Amendments to Court of Appeal Practice Direction

Last week, the Court of Appeal amended its “Consolidated Practice Direction Regarding Proceedings in the Court of Appeal During the COVID-19 Pandemic“.

Many of the amendments address the electronic filing of documents. At present, all documents must be filed electronically. Paper copies are not required. Documents must comply with naming conventions. The maximum size of attachments is 35 MB. Documents larger than 35 MB should be sent in multiple e-mails or by using an approved approved file-sharing service. Documents can also be filed by USB key.

Filing fees can now be paid by credit card, but an authorization form must first be completed.

Some of the amendments deal with Zoom hearings. Those involved in Zoom hearings should label themselves with their full names and roles in the proceeding. People are invited to include their prefix (e.g., Mr./Ms./Mrs./Mx., etc.) and/or pronouns (e.g., he/him, she/her, they/them, etc.) in their screen name. Prior to screensharing on Zoom, permission should be sought from the presiding judge or judges at the hearing.

There is also an amended version of the counsel slip to permit people to provide their prefix, pronouns and/or name pronunciation (through phonetic spelling or a link to an audio recording)