for post-committal… |
Criminal Division | SC CR 1 Case Management Procedure for Criminal Trials (First revision) (docx 45.95KB) SC CR 1 Case Management Procedure for Criminal Trials (First revision) (pdf 186.37KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to outline the procedure by which the Court will consider to waive the attendance of the child at 21 day rollovers. | Criminal Division | Practice Note SC CR 10 (docx 47.23KB) Practice Note SC CR 10 (pdf 194.02KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to set out the procedure for applications for a sentence indication. | Criminal Division | SC CR 11 - Applications for sentence indications (pdf 246.25KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to centralise the administrative management of applications and appeals with respect to bail in the Registry and to specify the standard requirements necessary… | Criminal Division | Practice Note SC CR 2 - Bail applications and appeals (pdf 242.17KB) Practice Note SC CR 2 - Bail applications and appeals (docx 48.77KB) | |
| 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 describe the procedures to be followed in sentencing hearings. This version (the third revision) replaces the previous version (the second revision) and… | Criminal Division | SC CR 4 Sentencing Hearings (Third Revision) (pdf 279.02KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to describe the procedures to be followed in applications and reviews heard under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997. Applications… | Criminal Division | SC CR 5 Crimes Mental Impairment (pdf 231.03KB) SC CR 5 Crimes Mental Impairment (docx 57.31KB) | |
| The purpose of this Practice Note is to describe the procedures to be followed in relation to applications listed in paragraph 4.1 of this Note, or of a similar nature, or are related to an… | Criminal Division | SC CR 6 Applications in the Criminal Division (docx 52.60KB) SC CR 6 Applications in the Criminal Division (pdf 138.99KB) | |
| This Practice Note was issued on 30 March 2017 and will apply to sentencing hearings in the Supreme Court and the County Court commenced on or after 1 July 2017, but only to expert evidence which… | Criminal Division | SC CR 7 Expert reports on mental functioning of offenders (docx 74.03KB) SC CR 7 Expert reports on mental functioning of offenders (pdf 235.90KB) | |
| This Practice Note was issued on 1 January 2019. The Practice Note applies to all matters listed for post-committal directions hearings on or after 1 January 2019. Practice Note SC CR 1 (… | Criminal Division | SC CR 8 Case Management Procedure for Criminal Trials (docx 46.91KB) SC CR 8 Case Management Procedure for Criminal Trials (pdf 244.67KB) |