By Jon Prowse -
The difficulties in conducting litigation across the Tasman Sea have been significantly diminished by the introduction of new federal legislation. On 11 October 2013, the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010 commenced. The Act was introduced to give effect to a 2008 intergovernmental agreement between Australia and New Zealand. Its purpose is to “streamline the process for resolving civil proceedings with a trans-Tasman element” and “minimise existing impediments to enforcing certain NZ judgments” (s.3) In addition, for NSW proceedings, Part 32 of the Uniform Civil Proceedings Rules 2005 (UCPR) has been amended to facilitate the operation of the Act in courts covered by those Rules.