January 31, 2019 court of first instance - Orders
Claim No: CFI-067-2018
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEENSKY NEWS ARABIA FZ-LLC
and
KASSAB MEDIA (LLC)
CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER OF JUDICIAL OFFICER MAHA AL MEHAIRI
UPON reviewing the Court file
AND UPON reading the Case Management Bundle
AND UPON hearing Mr Nicholas Braganza for the Claimant and Mr Nigel Hartridge for the Defendant at the Case Management Conference held on 21 January 2019
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
Production of Documents (RDC Part 28)
1.Standard production of documents shall be made by each party by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 21 February 2019.
2. The parties shall file and serve Requests to Produce in the form of Redfern schedules, if any, by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 14 March 2019.
3. Where there are no objections to a particular Request contained in a Request to Produce, documents responsive to that request shall be produced within 14 days from the date of the Request to Produce, and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 28 March 2019.
4. Objections to Requests to Produce, if any, shall be filed and served within 7 days thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 4 April 2019.
5. 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 7 days and in any event by no later than Thursday, 11 April 2019.
6. The parties shall comply with the terms of any Disclosure Order and file a Document Production Statement within 14 days thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 25 April 2019.
Agreed List of Issues
7. Adjacent to each paragraph of each witness statement, reply witness statement (if any) and skeleton argument shall be inserted the issue or issues to which that paragraph relates by reference to numbering in the Agreed List of Issues, in order for the Court to understand to which of the agreed issues that paragraph relates.
Witness Statements (RDC Part 29)
8. Signed statements of witnesses of fact, and hearsay notices where required by the RDC, shall be exchanged 3 weeks following the close of the disclosure stage, and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 16 May 2019.
9. Any Witness Statement in reply shall be filed and served within 2 weeks thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 30 May 2019.
10. Unless otherwise ordered, Witness Statements shall stand as evidence in chief of the witness at trial.
Expert Reports (RDC Part 31)
11.The parties have permission to rely on the expert evidence of a forensic accountant.
12. Expert Reports shall be filed and served by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 20 June 2019.
13. Supplemental Expert Reports shall be filed and served by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 4 July 2019.
14. The DIFC Courts shall, at the Pre-Trial Review, consider what directions to give concerning a meeting and discussion between experts.
Pre-Trial Review (RDC Part 26)
15. A pre-trial review shall be listed at a later date most convenient to the Court being within the normal range of 4 to 8 weeks before trial.
Trial Bundles (RDC Part 35)
16. Agreed trial bundles shall be filed and served no later than 2 weeks before trial.
Reading List and Trial Timetable (RDC Part 35)
17. 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 Claimant no later than two clear days before trial.
Skeleton Argument and Chronology (RDC Part 35)
18. Skeleton Arguments shall be lodged and exchanged two clear days before the start of trial.
Trial (RDC Part 35)
19. The trial of this matter shall be listed at a later date most convenient to the Court with an estimated duration of 3 days.
20. Costs of the Case Management Conference shall be costs in the case.
21. The parties shall have liberty to apply.
Issued by:
Ayesha Bin Kalban
Assistant Registrar
Date of issue: 31 January 2019
At: 1pm
