HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Notes on How to Compile Application Books 

Application books must be prepared in accordance with the High Court Rules 2004 (“The Rules”).  It is the applicant (or the applicant’s solicitor) who has the responsibility for preparing and filing the application books.  Application books which do not comply with the Rules will not be accepted for filing.  Please therefore note the following:

Date for the filing of application books

1.	Unless otherwise directed by a Registrar, the application book is to be filed and served within twenty-one (21) days after the applicant’s reply falls due.  Nine copies of the application book are to be filed with the Registry and three further copies must be served on each active respondent.  One additional, electronic, copy of the application book (“e-book”) must also be emailed to the Registry within one working day of the application books being filed.

Please note that there is no requirement to serve an application book on a respondent who has filed a submitting appearance, nor is there any provision for the filing of application books by post.

Requirements concerning the contents of the application book generally

2.	Please see 41.07 generally concerning the contents and layout of application books.  Please also note the reference in Rule 41.07.4 that application books are to be prepared in the same manner as the core appeal book, apart from any necessary amendments as required by these notes.  

3.	Any order included in the application book must be the sealed order of the Court below.  Minutes of order are not acceptable.  

4.	Where a document has been wholly superseded by an amended document and the original document is still listed in the index, that original document should be marked "NR" (not reproduced).  However, where a document has been only partially superseded by an amended document, it may be necessary to both list and reproduce both documents.

Requirements concerning printing and binding

5.	An application book must have a title page which sets out the full title of the proceedings.  It must include the heading “Application Book”, the contact details of the solicitors for all parties (or the names of parties who are unrepresented) and their email addresses.

6.	The page size must be A4.  Printing is to be double sided, with a 2.5 cm margin on each side of each page.  

7.	No volume of the application book can exceed 500 pages (250 sheets).  Where an application book is comprised of more than one volume, the title page of each volume is to be identified accordingly and the pages contained in each volume are to be identified (i.e. pages 1 to 249).  A copy of the entire index, amended to show the volume breaks, is to be included in each volume.

8.	Application books are to be bound by means of plastic comb binding so that the books can easily be left open.  They should not have plastic covers.  Application books are not to contain dividers or tabs.

Requirements concerning format

9.	The application book must be paginated, with the pagination itself to commence on the title page.  All pages of the application book must be paginated, including the index and any intentionally blank pages.  Any original pagination of documents, such as those on judgments of the Courts below, should however be retained. 

10.	Every tenth line is to be numbered in the left-hand margin.

11.	Where separate judgments are given by the members of the Court below, a page number must be listed in the index for the commencement of each judgment.

12.	All pages are to be clearly legible and contain no handwritten marks or comments.

13.	The formal headings should not be removed from documents (including pleadings, notices of appeal, orders and reasons for judgment of the Court below) when they are reproduced in the application book. 

General requirements concerning the e-book

14.	Only once the application book has been filed are you to email a copy of the e-book to the Registry.  The e-book must be received by the Registry within one working day after the application book has been filed. 

15.	The e-book is to be forwarded as a PDF attachment to an email and sent to lodgments@hcourt.gov.au.  Emails received by the Court will prompt an automated response confirming receipt.  The Registry will contact you if there are any problems with the PDF document provided.  Please contact the Registry on 02 6270 6874 for further information.

16.	The email attachment must not exceed 8 Megabytes (Mb).  Please contact the Registry on 02 6270 6874 for further information or if you are having difficulties emailing an attachment.

17.	The covering email must include the date on which the application book was filed and a certification that the e-book is a true copy.  It must also identify any material which is subject to a non-publication statutory restriction or a suppression order.

Technical requirements of the e-book

18.	Please deactivate any security settings in the document.  Please also remove any hidden text, such as markings or annotations (including track changes), from source documents before converting them to PDF.

19.	When paper documents are scanned the resolution should be set to 300 dpi.

20.	Text that is scanned to PDF must use the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature.  Using the OCR feature will ensure your scanned PDF version is searchable.  To confirm your document is searchable, use the word search feature of any software designed to view PDF documents.

21.	Please enable the “commenting” functionality for the PDF document.

22.	The naming protocol for saving the document is to use the HCA file number followed by the short title of the matter.  For example: 
•	S1-2016 Smith v Jones; 
•	D26-2016 Higginbottom v The Queen; or 
•	M56-2016 R & Anor v IBAC.  

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