Circular No 441/2020
Dated 15 Dec 2020

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Guidelines on Establishing Time Limit to File Written Submission, Bundle of Authority and
Executive Summary in Federal Court and Court of Appeal

The Judiciary has requested us to bring to Members’ attention, and to remind Members to adhere with Circular No 059/2018 entitled “Arahan Amalan Mahkamah Persekutuan Bil 1 Tahun 2018” dated 1 Mar 2018 and Circular No 042/2017 entitled “Arahan Amalan Mahkamah Rayuan Bil 1 Tahun 2017 (Versi Bahasa Melayu dan Bahasa Inggeris)” dated 28 February 2017.

The Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia, Tuan Ahmad Terriruddin bin Mohd Salleh, has notified us that, with effect from 4 Jan 2021 (Monday), the 14 day-time limit to file written submissions, bundles of authority and executive summaries will be enforced strictly.  The relevant portion of the notice is reproduced below for your reference.

The Bar Council has communicated our concerns with the strict enforcement of the time limit and requested for some leeway be given to parties when so required.  The Judiciary, after taking into consideration Bar Council’s concerns, responded as follows:

(1)    The directive is to be complied with due to the following reasons:

(a)    Judges require adequate time to thoroughly assess the documents for a just and fair trial, especially for complicated and public interest cases;

(b)    The Courts will be fixing the date for the final case management before the hearing date.  This serves to remind all parties to file their submissions within the allocated time, and enable Judges to provide further instructions on certain issues; and

(c)    With the implementation of e-Appellate, lateness in filing documents will affect the preparation for the hearings, which includes the process of uploading documents into the designated link for the documents to be shared during the hearings.

(2)    Parties are still allowed to make oral submissions on the hearing date, and as such, there is no risk of injustice or a per incuriam decision;

(3)    If any of the parties require more time to comply with the directive, they may inform the Deputy Registrar / Senior Assistant Registrar of the Federal Court or Court of Appeal during the case management period, to request for a later hearing date to be fixed (subject to the needs of the case), in order for parties to prepare and file the documents within the allocated time period.  The current practice allows for hearing dates to be fixed within at least two to four months from the date of the case management; and

(4)    In the event that a lawyer is unable to file the submission within the allocated time due to health-related issues or any other unavoidable emergencies, he/she may request from the Court, for an extension of time to file the documents.  Usually, the Court will not only allow for an extension of time but may even consider for the case to be postponed to a later date.

We will continue to engage with the Judiciary to ensure that Members’ rights and best interests are always upheld.

Thank you.

A G KALIDAS
Secretary
Malaysian Bar