***** UPDATE AS OF 10 FEBRUARY 2014 *****

With effect from Wednesday 19 February 2014, there will be an amendment to the Wednesday short cause schedule in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court.

The revised times for short causes before each Judge of the Supreme Court will be as follows:

09:00 - 09:55 Chief Justice

10:00 - 10:55 Justice Karunakaran

11:00 - 11:55 Justice Renaud

13:00 - 14:25 Justice De Silva

14:30 - 14:55 Justice Dodin

15:00 - 15:55 Justice Robinson

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The Chief Justice has issued a new Practice Direction for the Judiciary which will take effect from 1 October 2013.

This Direction relates principally to civil "short causes" in the Supreme Court (that is, any Court appearance other than a substantive hearing in a contested proceeding). It also has flow-on effects for criminal cases in the Supreme Court and all cases in the Magistrate's Court. The aims of the Direction are to reduce scheduling conflicts within and between the Supreme Court and Magistrate's Court, to ameliorate the competing demands upon the time of attorneys, and to increase the time available for substantive hearings in all courts. The main changes made by the Direction are as follows.

1. All civil mentions and other short causes in the Supreme Court will be heard on Wednesdays only.

2. Civil short causes in the Magistrate's Court, and criminal short causes in the Magistrate's Court and Supreme Court, will not be heard on Wednesdays (except in emergencies).

3. Substantive hearings scheduled on Wednesdays take priority over short causes. Attorneys with a scheduling conflict must attend the substantive hearing and brief another attorney to present their short causes.

4. On other days of the week, the new default start time for civil hearings in the Supreme Court will be 10:00 am.

All attorneys are required to familiarise themselves with the content of the Direction before 1 October.