Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999

Anyone bringing or defending a civil proceeding in a Queensland court. That includes individuals, businesses, partnerships (Chapter 3 Part 3 Division 1), persons trading under a business name (Chapter 3 Part 3 Division 2), persons under a legal incapacity such as minors and protected persons (Chapter 3 Part 4), representative parties (Chapter 3 Part 1 Division 4), representative proceedings in the Supreme Court (Chapter 3 Part 1 Division 5), executors and administrators of estates (Chapter 15), litigants applying for judicial review (Chapter 14 Part 4), and parties to corporations proceedings under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth (Schedule 1A). It also affects expert witnesses, who are bound by the code of conduct in Schedule 1C, costs assessors who are appointed under Chapter 17A Part 5, and enforcement officers under Chapter 19 Part 11 and Chapter 20 Part 9.

Solicitors and barristers are bound by the conduct provisions in Chapter 22 Part 3. Registry staff have functions throughout, including under Chapter 22 Part 2.

Pleadings must comply with the rules of pleading in Chapter 6 Part 2: they must contain a statement of all material facts on which the party relies, and they must be no longer than necessary. Particulars must be supplied where required by Chapter 6 Part 3.

Disclosure obligations are set out in Chapter 7. A party must, without an order, disclose each document directly relevant to an allegation in issue in the pleadings (Chapter 7 Part 2 Division 2). Non-party disclosure is available under Chapter 7 Part 2 Division 3, but only on application.

Service obligations are detailed. Personal service is the default for originating process (Chapter 4 Part 2). Service in particular cases (Chapter 4 Part 3), ordinary service for documents after the originating process (Chapter 4 Part 4), and substituted or other service (Chapter 4 Part 5) all have their own rules. Service outside Australia engages the Hague Service Convention (Chapter 4 Part 7 Division 3).

If a step has not been taken in a proceeding for a year, a party who wants to proceed must give a month's written notice of intention to proceed before taking any step (rule 389(1)). If two years have passed, a new step cannot be taken without the order of the court (rule 389(2)).

There is a strict pre-application protocol for costs disputes between solicitor and client and certain other applications. Before making an application of the kind to which Chapter 12 Part 5 applies, the applicant must first write to the respondent setting out the complaint, the relevant facts, the relief sought, and a time of at least three business days for reply (rule 444).

The court has very broad discretionary powers. Rule 367 allows the court to make any order or direction about the conduct of a proceeding it considers appropriate, including limiting the time for the trial, limiting the number of witnesses, requiring evidence by affidavit, and ordering joint experts. The interests of justice are paramount (rule 367(2)).

Interlocutory tools available to the court include freezing orders (Chapter 8 Part 2 Division 2), search orders (Chapter 8 Part 2 Division 3), receivers (Chapter 8 Part 3), inspection, detention, and preservation of property (Chapter 8 Part 1), and sales by court order (Chapter 8 Part 4).

Summary judgment may be entered against a plaintiff or a defendant where there is no real prospect of success on the claim or defence and there is no need for a trial (Chapter 9 Part 2). Default judgment is available against a defendant in default of notice of intention to defend or in default of pleading (Chapter 9 Part 1 Division 2).

The court can refer a proceeding to mediation or case appraisal (Chapter 9 Part 4 Divisions 3 and 4), order the use of an assessor or referee on a question of fact or account (Chapter 13 Part 7), and direct that the trial proceed by a particular mode (Chapter 13 Part 3 Division 1).

Costs powers include the rule that costs follow the event (rule 681), the power to order indemnity costs, the power to disallow costs of an unnecessary step (Schedule 2 section 2), and the discretion to require security for costs.

The enforcement chapters contain a complete suite of warrants and orders: enforcement hearings to compel an enforcement debtor to attend and answer questions about means (Chapter 19 Part 2), enforcement warrants for seizure and sale of property (Chapter 19 Part 4), enforcement warrants for redirection of debts including regular redirections from financial institutions (Chapter 19 Part 5), enforcement warrants for redirection of earnings (Chapter 19 Part 6), instalment orders (Chapter 19 Part 7), charging orders (Chapter 19 Part 8), money in court and stop orders (Chapter 19 Part 9), and appointment of a receiver as enforcement (Chapter 19 Part 10). Non-money orders use a parallel set of warrants in Chapter 20, which includes contempt powers in Chapter 20 Part 7.

The rules themselves are procedural rather than penal, but they carry teeth. Failure to comply with the rules or with a court order can lead to orders striking out a pleading, dismissing the proceeding, or entering default judgment under Chapter 10 Part 2. Costs sanctions follow naturally from non-compliance.

Contempt of court is dealt with under Chapter 20 Part 7. Contempt in the face or hearing of the court is dealt with summarily under Division 2. Other contempts are pursued by application for punishment under Division 3. The general provisions in Division 4 apply across the contempt regime.

A defendant in contempt can be arrested under a warrant for the defendant's arrest (Chapter 20 Part 8). Enforcement officers exercising warrants under Chapter 19 Part 11 and Chapter 20 Part 9 have specific powers under those parts.

The interpleader regime in Chapter 21 allows a stakeholder or an enforcement officer faced with competing claims to property or money to obtain interpleader relief from the court rather than face concurrent claims (Chapter 21 Parts 2 to 4).

A claim is filed at the registry of the court of competent jurisdiction (Chapter 22 Part 1 Division 2). The originating process must then be served on each defendant (Chapter 4). The defendant must file a notice of intention to defend within the time fixed by the rules; failure to do so exposes the defendant to default judgment (Chapter 9 Part 1).

Disclosure follows the close of pleadings. Disclosure obligations under Chapter 7 Part 2 Division 2 are triggered automatically; no order is required.

Trial readiness is signalled by a request for trial date (rule 467). Once a request for trial date has been filed or a trial date has been set, leave of the court is required before any further step can be taken in the proceeding (rule 470).

For appeals to the Court of Appeal, Chapter 18 Part 1 sets out the procedural and substantive framework. Time limits, the form of the notice of appeal, the record on appeal, and powers of the Court of Appeal are dealt with in Divisions 1 to 4. Other appeals use Chapter 18 Part 3.

Chapter 9 Part 5 sets out the regime for offers to settle, including the costs consequences if an offer is not accepted and the offeror does better at trial. The transitional provisions for the 2023 amendments to that regime are in Chapter 24 Part 8.

The rules interact with many other statutes. Cross-vesting under the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (Cth) is implemented through Chapter 2 Part 7. The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents is implemented in Chapter 4 Part 7 Division 3. Service of foreign legal process in Queensland that does not come through the Hague Convention is governed by Chapter 4 Part 7 Division 4.

Probate and letters of administration interact with the Public Trustee Act 1978 (Chapter 15 Part 6) and the British Probates Act 1898 for resealing (Chapter 15 Part 5).

Reciprocal enforcement of foreign judgments is dealt with in Chapter 20A Part 2. Reciprocal enforcement of Australian judgments under the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 (Cth) is in Chapter 14 Part 6 and Chapter 20A Part 3.

Costs assessment under the Legal Profession Act 2007 has its own division (Chapter 17A Part 4). The general assessment regime sits in Chapter 17A Part 3.

Corporations proceedings under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) are governed by the rules in Schedule 1A, which deal with winding up, voluntary administration, schemes of arrangement, takeovers, and proceedings under the Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2008 (Cth).

International commercial arbitration sits in Chapter 9A Part 2; domestic commercial arbitration sits in Chapter 9A Part 3.

Two-year delay under rule 389(2) is fatal: a fresh step cannot be taken without leave once two years have passed since the last step. Practitioners regularly trip over the one-year notice rule in rule 389(1) as well, because a notice of intention to proceed must be given a calendar month before the next step.

Filing a request for trial date crystallises the position: rule 470 then requires leave for any further step in the proceeding. Late amendments and late expert reports become harder once a trial date is set.

The pre-application letter under rule 444 is a strict precondition for the applications it covers. Skipping it usually leads to the application being adjourned or dismissed with costs.

Disclosure under Chapter 7 is automatic. Parties cannot wait for an order. Failure to disclose a directly relevant document can lead to the document being excluded at trial, or to costs orders.

Service outside Queensland and especially service outside Australia is technical. The Hague Convention path under Chapter 4 Part 7 Division 3 has its own forms and timeframes; getting it wrong can mean any judgment obtained will not be recognised in the foreign jurisdiction.

The corporations rules in Schedule 1A are self-contained. They override the main rules where there is a conflict, so practitioners running a winding up application should start with Schedule 1A, not the general rules.

The expert code of conduct in Schedule 1C imposes ongoing duties: an expert who changes opinion in a material way must give written notice of that change and the reason for it as soon as practicable (Schedule 1C section 9).

A plaintiff brings a claim in the Supreme Court at Brisbane for breach of contract. The claim is filed under Chapter 22 Part 1 and personally served on the defendant under Chapter 4 Part 2. The defendant files a notice of intention to defend within the prescribed time and then a defence drafted under Chapter 6 Part 2. Each side gives disclosure under Chapter 7 Part 2 Division 2. Expert reports are exchanged under Chapter 11 Part 5, with the experts complying with the Schedule 1C code. The plaintiff makes a written offer to settle under Chapter 9 Part 5; the defendant rejects it. After mediation under Chapter 9 Part 4 Division 3 fails, the plaintiff signs a request for trial date under rule 467. From that point, leave is required for further steps (rule 470). The trial proceeds; the plaintiff wins; costs follow the event under rule 681 and the offer to settle drives indemnity costs from the offer date.

A judgment creditor with a money judgment uses Chapter 19 to enforce. The creditor first runs an enforcement hearing under Chapter 19 Part 2 to find out what the debtor has. The creditor then applies for an enforcement warrant for redirection of earnings under Chapter 19 Part 6 to take a slice of wages each pay cycle, and a charging order under Chapter 19 Part 8 over a parcel of land. If the debtor refuses to comply with the enforcement hearing, the creditor seeks a warrant for the defendant's arrest under Chapter 20 Part 8.

A solicitor faced with a costs dispute writes the rule 444 letter, gives the respondent the prescribed minimum three business days to reply, and then applies under Chapter 17A Part 3 for an order for assessment of the bill, with the costs assessor's certificate to follow under Chapter 17A Part 3 Division 5.