From 12 June 2015, the Conference of expert witnesses policy of the Land and Environment Court becomes effective and applies to all civil proceedings in the Land and Environment Court.
A joint conference of experts is defined as:
“A conference of expert witnesses is a conference pursuant to a direction of the Court that expert witnesses confer either generally or in relation to specified matters, in an endeavour to reach agreement on matters in issue within their expertise, and to specify in a joint report the matters agreed and matters not agreed and the reasons for any disagreement (see Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (UCPR) r 31.24).”
A number of key objectives of this policy include:
- to promote the just, quick and cost effective disposal of the proceedings;
- to identify the real issues in dispute;
- to eliminate issues not genuinely in dispute;
- to bind experts to their position on issues, thereby enhancing certainty as to how the expert evidence will come out at the hearing;
- to avoid or reduce the need for experts to attend court to give evidence;
- in planning appeals, to provide the opportunity to explore alternative solutions to issues, particularly where objective-based solutions are available; and
- as a consequence, to shorten the hearing time and enhance prospects of settlement.
For more details of the policy, please visit:
http://www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Policies/Conference%20of%20Expert%20Witnesses%20Policy.pdf (link is external)
MatthewsFolbigg Lawyers, Parramatta, are specialist environmental lawyers in Western Sydney who are able to advise in relation to all matters relating to Local Government planning and environmental law and regularly appear in the Land & Environmental Court. Call an expert environmental solicitor today on 1800 300 308.
