New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

UNIFORM CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 2005 - REG 31.28

31.28 Disclosure of experts' reports and hospital reports

(cf SCR Part 36, rule 13A; DCR Part 28, rule 8; LCR Part 23, rule 3)

(1) Each party must serve experts' reports and hospital reports on each other active party--

(a) in accordance with any order of the court, or

(b) if no such order is in force, in accordance with any relevant practice note, or

(c) if no such order or practice note is in force, not later than 28 days before the date of the hearing at which the report is to be used.

(2) An application to the court for an order under subrule (1) (other than an order solely for abridgment or extension of time) may be made without serving notice of motion.

(3) Except by leave of the court, or by consent of the parties--

(a) an expert's report or hospital report is not admissible unless it has been served in accordance with this rule, and

(b) without limiting paragraph (a), an expert's report or hospital report, when tendered under section 63, 64 or 69 of the Evidence Act 1995 , is not admissible unless it has been served in accordance with this rule, and

(c) the oral expert evidence in chief of any expert is not admissible unless an expert's report or hospital report served in accordance with this rule contains the substance of the matters sought to be adduced in evidence.

(4) Leave is not to be given as referred to in subrule (3) unless the court is satisfied--

(a) that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the granting of leave, or

(b) that the report concerned merely updates an earlier version of a report that has been served in accordance with subrule (1).