Previous | Next | Home
The Civil Proceedings Rules, 1998

Part 1

The Overriding Objective

Contents of this Part

The overriding objective Rule 1.1
Application by the court of the overriding objective Rule 1.2
Duty of the parties Rule 1.3

--------------------------------

The Overriding Objective

1.1 (1) The overriding objective of these Rules is to enable the court to deal with cases justly.

(2) Dealing justly with the case includes
        1. ensuring, so far as is practicable, that the parties are on an equal footing; and
        2. saving expense; and
        3. dealing with cases in ways which are proportionate -
          1. to the amount of money involved; and
          2. to the importance of the case; and
          3. to the complexity of the issues; and
          4. to the financial position of each party; and
        4. ensuring that it is dealt with expeditiously; and
        5. allotting to it an appropriate share of the court's resources, while taking into account the need to allot resources to other cases.

Application by the court of the overriding objective

1.2 The Court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it -
      1. exercises any discretion given to it by the Rules; or
      2. interprets the meaning of any rule.

Duty of the parties

1.3 The parties are expected to help the court to further the overriding objective.

Previous | Next | Home