I, David Barniville, President of the High Court, hereby issue the following Practice Direction in accordance with the general authority of the President of the High Court and s. 11(12) and (13) of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020.

Purpose of this Practice Direction

1. This Practice Direction is intended to give effect to Recommendations 6 and 35 of the Report of the Working Group on Litigants in Person (February 2025).
    
2. With respect to Recommendation 6 that Practice Direction HC 54 be revoked, that Practice Direction is revoked by this Practice Direction HC 135.
    
3. With respect to Recommendation 35, this Practice Direction sets out the procedures applicable to: (a) all applications for an order requiring a person to seek the permission of the President of the High Court or a judge of the High Court assigned by the President prior to issuing proceedings, and (b) all applications by a person seeking the permission of the High Court prior to issuing proceedings where such an order, frequently described as an “Isaac Wunder” order but which is referred to in this Practice Direction as a “Litigation Restriction Order” or “LRO”, is in place.

Date of Commencement

4. This Practice Direction will come into operation on 3 February 2026.

Revocation of Practice Direction HC 54

5. Practice Direction HC 54 is revoked with effect from 3 February 2026.

Procedure for an application for a LRO

6. Where an application for a LRO is made by a party to proceedings against another party to those proceedings, the application shall be made by way of notice of motion and grounding affidavit to the person intended to be the subject of the LRO. 
    
7. The relief sought in the notice of motion shall specify precisely the nature of the proceedings for which permission is sought to be required, and the time period(s) for which the order is sought, if applicable. The grounding affidavit shall set out the grounds upon which the application for relief is sought and exhibit any evidence to be relied upon in this respect. 
    
8. Where a judge of the High Court hearing an application for a LRO considers, of his or her own motion, that relief other than that which is sought in the notice of motion may be appropriate, he or she must identify the nature of the proposed modified relief to the party who is the subject of the application for the proposed LRO and the other parties to the proceedings. All parties must be given an opportunity to be heard on the proposed modified relief, including by way of affidavit where the judge considers it necessary and appropriate. This does not mean that the judge will be required in every instance to adjourn the hearing of the application for consideration of the proposed modified relief. That will be at the discretion of the judge, which discretion must be exercised fairly in light of the circumstances of the case.
    
9. Where a judge hearing a case or application considers of his or her own motion that a LRO in respect of a party to those proceedings may be appropriate, he or she must identify to that party, and to the other parties to the proceedings, the nature of the proposed order and the material that the judge considers relevant to it. The proposed party, and all other parties to the proceedings, must be given an opportunity to be heard on the proposed order, including by way of affidavit where the judge considers it necessary and appropriate. This does not mean that the judge will be required in every instance to adjourn the hearing of the particular case or application in order to afford an opportunity to consider the proposed order. That will be at the discretion of the judge, which discretion must be exercised fairly in light of the circumstances of the case.

Procedure for an application for permission to issue proceedings where a LRO is in place

10. Where a person the subject of a LRO seeks permission to issue proceedings pursuant to the terms of that order, he or she shall do so by way of an ex parte application to the President of the High Court. The procedures set out in the paragraphs below shall apply to such an application.
     
11. The ex parte application to the President of the High Court referred to in paragraph 10 above shall consist of:

1.  an ex parte docket duly stamped setting out the order(s) sought and a concise statement of the reasons why the Court should permit the person to commence proceedings pursuant to the terms of the LRO to which that person is subject,
2. the relevant LRO (or a copy), and
3. an affidavit or affidavits supporting the application duly stamped which must exhibit a draft of the summons or other originating document which the person is seeking to issue and which must provide evidence in support of the application for permission to issue the relevant proceedings.

12. The documents referred to in paragraph 11 above must be filed in the Central Office and marked “LRO Permission Application for the attention of the Principal Registrar for consideration by the President of the High Court”.
     
13. When the documents referred to in paragraph 11 above are filed as required under that paragraph, the Principal Registrar will bring them to the attention of the President of the High Court and the President will give initial consideration to the application for permission as soon as practicable. The President may decide to assign the application to another judge of the High Court.

Determination of the application on the papers if appropriate

14. The President of the High Court or other judge assigned to deal with the application (“the assigned judge”) may, if he or she considers it appropriate and consistent with the interests of justice, determine the application on the papers filed by the person seeking the permission and request the Principal Registrar or any other Registrar of the High Court to inform the person seeking the permission of the decision on the application and to furnish that person with a copy of the relevant order reflecting that decision.
     
15. In the event that the President or the assigned judge decides not to determine the application on the basis of the papers filed by the person seeking the permission, the Court can direct that person to serve the papers filed on the person(s) named in the proposed proceedings and request a response (whether by way of affidavit or correspondence or otherwise) to the application for permission from that person or those persons within such period and by such means as the Court may direct. The response(s) of that person or those persons should be provided to the person seeking the permission and should be filed by them in the Central Office marked “LRO Permission Application Response for the attention of the Principal Registrar”  and should be marked for consideration by the President of the High Court or the assigned judge, as appropriate.
     
16. In the circumstances provided for in paragraph 15 above, the President or the assigned judge may, if he or she considers it appropriate and consistent with the interests of justice, determine the application on the basis of the papers filed by the person seeking the permission and the response from the person(s) against whom permission is sought to issue the proceedings. The President or the assigned judge may then request the Principal Registrar or other Registrar to inform the parties of the decision on the application and to furnish them with a copy of the relevant order reflecting the decision.

Determination of the application by way of hearing if appropriate

17. In the event that the President or the assigned judge decides that it would not be appropriate to decide the application on the papers alone, he or she may direct a hearing of the application on notice to the other person(s) and request the Principal Registrar or other Registrar to inform the person seeking permission to serve the papers referred to in paragraph 11 above on the person(s) against whom permission is sought to issue the proceedings (in the event that they have not already been served in accordance with the procedures referred to in paragraph 15 above) within such period and by such means as may be directed. The Court will assign a date on which the application for permission will in the first instance be listed for mention. The papers must, in any event, be served at least four clear working days before the listed for mention date.
     
18. In a case where the President or the assigned judge has directed and considered the response(s) from the person(s) against whom the permission is sought to issue the proceedings and decides that it is not appropriate to deal with the application on the papers and that a hearing is necessary, the Court will direct such a hearing and request the Principal Registrar or other Registrar to inform the persons affected. In this situation, the Court will assign a date on which the application for permission will in the first instance be listed for mention. Where the papers have already been served on the person(s) against whom the permission is sought to issue the proceedings, there will be no need for further service unless the person seeking permission wishes to rely on further documents which have not been served, in which case such further documents must be served at least four clear working days before the listed for mention date.
     
19. On the listed for mention date and on any subsequent date(s), the President or the assigned judge may make such further orders and directions as may be necessary and appropriate to ensure the determination of the application in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise costs.
     
20. Where it is brought to the attention of the Principal Registrar that proceedings may have issued in contravention of a LRO, the Principal Registrar may bring the matter to the attention of the President of the High Court who may issue directions.
     
21. For the avoidance of doubt, no officer of the Central Office shall be required to issue proceedings by or on behalf of a person who is the subject of a LRO where they are of the belief that to do so would be in contravention of an existing LRO.

Mr Justice David Barniville
President of the High Court
28 January 2026