September 01, 2021 court of first instance - Orders
Claim No. CFI 024/2020
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
(1) SUNSET HOSPITALITY HOLDINGS LIMITED
(2) PEATURA FZ LLC
Claimants in CFI 024/2020
(3) FIX SENSE MANAGEMENT LLC
Claimant in CFI 059/2020
and
(1) HANA HABIB MANSOOR HABIB AL HERZ
Defendant in CFI 024/2020
(2) SUNSET HOSPITALITY HOLDINGS LIMITED
(3) SUNSET HOSPITALITY GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED
Defendants in CFI 059/2020
AGREED CONSOLIDATED CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
UPON reviewing the Court files in each of the CFI-024-2020 and CFI-059-2020
AND UPON reviewing the Rules of the DIFC Courts (“RDC”)
UPON considering paragraph 38 of the Judgment of Justice Sir Jeremy Cooke dated 10 January 2021 in CFI-059-2020
UPON considering the Order and Judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 21 February 2021 in Appeal No. CA-011-2020
AND UPON considering the agreed case management order of the parties as submitted to the Court on 31 August 2021
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED BY CONSENT THAT:
CONSOLIDATED PROGRESSION AND JOINT HEARING OF RELATED PROCEEDINGS (RDC 4.2)
1. Claim No. CFI-024-2020 and Claim No. CFI-059-2020 (the “Related Proceedings”) shall proceed together according to the procedural timetable directed herein and shall be listed and heard together for trial.
2. The pleadings and witness evidence in each of the Related Proceedings shall be admissible evidence in the other.
3. The trial of Claim No. CFI-024-2020 and the trial of Claim No. CFI-059-2020 shall be listed together for hearing (the “Joint Hearing”).
4. The precise order in which the witnesses at the Joint Hearing shall be heard, and other directions for the Joint Hearing, shall be the subject of directions at the joint pre-trial conference for the Related Proceedings.
5. This Case Management Order supersedes the Case Management Order of Judicial Officer Maha Al Mehairi dated 6 December 2020 in Claim No. CFI-059-2020.
PLEADINGS (RDC PARTS 16, 17 and 21)
6. The Counterclaim of the Defendant in Claim No. CFI-024-2020 shall be filed and served by 4pm on 7 September 2021.
7. The Defence to the Counterclaim in Claim No. CFI-024-2020 shall be filed and served by 4pm on 21 September 2021.
8. The Reply to the Defence to Counterclaim in Claim No. CFI-024-2020 (if any) shall be filed and served by 4pm on 5 October 2021.
PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS (RDC PART 28)
9. Production of documents in CFI-059-2020 is closed.
10. Standard production of documents in Claim No CFI-024-2020 shall be made by each party in accordance with RDC28.15 by 4pm on 19 October 2021 in respect of any document not already disclosed in conjunction with the parties’ witness evidence filed to 4 October 2021, in accordance with paragraph 14 below. Further, in respect of Claim No. CFI-024-2020:
(a) If required, the parties may file and serve a Request to Produce, if any, by 4pm on 26 October 2021.
(b) Objections to Requests to Produce, if any, shall be filed and served by the parties within 7 days thereafter and in any event by 4pm on 2 November 2021.
(c) Where objections to any Requests to Produce have been made, the Court shall determine those objections and shall make any disclosure order within the following 14 days and in any event by 16 November 2021.
(d) The parties shall comply with the terms of any Disclosure Order and file a Document Production Statement within 7 days thereafter and in any event by 4pm on 23 November 2021.
11. Where there are no objections to a particular Request contained in a Request to Produce, documents responsive to that request shall be produced within 21 days from the date of the Request to Produce, and in any event by 4pm on 16 November 2021.
Order for Justice by Reconciliation (RDC Part 27)
12. The parties agree that a stay of proceedings for reconciliation is not appropriate in either of the Related Proceedings.
Witness Statements (RDC Part 29)
13. The evidence in CFI-059-2020 is closed.
14. The evidence in CFI-024-2020 is substantially complete save that permission has been granted to the Defendant to file additional witness evidence as set out in her Witness Statement 22 July 2020 which has yet to be filed. The Court directs that the said statement must be filed and served by 4pm on 4 October 2021.
15. Thereafter, any Witness Statements in support of the Claimants’ case in CFI-024-2020 shall be strictly confined to matters not already addressed in the evidence exchanged on 4 October 2021 and must be submitted by 4pm on 30 November 2021.
16. Witness Statements in support of the Defendant’s case in CFI-024-2020 shall be strictly confined to matters responsive to the evidence filed by the Claimants in accordance with paragraph 15 and shall be submitted by no later than 4pm on 7 December 2021.
17. Unless otherwise ordered, Witness Statements shall stand as evidence in chief of the witness at trial.
Expert Reports (RDC Part 31)
18. The parties agree that expert reports, or a Court Expert Assessor, are not appropriate in either of the Related Proceedings.
19. The Progress Monitoring Date shall be listed at 11am on the first available date after 14 December 2021.
20. The parties shall file and serve a Progress Monitoring Information Sheet at least three clear days before the progress monitoring date.
Trial Bundles (RDC Part 35)
21. Agreed and consolidated trial bundles for the Joint Hearing of the Related Proceedings shall be filed and served no later than 2 weeks before trial.
22. The parties shall strictly ensure that duplication of statements and evidence is avoided in the trial bundles.
Reading List and Trial Timetable (RDC Part 35)
23. An agreed reading list for trial along with an estimate of time required for reading and an estimated timetable for trial shall be filed with the Court by the Sunset parties no later than four clear days before trial.
Skeleton Argument and Chronology (RDC Part 35)
24. Skeleton Arguments shall be filed and served simultaneously by both parties four clear days before the start of trial.
25. The parties shall prepare an agreed Chronology of significant events cross-referenced to significant documents, pleadings and witness statements which shall be filed with the Court by the Sunset parties by no later than four clear days before trial. In the event that there are areas of disagreement, the Chronology shall include an agreed Chronology and a Chronology of events which are disputed, with the parties’ respective positions outlined therein.
Trial (RDC Part 35)
26. The trial of the Related Proceedings shall be listed at 11am on the first available date after 2 January 2022 with an estimated duration of 2 days. The parties shall provide the Registry with their availability for trial by 4pm on 7 December 2021.
27. The above dates and time limits may be extended by agreement between the parties. Nevertheless,
(a) The dates relating to trial and Progress Monitoring Date cannot be varied without the permission of the court.
(b) The remaining dates and time limits may not be extended by more than 14 days without the permission of the court.
28. Liberty to apply.
29. Costs in the case.
Issued by:
Nour Hineidi
Registrar
Date of issue: 1 September 2021
At: 11.15am
