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together and place them on a clear and transparent legal footing, creating a scheme for
case management by the court :-
setting out the declared aims of such case management;
setting out a range of general case management powers, including power to act of
its own motion, additional to powers provided by specific rules (unless expressly
displaced by such rules); and,
linking the exercise of these powers to the furtherance of the overriding objective
of procedural justice.
In the Working Party's view, such a scheme, suitably adapted for Hong Kong, would
promote fairness and consistency in judicial case management. As the legal
community becomes increasingly familiar with the proposed reforms, such rules
would facilitate consensual case management by the parties.
Recommendation 2: A rule should be introduced identifying underlying
(rather than overriding) objectives of the system of civil justice to assist in the
interpretation and application of rules of court, practice directions and
procedural jurisprudence and to serve as a statement of the legitimate aims of
judicial case management.
Recommendation 3: The underlying objectives referred to in
Recommendation 2
should be stated as (i) increasing cost-effectiveness in the
court's procedures; (ii) the expeditious disposal of cases; (iii) promoting a sense
of reasonable proportion and procedural economy in respect of how cases are
litigated; (iv) promoting greater equality between parties; (v) facilitating
settlement; and (vi) distributing the court's resources fairly, always recognizing
that the primary aim of judicial case management should be to secure the just
resolution of the parties' dispute in accordance with their substantive rights.
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