These Rules shall come into force on such a date as may be appointed by the Chief Justice by a notice published in the Gazette
— (1) Subject to subrule (2), these Rules shall apply to all civil proceedings in the High Court.
(2) Other rules of practice and procedure shall so apply as long as it is so provided by an Act or any other written law.
Unless the context otherwise requires —
“Court” means the High Court of Malaŵi;
“election matter” means a proceeding that requires the application of the Constitution, the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act or the Local Government (Elections) Act due to an act or omission during an election;
“judgment” includes any decision, decree, determination, finding or order of any court;
“mandatory order” means an order of the Court compelling a person to do a specified act;
“order” means an order of the Court;
“person under a disability” means, in relation to Order 6 rule 18, a person who is a child, or who does not understand the nature and possible consequences of the proceeding, or who is not capable of conducting the proceeding, due to a physical disability or other form of disability, or who is not capable of giving instructions for the conduct of the proceeding;
“prohibiting order” means an order of the Court compelling a person not to do a specified act;
“quashing order” means an order of the Court invalidating a decision; “Sheriff’ bears the same meaning as ascribed to that term under the Sheriffs Act;
“single joint expert” means an expert instructed to prepare a report for the Court on behalf of two or more of the parties to a proceeding; and
“statement of case” includes a claim, a defence, a reply and a counterclaim, but does not include an application in a proceeding.
— (1) The overriding objective of these Rules is to deal with proceedings justly and this includes —
(a) ensuring that the parties are on an equal footing;
(b) saving expenses;
(c) dealing with a proceeding in ways which are proportionate to the —
(i) amount of money involved;
(ii) importance of the proceeding; and
(iii) complexity of the issues;
(d) ensuring that a proceeding is dealt with expeditiously and fairly; and
(e) allocating to a proceeding an appropriate share of the Court’s resources, while taking into account the need to allocate resources to other proceedings.
(2) The Court shall seek to give effect to the overriding principal objective whenever it—
(a) exercises any power conferred on it by these Rules; or
(b) interprets any written law, rules and regulations.
(3) The parties shall assist the Court to further the overriding objective.
(4) The Court shall further the overriding objective by active case management.
(5) Active case management includes—
(a) encouraging the parties to cooperate with each other in the conduct of the proceeding;
(b) identifying the issues for resolution at an early stage;
(c) deciding promptly which issues need full investigation andtrial and accordingly disposing summarily of the others;
(d) deciding the order in which issues are to be resolved;
(e) encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution procedure if the Court considers it appropriate, and facilitating the use of such procedure;
(f) assisting the parties to settle the whole or part of the proceeding;
(g) fixing timetables or otherwise controlling the progress of the proceeding;
(h) considering whether the likely benefits of taking a particular step justify the cost of taking it;
(i) dealing with as many aspects of the proceeding as the Court can on the same occasion;
(j) making use of technology; and
(k) giving directions to ensure that the trial of a proceeding continues quickly and efficiently.
