(1) All applications in a commercial matter shall be made to and heard by the Commercial Division judge.
(2) Part 11 (as modified by this Part) applies to applications (“ordinary applications”) made before, during or after a commercial matter including a commercial matter commenced by way of originating application, but shall not apply to the evidence given on or to the conduct of an originating application itself, which shall be governed by rules 70.6(1) to (4).
(3) Rule 11.3 shall not apply in a commercial matter.
(4) In the case of ordinary applications made on notice, the Registry's Commercial Division Case Management Unit (“the Unit”) will allocate a date for the hearing when the application is issued; if that date or the time available for the hearing of the application is unsuitable for any reason the legal practitioners for the parties must within 7 days after the application has been served arrange for duly authorized individuals to attend the Unit in person or contact the Unit by telephone to arrange an alternative date and time for hearing of the application.
(5) Ordinary applications estimated to require a hearing of less than two hours are classed as short applications; ordinary applications estimated to require a hearing of more than two hours are classed as special applications.
(6) Rule 11.8(3) shall not apply in a commercial matter; evidence in support of every ordinary application must be filed and served together with the application except in case of urgency or where circumstances do not permit (in which case the evidence should be filed and served as soon as reasonably practicable) or in cases where the application does not turn on any question of fact.
(7) Rule 11.9 shall not apply in a commercial matter; unless the application is made in a case where (apart from rule 11.9) these Rules require that evidence be given by affidavit, evidence in support of or in response to an ordinary application should be given by way of witness statement.
(8) Rule 30.3(2) shall apply to a witness statement made in an ordinary application in a commercial matter as if the words 'witness statement' were substituted for the word 'affidavit' where it occurs in rule 30.3(2).
(9) Rules 29.5(1)(d) and (e) shall not apply in a commercial matter; a witness statement made in an ordinary application in a commercial matter must include a statement by its maker that that person believes that the statements of fact it contains are true to the best of the maker's knowledge, information or belief and if the witness statement contains matters of information or belief the witness statement must include a statement by its maker that to the best of his knowledge, information or belief such information is accurate or that such belief is well founded.
(10) Evidence in answer to an ordinary application must be served within 14 days of service of the evidence in support and evidence in reply within 7 days after service of evidence in answer. This timetable may be extended or abridged by agreement in writing between the parties. If an extension is agreed between the parties which are likely to affect the date of the hearing, the parties must inform the Unit forthwith and arrange for the hearing to be re-listed.
(11) In an appropriate case the court may abridge the timetable prescribed by paragraph (10) either of its own motion or upon application made, notwithstanding any agreement between the parties to the contrary.
(12) If the court or the Unit or any party to a special application is of the view that a case management conference (“CMC”) or pre-hearing review (“PHR”) would enable the court to dispose of the special application more efficiently, then upon its own motion or at the suggestion of the Unit or on the application of any party the court may direct that a CMC or, as the case may be, a PHR be held.
(13) If the court directs a CMC under paragraph (12), it shall direct that the CMC be held on the first available date not earlier than 7 days after making the direction and rule 70.7(7) and (8) shall apply with such modifications as may be necessary or appropriate.
(14) If the court directs a PHR under paragraph (12), it shall direct the PHR to be held not later than 14 days before the date fixed for the hearing of the application and rule 70.8(1) and (2) shall apply with such modifications as may be necessary or appropriate.