The new Practice Note, SC Eq 11, commenced on 26 March 2012 and
applies to all new and existing Supreme Court proceedings in the
Equity Division. The Practice Note essentially provides that the
court will not permit disclosure of documents until after the
parties have prepared and exchanged their written witness
statements, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The changes
reflect a desire on the court's part to achieve the just, quick
and cheap resolution of the real issues in dispute by improving the
evidentiary value of the written evidence filed.
Previous practice was that discovery was to be completed prior
to the parties preparing their evidence, having regard to the
relevant documents available to all of the parties. The object of
the Practice Note is to make litigation less oppressive for the
court, practitioners and clients by providing more focus on witness
statements through the limiting of discovery. By delaying
disclosure until the parties have
