Duties to the court Flashcards
(12 cards)
- B has overriding duty to the court to act with ind in interests of AoJ
A barrister has an overriding duty to the court to act with independence in the interests of the administration of justice.
- Not deceive or knowingly/recklessly mislead court
A barrister must not deceive or knowingly or recklessly mislead the court.
- Correct misleading statement asap after becoming aware
A barrister must take all necessary steps to correct any misleading statement made by the barrister to a court as soon as possible after the barrister becomes aware that the statement was misleading.
- Alert opponent/Crt of concession made by mistake
A barrister must alert the opponent and if necessary inform the court if any express concession made in the course of a trial in civil proceedings by the opponent about evidence, case-law or legislation is to the knowledge of the barrister contrary to the true position and is believed by the barrister to have been made by mistake.
- Ex parte application – disclose to crt opp argument re grant of relief/limits to relief
A barrister seeking any interlocutory relief in an ex parte application must disclose to the court all factual or legal matters which:
(a) are within the barrister’s knowledge,
(b) are not protected by legal professional privilege, and
(c) the barrister has reasonable grounds to believe would support an argument against granting the relief or limiting its terms adversely to the client.
- Inform Client of waiver of priv re ex parte app above and if no consent, refuse to appear in ex parte app
A barrister who has knowledge of matters which are within rule 27 (c):
(a) must seek instructions for the waiver of legal professional privilege if the matters are protected by that privilege so as to permit the barrister to disclose those matters under rule 27, and
(b) if the client does not waive the privilege as sought by the barrister:
(i) must inform the client of the client’s responsibility to authorise such disclosure and the possible consequence of not doing so, and
(ii) must refuse to appear on the application.
- Inform crt of relevant cases/legislation against client’s case
A barrister must, at the appropriate time in the hearing of the case if the court has not yet been informed of that matter, inform the court of:
(a) any binding authority,
(b) where there is no binding authority any authority decided by an Australian appellate court, and
(c) any applicable legislation, known to the barrister and which the barrister has reasonable grounds to believe to be directly in point, against the client’s case.
- No need to inform crt of cases/legislation if opponent withdraws unless time to inform has arrived or passed
A barrister need not inform the court of matters within rule 29 at a time when the opponent tells the court that the opponent’s whole case will be withdrawn or the opponent will consent to final judgment in favour of the client, unless the appropriate time for the barrister to have informed the court of such matters in the ordinary course has already arrived or passed.
- Where judgment reserved, B must inform crt by letter of cases/legislation or ask to re-list for further argument
A barrister who becomes aware of a matter within rule 29 after judgment or decision has been reserved and while it remains pending, whether the authority or legislation came into existence before or after argument, must inform the court of that matter by:
(a) a letter to the court, copied to the opponent, and limited to the relevant reference unless the opponent has consented beforehand to further material in the letter, or
(b) requesting the court to relist the case for further argument on a convenient date, after first notifying the opponent of the intended request and consulting the opponent as to the convenient date for further argument.
- Needn’t inform court of matter which would’ve rendered Pros’s evidence admissible, where evidence already ruled inadmissible
A barrister need not inform the court of any matter otherwise within rule 29 which would have rendered admissible any evidence tendered by the prosecution which the court has ruled inadmissible without calling on the defence.
- Pros unaware of client priors can’t ask Pros witness whether aware of priors in hope of a no answer
A barrister who knows or suspects that the prosecution is unaware of the client’s previous conviction must not ask a prosecution witness whether there are previous convictions, in the hope of a negative answer.
- B must inform Crt of apparent Misapprehension by Crt re order Crt is making asap
A barrister must inform the court of any apparent misapprehension by the court as to the effect of an order which the court is making, as soon as the barrister becomes aware of the misapprehension.
