Introduction
The Registry reviews cases and holds them. It allocates them into tracks to properly manage large volume of cases.
Civil Court No. 1 track is one of the Three Civil Tracks operating in the Common Law Division. It covers all aspects of registry work on the files. It is lead by a Team Leader or supervisor who with two other assistants (currently only one), maintain the operations of the Track in serving its customers to the best of their ability and knowledge. Civil Court 1 Track also reports directly to the Civil Court Manager who is Justice Davani.
The track has two staff only – Theresa Beni Hani (Team Leader) and Manau Timo (Officer)
Cases Types listed before this court are: Writ of Summons, Originating Summons, Matrimonial Causes, Lawyers Admission, Wills Probate and Administration, Miscellaneous Proceedings.
Functions
What we do in the track is to manage the files is guided principally by provisions of the National Court Rules, Civil Practice Rules, Matrimonial Causes Act Rules, Company Act Rules, relevant statutes and Practice Directions.
Like the other two Civil Court Tracks, the officer in charge and the assistants attend to queries regarding court cases registered under this track.
Fresh applications by way of Notice of Motion received over the counter are given dates during the circuit sittings as per the Court Calendar. It is here in the Registry, that the clerks/officers screen court documents before sealing. Dates are given to customers advising of their appearance before the Court.
Pending Notice of Motions (applications) - are listed upon request by way of letter from the applicant. Notice is then sent out advising parties (plaintiff/defendant) of the date of their appearance before the Court by post, phone or through facsimile.
Directions Hearing – matter is listed once a Consent Notice to Set Down signed by all parties is received and sealed or by direction of the Court to be placed on the Direction Hearing List.
Trial Matters – these cases are being given trial dates during Directions Hearing. Files are then endorsed, sent back to the Track Officer to update on the Master List. A Notice of Trial is then lodged by the Parties confirming the trial date which is endorsed by the Registrar.
Transfer of Files – once a direction has been given from the Court for the matter to be transferred to another track or registry. A referral is filled up and signed and sent to appropriate officers to action.
Transfer of files to other National Court Registries are also updated on the Database.
ADR – upon court direction, copies of certain documents are photocopied and sent to ADR Officers to create ADR file, and the original is retained back in the track.
Disqualified Cases – once a matter is being disqualified before the Judge, the file is kept and relisted when the next Judge sits in the track or a file referral is filled in and sent to another track for the matter to be listed.
Statistics – The Track Leader provides a report on pending cases, closed cases, how many matters were listed for motions, directions hearing and trial.
Currently all matters are listed on the Master Calendar we have created to assist us in listing our matters daily/monthly. Master Calendar records all cases listed for the month and is also updated once a case has been dealt with before the Court .
Update on the files is done on a daily basis, because the Court sits from Monday to Friday. This is to ensure that update of the daily record is accurately maintained. Update is also done for closed matters in this track.
All Court Orders that are signed by the Judge/Registrar/Deputy Registrar or the Assistant Registrar is also entered onto the Database. Court Orders for files allocated Civil Court No. 1 are entered in the National Court Database.
Rescheduling of cases already listed are upon consultation with the Judge Manager who gives directions ,dealt with by way of sending notice out to all parties/lawyers concerned.
Communication with our customers currently is by telephone, postage for those customers who are not regularly seen here at the National Court Registry. Mail put in the out-going tray for Lawyers to pick up their letters here in the Registry and also through facsimile.
Sealing of Court Documents
Sealing of court documents is a main activity. We are ensuring all courts documents sealed are placed in the file. As filing is done every hour, we are kept busy locating files and attending to our customers apart from updating and collating of files for hearing.
File search: request is received internally and externally, we are tasked to locate the files in our cabinets and have them available for the clients to conduct search.
Conclusion
A very busy track and one of main operators of the functions of the Registry Court System. We try our best to meet the expectations and needs of our clients, both internally and externally while following the requirements of the rules of practical procedures under various laws.