ALLA (WA) News Blog

The Supreme Court of Western Australia will live stream a trial for the first time in the Court’s history commencing next Monday, 16 July 2018. The Court will stream the civil trial arising from the bushfires at Mt Helena, Parkerville and Stoneville, Western Australia, that occurred in January 2014.  Members of the public can log on to the Supreme Court of Western Australia website at www.supremecourt.wa.gov.au to view the trial which starts at 10am. The trial is set down from 16 July – 31 August, and will be presided over by Justice Rene Le Miere. The link will be on the Court’s home page, under the ‘What’s New’ banner. For more information, see the media statement . 

The Federal Court has expanded its subscription offerings with the addition of the Judgments & Events by National Practice Area (NPA) email alerts. Subscribers have the option to receive an email of judgments published each day by practice area, as well as an “All Judgments” option. Subscribers will also be alerted to any upcoming Court events, such as user-group meetings. You can subscribe from the Federal Court website . Once your subscription is complete, you will receive an email for each of the lists you have subscribed to. The frequency of alerts varies depending on what judgments have been published on the day. If you require assistance with the subscription process, please email query@fedcourt.gov.au . About the National Practice Areas In 2016, the Federal Court reorganised its workload into nine National Practice Areas (and where applicable sub-areas). The nine NPAs are: Administrative and Constitutional Law and Human Rights Admiralty and Maritime Commercial and Corpor...

There was an update to the Federal Court of Australia "Lists of Authorities and Citations Practice Note (GPN-AUTH)" on February 15th. http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/law-and-practice/practice-documents/practice-notes/gpn-auth Update: Hyperlinks to case citations in Lists of Authorities As part of its consultation and feedback process, the Court has received a number of enquiries principally concerning paragraphs 2.2 of the Lists of Authorities and Citations Practice Note (GPN-AUTH) which was issued on 25 October 2016. These enquiries relate to (1) the requirement to hyperlink cases and (2) how to best hyperlink cases. The intention of the hyperlink requirement was to utilise the List of Authorities to facilitate the accessing of authorities electronically. Some parties do not have easy access to reported versions of cases (that are accessible through subscription-only databases). Practitioners have also raised queries about whether the Court will be able to access h...

Information below provided by the Department of the Attorney General: From 1 July 2016, the Law Library at the Supreme Court will close its doors and the Department of the Attorney General will provide library services to legal practitioners at the Law Library at the David Malcolm Justice Centre. Legal practitioners (and other persons doing research on behalf of legal practitioners) can access the Law Library by going to Level 23 of the David Malcolm Justice Centre, and will be given access to the Law Library (which is located on Level 2). The Law Library's opening hours will be 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and services will include: - access to a browsing collection, with loans (other than loose leaf services) to take to court only; - reference desk services; - access to electronic databases at the Law Library (including LexisNexis, Westlaw and CCH) will be available from 25 July 2016; - photocopying and printing; and - document delivery. Fees will apply for photocopying...

It was announced on Wednesday 22nd of July that Paul Allan Tottle has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Paul Tottle has been a keen supporter of the Australian Law Librarians Association (WA) – some of you may still remember the session he presented on defamation a few years ago. Whilst he will be sorely missed, the entire firm could not be prouder of Paul. ALLA(WA) wishes to extend a congratulations to Paul Tottle on behalf of all our members.

The High Court of Australia's decisions from 2000 onwards are now available from the Court's website .  The new digital collection showcases an advanced interface developed through the use of open source software, DSpace and with the assistance of BarNet - JADE who provided enhancements to the search engine and customisation of the interface. There are plans for further content to be added such as the Unreported Judgments. You can subscribe to email alerts for advance notice of judgment delivery by clicking on Subscribe to Judgment Alerts on the Judgement Database homepage.

The UK Supreme Court recently announced on-demand access to video recordings of proceedings through the court's website (see current cases and decided cases ). The streaming videos are available on the next working day after a hearing and continue to be accessible for one year. Meanwhile, in Canada, a selection of Supreme Court hearings are available as streaming videos via the Cable Public Affairs Channel (which also shows parliamentary proceedings, documentaries, and other political programmes). Video recordings back to 2009 are also available on the Supreme Court's website . Of course, the Australian High Court also posts video recordings of  full court hearings in Canberra, with archives back to 2013 (select cases). These recordings are valuable resources for anyone interested in  judicial affairs or doing research into particular decisions. It will be interesting to see how questions of metadata, storage, and public access are handled as the courts' video...

Thomson Reuters Insight recently published a white paper entitled "The Future of the Courts." It's available for free from their website , but it's necessary to register some personal details before downloading (so you may want to check their privacy policy). The paper reviews trends in the US, the UK, and Australia with the aim of forecasting "what will the courts look like in 20 years' time?" Keep themes include: A changing context, including politics of payment for justice and professional technologies Virtualisation (virtual access to courts), online dispute resolution, and self-represented parties Automation  A data revolution Standardisation and globalisation Continuing importance of people in making courts function The paper concludes: Courts leaders need to display adaptability and foresight; they need to develop a keen understanding of the benefits of technology, both the technology available today and the new technology that wi...

Further to our post about the Supreme Court of Western Australian Consolidated Practice Directions , here's an update from another court. The latest Federal Circuit Court's Practice Directions include a direction stating that ' signed by AustLII ' versions of judgments may be submitted to the court.. It will be interesting to see if more courts follow a similar path in the future. View the direction on the Federal Circuit Court's website

The Supreme Court of Western Australian Consolidated Practice Directions have been updated. The current version as at 31st March 2015 is available here . The update includes: Complete reissue of the CPD removing designated page numbers to avoid repagination of hard copy document when amendments are issued; Various minor editing changes and contact detail updates.  New PD 5.11 on handling

From th e Government of Western Australia - Media Statements   Changes for District and Supreme courts Wednesday, 11 March 2015 District Court Chief Judge Peter Martino promoted to Supreme Court Judge Kevin Sleight takes over as Chief Judge District Court of Western Australia Chief Judge Peter Martino has been appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. District Court Judge Kevin Sleight, who has also served as a Commissioner of the Supreme Court, will assume Mr Martino’s position as Chief Judge. Attorney General Michael Mischin said the significant appointments would be welcomed by the legal fraternity, as both judges were highly regarded and were among the most experienced judicial officers in the State. “Judge Martino has earned the admiration of his peers in the judiciary and members of the legal profession during his tenure at the District Court,” Mr Mischin said. “As Chief Judge, he has been responsible for the overall management of the court’...