New County Court Commercial Division Practice Note

April 01, 2019 by JW in Commercial Court, Procedure, Practice and Procedure, Practice Note, Commercial Division

The County Court has released a new Commercial Division Practice Note ‘Operation and Management of the Commercial Division’ PNCO 1 – 2019 (updated as at 26 March 2019) which supercedes eight previous practice notes. It deals with most issues concerning the running of commercial matters.

The new practice note puts the County Court Commercial Division on a competitive footing with the Supreme Court’s commercial court, offering faster trial dates (within 6 months for standard matters), an Expedited Matters List (trial dates within 4 months), trial date certainty, unlimited jurisdiction regarding quantum, and efficient disposition of interlocutory steps.

Applications to set aside a statutory demand: can supplementary materials be filed after the 21-day affidavit?

July 05, 2018 by JW in Corporations Act, Commercial Court, Section 459G, Statutory Demands, Application to set aside, Genuine dispute, Some other reason

In short, the answer is no. Section 459G of the Corporations Act requires an application to set aside a statutory demand to be supported by an affidavit within 21 days of service of the demand. Usually the facts for the setting aside application are known within the 21-day period.

What should you do when there are unknown facts at the time of filing the application to set aside? For example, where there are inaccessible or unverifiable documents, or you are waiting on third parties to provide materials (eg accounting information), or further discovery is required?