Indexing and Paginating Application Papers:
Right, so you need to make sure that the Court file, Counsel's file and your own file is in order and more importantly in the identical order before your application is heard.
To index and paginate the papers means to set the pleadings in chronological order, then number the pages and give them a description in an index which will be the covering page/s of the bundle of those ordered papers that you will create.
All the originals will (should) be in the court file. It is usually possible to index your own file (provided you are sure you have a full set) (you really should if you are the applicant), and then attend to the Court file at Court and counsel's file.
Here's how to do it:
- Application papers are made up of a Notice of Motion and affidavits. The order of the affidavits is:
- Founding Affidavit;
- Answering/Opposing Affidavit;
- Replying Affidavit.
- These are usually the three sets of affidavits you will have. Sometimes a Supplementary Affidavit may be filed. Check the Rules of Court to see whether this is allowed Sometimes the party filing has leave of the Court to do so.
- Assuming these are all the papers, you then must separate the Filing Notices from the Affidavits.
- You can do a separate index for Filing Notices or leave them in chronological order in the Court File. These Notices show proof of date and time of service.
- Your papers should follow this basic order:
- Notice of Motion
- Founding Affidavit with annexures
- Confirmatory Affidavits if any filed
- Sheriff's Return of Service
- Answering Affidavit and Annexures
- Replying Affidavit and Annexures
- We normally use the date of signature of the Notice of Motion and the Affidavits as the date you will list them in your index. Leave Annexures to the Affidavits in the order that they are attached to their affidavits.
- If it's an urgent application, there may be a Court Order for Interim Relief (we will deal with this next issue) granted before one of the second or third affidavits were filed.
- Make sure that any Court Orders granted before the arguing of the application are included in your index.
- Once you have put the papers in chronological order following the basic order referred to above (ask an associate or your prinicipal to check and make sure any dyslexia is picked up early!) number the pages in the top right corner with a black pen in clear numbers.
- Be smart and number the pages before you make any copies...
- Once you have a Master Copy of the Index, you can go down and do the Court file and then Counsel's file. Getting the page numbers right is very important if you want to live - if you get the pages mixed up and your counsel is talking about one page and a Judge is looking at another...don't come crying to us. No pressure...
- When making a bundle of the Court File, separate anything that isn't part of the application that you are indexing and paginating.
- Find all the papers you have in your index. Put them in the order you have in your index, then number them neatly in the top right corner.
- Judges get upset if the bundles are not neat. They are scarier than your principals so don't skimp on time spent getting it right.
- Always have some labels, a punch, a split pin and one of those circle things that fit on the split pin.
- After numbering pages, punch a hole in the top left corner or slightly lower down, of the court papers.
- Use the split pin to bind the bundle, and cover the front and back of the pin with labels so that it is smooth and neat. Do not laugh this part off, your advocate will get crapped on if you don't do this right and your principal will find out...
- Easy Peasy!
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