Clause 46

Subject to subsection (2), a District Court may decide any matter in its civil jurisdiction without hearing oral arguments, other than a matter prescribed by the Rules of Court.(2) Subsection (1) does not allow any part of a proceeding where oral evidence is given (including any part of a trial of an action) to be conducted without an oral hearing, unless all the parties consent.(3) Subject to subsection (4), a District Court may, in any matter that the court may decide without hearing oral arguments, direct that the matter be heard in an asynchronous manner by exchange of written correspondence with the party or parties using such means of communications as directed by the court.(4) A District Court must not hear a matter in an asynchronous manner if to do so would be inconsistent with the court’s duty to ensure that the proceedings are conducted fairly to all parties.(5) To avoid doubt, this section does not affect the power of a District Court to hear oral arguments before deciding any matter that may be decided without hearing oral arguments.Summary dismissal of certain matters49B.—

A District Judge sitting in a District Court may, on his or her own motion, summarily dismiss any appeal made against a decision of the registrar relating to civil proceedings, if the District Judge is satisfied of any of the following:

every issue in the appeal has already been decided by a District Court or a higher court in an earlier matter in which the appellant was involved, and the appeal therefore has no merit;

such conditions as may be prescribed by the Rules of Court are met.(2) Before summarily dismissing any appeal under subsection (1), a District Judge sitting in a District Court must —

give the appellant a reasonable opportunity to show cause why the appeal should not be summarily dismissed; and

consider any representations of the appellant.(3) In this section, “appeal” includes part of an appeal.”.