ORDER 3
GENERAL MATTERS
Ideals (O. 3, r. 1)
1.—(1)  These Rules are to be given a purposive interpretation.
(2)  These Rules seek to achieve the following Ideals in civil procedure:
(a)fair access to justice;
(b)expeditious proceedings;
(c)cost‑effective work proportionate to —
(i)the nature and importance of the action;
(ii)the complexity of the claim as well as the difficulty or novelty of the issues and questions it raises; and
(iii)the amount or value of the claim;
(d)efficient use of court resources;
(e)fair and practical results suited to the needs of the parties.
(3)  The Court must seek to achieve the Ideals in all its orders or directions.
(4)  All parties have the duty to assist the Court and to conduct their cases in a manner which will help to achieve the Ideals.
General powers of Court (O. 3, r. 2)
2.—(1)  Unless the context otherwise requires and subject to any other written law, all requirements in these Rules are subject to the Court’s discretion to order otherwise in the interests of justice, even if they are expressed using imperative words such as “must”, “is to” or “shall”.
(2)  Where there is no express provision in these Rules or any other written law on any matter, the Court may do whatever the Court considers necessary on the facts of the case before it to ensure that justice is done or to prevent an abuse of the process of the Court, so long as it is not prohibited by law and is consistent with the Ideals.
(3)  In exercising any power, the Court may impose any condition or give such directions that are appropriate.
(4)  Where there is non‑compliance with these Rules, any other written law, the Court’s orders or directions or any practice directions, the Court may exercise all or any of the following powers:
(a)subject to paragraph (5), waive the non‑compliance of the Rule, written law, the Court’s order or direction or practice direction;
(b)disallow or reject the filing or use of any document;
(c)refuse to hear any matter or dismiss it without a hearing;
(d)dismiss, stay or set aside any proceedings and give the appropriate judgment or order even though the non‑compliance could be compensated by costs, if the non‑compliance is inconsistent with any of the Ideals in a material way;
(e)impose a late filing fee of $50 for each day that a document remains unfiled after the expiry of the period within which the document is required to be filed, excluding non‑court days;
(f)make costs orders or any other orders that are appropriate.
(5)  Where the non‑compliance is in respect of any written law other than these Rules, the Court may waive the non‑compliance only if the written law allows such waiver.
(6)  The powers of the Court under this Rule do not affect any other powers of the Court under any written law.
(7)  The Court may give directions by letter or by electronic or other means.
(8)  The Court may, on its own accord or upon application, if it is in the interests of justice, revoke any judgment or order obtained or set aside anything which was done —
(a)without notice to, or in the absence of, the party affected;
(b)without complying with these Rules or any order of Court;
(c)contrary to any written law; or
(d)by fraud or misrepresentation.
(9)  An application under paragraph (8) may be made by or on behalf of the party affected.
(10)  An application under paragraph (8) must be taken out within 14 days after the date the applicant knows or should have known that any of the grounds in that paragraph exists.
Calculation of time (O. 3, r. 3)
3.—(1)  The Interpretation Act does not apply to the calculation of time in these Rules.
(2)  The word “month” means a calendar month unless the context otherwise requires.
(3)  Where an act is required to be done within a specified period after or from a specified date, the period begins immediately after that date.
(4)  Where an act is required to be done within or not less than a specified period before a specified date, the period ends immediately before that date.
(5)  Where an act is required to be done a specified number of clear days before or after a specified date, at least that number of days must intervene between the day on which the act is done and that date.
(6)  If the period in question is 6 days or less, any day that is a non‑court day is to be excluded in the calculation of time.
(7)  Where the time prescribed by these Rules, or by any judgment, order or direction, for doing any act expires on a non‑court day, the act is in time if done on the next day, not being a non‑court day.
Extension or shortening of time (O. 3, r. 4)
4.—(1)  The Court may extend or shorten the period within which a person is required by these Rules or by any judgment, order or direction, to do any act in any proceedings.
(2)  Unless these Rules otherwise provide, the Court may extend the period mentioned in paragraph (1) whether the application for extension is made before or after the expiration of that period.
(3)  The period within which a person is required by these Rules, or by any order, to serve, file or amend any pleading or other document may be extended once by consent in writing for a maximum period of 14 days without an order of the Court being made for that purpose.
Applications to Court in an action (O. 3, r. 5)
5.—(1)  Subject to these Rules, all applications to the Court in an action must be made by summons in Form 1 or Form 2, whichever is appropriate, and supported by affidavit.
(2)  Form 1 is to be used when the summons has to be served.
(3)  Form 2 is to be used when the summons need not be served on anyone and only where these Rules allow.
(4)  The applicant must serve the summons and the affidavit at least 14 days before the hearing of the summons.
(5)  If any party wishes to contest the application, the party must file and serve his or her affidavit within 14 days after being served with the application and affidavit.
(6)  Except in a special case, the Court will not allow further affidavits to be filed after the other party files his or her affidavit under paragraph (5).
(7)  An affidavit must contain all necessary evidence in support of or in opposition (as the case may be) to the application, and may contain statements of information or belief with their sources and grounds clearly stated.
(8)  All applications must be served on all other parties to the application except where the other party cannot or need not be served.
Forms (O. 3, r. 6)
6.—(1)  The Forms as set out in the practice directions must be used with such variations as the circumstances require.
(2)  The Forms may be varied by practice directions issued with the approval of the Chief Justice or with the approval of the Presiding Judge of the State Courts, as the case may be.
(3)  Where a Form states “Seal of the Court”, a document in that Form must bear the seal of the Court.
Language of documents (O. 3, r. 7)
7.—(1)  All documents filed or used in Court must be in the English language.
(2)  A document which is not in the English language must be accompanied by a translation in the English language certified by a court interpreter or verified by an affidavit of a person qualified to translate the document.
Use of foreign documents under Apostille Convention or Civil Procedure Convention (O. 3, r. 8)
8.—(1)  Despite anything in these Rules, the following documents may be received, filed or used in the Court:
(a)a foreign public document with an apostille placed on or attached to it;
(b)a document or a translation of the document that has been drawn up or certified, and duly sealed, by a court or other competent authority of a foreign country, being a country with which there subsists a Civil Procedure Convention providing for the dispensation of the authentication of such documents.
(2)  In this Rule —
“apostille” means a Convention certificate as defined by section 10 of the Apostille Act 2020;
“foreign public document” has the meaning given by section 6 of the Apostille Act 2020.
Methods of hearing (O. 3, r. 9)
9.  Subject to any written law, the Court may conduct a case conference or any other hearing by using electronic, mechanical or any other means.