The courts are central to much of insolvency practice. At the same time, court processes can be costly and time consuming. The need for court approval of various issues in corporate insolvency is one that should be examined in any comprehensive review of insolvency law. Litigation Funding in Insolvency and in Class Actions – Murrays Legal
Apart from the need for insolvency practitioners to generally adopt a commercial approach in deciding whether to litigate, they have obligations as litigants under the relevant court legislation, and relevantly as litigants under the Civil Disputes Resolution Act.
While it seems that courts and tribunals are relatively expeditious in dealing with matters, delays in an insolvency matter being heard and then in a judgment being delivered can add to the costs of the particular administration.
As to the latter, all courts have processes for litigants to inquire as to the expected delivery time of an overly delayed reserved judgment.
For example, the Supreme Court of Queensland advises of a
“protocol that where a judgment has been reserved, the judgment should usually be delivered within three months of the hearing conclusion or the last receipt of submissions (excluding court vacation periods).
If there is concern about delay in the delivery of a judgment, a party or a party’s legal representative may contact the President of the Queensland Law Society or a party’s legal representative may also contact the President of the Bar Association of Queensland.
The President may then approach the Chief Justice to enquire when the judgment delivery may occur. They will not disclose the identity of the party initiating the approach.
The Chief Justice will consult with the Judge concerned and notify the President who, in turn, will notify the parties or the legal representatives as to when the judgment may be expected.
A concern of this nature may also be raised directly by letter addressed to the Chief Justice. If the letter is to be sent to the Chief Justice, as with all correspondence with the Court, all parties to the proceeding should be supplied with a copy”.
Reserved judgments | Queensland Courts
It is assumed that, regardless of this process, the relevant Chief Justice would keep track of particular delayed judgments and act accordingly.
The Queensland Supreme Court does report annually on the median time for the delivery of reserved judgments in both criminal and civil matters.
The other Supreme Courts, and the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, have similar processes and reporting.
It might be necessary for a liquidator or a trustee awaiting a long overdue judgment to make inquiries, or instruct their lawyer do so, in the interests of the prompt resolution of the relevant insolvent estate.
