Preparation of court minutes for party’s submission
The preparation of court minutes before a Civil Court for the purpose of commenting on the testimony given is not a right of a party nor is it a prerequisite for making submission. It is not provided for in any regulation or legislation, nor is it the practice of the Court to prepare minutes for the address of a party. The purpose of the submission is to comment on the testimony given before the Court and to set out the legal aspect of the issues raised. Never in the past was it, and is it now, a prerequisite for the preparation of minutes for addresses and summary of the testimony of the parties for the completion of the hearing of any case.
The issue if raised by an application to suspend the proceedings of completion of the trial for the purpose of preparing minutes so that the party’s lawyer can ‘address’ will be considered inadmissible and the application will be dismissed with costs. The lack of minutes does not affect any right of a party and especially that of a fair trial. On the contrary, the submission of such an application would aim to delay the proceedings and affect the rights of the other party. Besides, the matter is administrative in nature and concerns the Registrar of the Court and not the Court.
The law provides that in all civil proceedings minutes and notes of the testimony given will be kept but they are meant to assist the court and not the parties or to check the first instance decision on appeal.
An application was made before the Rent Control Court by a party seeking an order of the court staying the trial of the case pending the delivery to his attorney of the minutes of the hearing. The other party filed an objection and submitted that the application was legally unfounded.
The President of the Court, in a decision issued on 23.7.2024, rejected the application for the suspension of the proceedings. The purpose of the addresses of the advocates after the conclusion of a case is to summarise the testimony given and in no way concerns the jurisdiction of the court itself to suspend the proceedings before it, before it is completed.
Analysing the Courts Procedural Regulations, she underlined that from its content it can be deduced that shorthand minutes are taken when the court directs and not automatically and that they are delivered to the Registrar in shorthand, after the conclusion of the case. In addition, these are transcribed, if necessary, only.
She also pointed out that keeping minutes by a stenographer in civil proceedings has nothing to do with fair trial and equality of arms. The minutes of the court must be kept for the court to issue its decision and the authentic minutes are those kept by the judge. Transcribed minutes are prepared for the purpose of appeal or appeal to other courts.
She concluded that the party intended to suspend the further proceedings of the case, an application that not only does not find support in the regulations and jurisprudence, but is contrary to them. Furthermore, his request seeks to prevent the continuation of the proceedings until the preparation of the minutes, without having been prohibited from continuing the proceedings with a privileged prohibition order.
The transcription of minutes of taking testimony in proceedings before the court is of an administrative nature and concerns the secretariat and not the court and is not related to the legal proceedings pending before the court and its advancement. The responsibility for preparing for the hearing, including witness testimony and note-taking, rests with the parties’ counsel and is not intended to be passed on to the court and its staff.
George Coucounis is a lawyer specialising in the Immovable Property Law and he is the founder of George Coucounis LLC, based in Larnaca, coucounis.law@cytanet.com.cy, Tel: 24 818288