Civil litigation

The purpose of the judge providing a draft of the judgment before handing it down is to “enable the parties to spot typographical, spelling and minor factual errors which have escaped the judge’s eye. It is also to give the parties the opportunity to attempt to reach agreement on costs and to consider whether they wish to appeal”.

However, circulation of the draft “is not intended to provide counsel with an opportunity to re-argue the issues in the case”. It follows that “only in the most exceptional circumstances is it appropriate to ask the judge to reconsider a point of substance”.

Examples include “where counsel feels that the judge had not given adequate reasons for some aspect of his/her decision” (in which case the judge may be asked to explain the reasons more fully) or “if the judge has decided the case on a point which was not properly argued or has relied on an authority which was not considered” (in which case the appropriate course will be to ask him to reconvene for further argument or to receive written submissions from both sides).