THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephen Wilson KC, Dominique Gardiner and Lovelie Luxama, Wilson Wells
4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe With the exception of certain interlocutory applica- tions for which specific timeframes are provided by specific rules of court, interlocutory applications in chambers may be brought on two days’ notice. Where circumstances dictate, a party can request that the application be dealt with on an urgent basis and even on an ex parte basis. The Turks and Caicos Islands Supreme Court is gen- erally responsive to urgent scenarios. An application for an injunction can be obtained, if the circumstances warrant it, without notice and/or by way of a video call (MS Teams or Zoom) application to the court. Discovery is very much a part of the litigation process in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Indeed, subject to the provisions of Order 24 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, there is a mandatory requirement for there to be discovery by the parties to the action of the docu- ments that are (or have been) in their possession, cus- tody or power relating to matters in question in the action following the close of the pleadings in an action begun by writ (ie, once all the required pleadings have been filed and served). However, the parties are at liberty to agree to dispense with or limit the discovery of the documents that would otherwise be required. If a party is not satisfied that the other party’s discov- ery is complete, it may make an application to the court for discovery of specific documents or catego- ries of documents that it can show must be in the oth- er party’s possession, custody or control. The party can also ask the court to order the disclosing party to make an affidavit verifying that the list is correct. The process of discovery in the Turks and Caicos Islands requires each party to disclose not only those docu- ments that it views as favourable to its case but also those that adversely affect its case. The Rules of the Supreme Court specifically leave it open to the parties to agree to dispense with or limit discovery of documents that they would otherwise be required to make. Furthermore, there is a general pro- 5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
vision that discovery is only to be ordered if necessary (see Order 24, rule 8). 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties It is possible to obtain discovery from third parties not named as parties to the proceedings if the documents sought are likely to support the case of one party and adversely affect the case of the other. For this to be permissible, the disclosure must be necessary in order to dispose fairly of the claim or to save costs. This can be achieved in the following ways: • by serving the relevant witness with a subpoena compelling them to attend with the requested documents – this can sometimes be arranged prior to the trial so that the parties have access to the documents ahead of time and can review them before the trial; • by obtaining from the court what is commonly referred to as a Norwich Pharmacal Order – this requires the third party to disclose relevant docu- ments or information; or • by applications against banks to produce their records where these are relevant to the proceed- ings. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction Discovery and inspection of documents is dealt with primarily by Order 24 of the Rules of the Supreme Court 2000, which provides for, inter alia: • mutual discovery of documents; • discovery of documents without order; • orders for discovery; • orders for the determination of issues before dis - covery; • the form of list of documents and affidavits verify- ing such list; • orders for discovery of particular documents or classes of documents; • inspection of documents referred to in a party’s list of documents and those documents referred to in pleadings, affidavits and witness statements; • orders for production for inspection and provision of copies; • restrictions on the use of disclosed documents; and
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