The Supreme Court of Victoria is sending a clear message that sending documents by email is now a part of the practice of litigation in this State. In a ground-breaking development, parties in Supreme Court of Victoria civil litigation from 1 August 2017 will need to provide an email address for service of documents at the commencement of litigation. In my opinion, it will facilitate the efficient and timely conduct of litigation. Here is a summary of Frequently Asked Questions relating to the new rules.
Where can I find the Plaintiff's email address?
The Plaintiff or their solicitor will list the email address on the documents which start the proceeding, known as Originating Process. (Rule 6.06.2)
Where can I find the Defendant's email address?
The Defendant or their solicitor will list the email address on their Notice of Appearance. (Rule 8.06(1).
What happens if I want to change the email address of service?
File with the Court and serve on the other parties in the case a written notice of the change of email address. (Rule 6.06.03)
Can I email the document as an attachment or a hyperlink?
Yes. See the rules below about what should be included in the body of the email.
What do I need to say in the body of the email when serving the document?
Name, address and telephone number of the sender;
Name of the person to be served;
Title and Court file number of the proceeding;
The name of each document and the number of pages of each document served by email; and
That email is by way of service under rule 6.07(1)(f)
How about the file name and file size limits?
The file name needs to correspond with the name of the document. (Rule 6.07(2.2)(d))
Yes, there is a limit of 10 megabytes of email attachments per email. There is no file size limit to the content sent by hyperlink. The parties can agree to higher file size limits if they wish.
If the rules state that documents need to be sent by personal service, can this be sent by email?
No, the changes only apply to ordinary service.
Thank you for reading. For further resources, please see the Supreme Court (Chapter I Email Service Amendment) Rules 2017 here and the practice note can be found here.
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