What is an outline of submissions?

If you are in a civil matter in the Queensland Court of Appeal or the District Court you will have to file an Outline of Argument.

Even if it is not required, it is common practice for lawyers attending court hearings to give the court a summary of their argument. In fact, it can be a good way of:

1. helping you to organise your thoughts ahead of the court hearing. This can be invaluable in calming your nerves. The better prepared you are, the easier your court appearance will be; and
2. putting your arguments in a clear straightforward way to the judge.

Three court practice directions deal with outlines of argument:

1. District Court Practice Direction 5/2001 requires the parties to appeals in the District Court to prepare and file an Outline of Argument.
2. Supreme Court Practice Direction 3/2013 requires the parties in the Court of Appeal to file Outlines of Argument, limited to 10 pages.
3. Supreme Court Practice Directions 06/2004 and 14/1999 require the legal representatives of parties in interlocutory applications to file an Outline of Argument of no more than four pages.

Some tips for drafting an outline of argument

1. Don’t make the Outline of Argument too long or repetitive. If your argument is expressed clearly and makes sense, then repeating it won’t make it more persuasive. If your argument is poorly set out, repeating it won’t help you. Make your point once, then move on to the next issue.
2. There isn’t a form under the UCPR for an Outline of Argument, but you can adapt the basic format of a court document (e.g. the header) to create your outline of argument.
3. Use headings. For example:
   1. Why should leave to appeal be granted? If you need the leave of the court, set out firstly why you are seeking leave to appeal, identifying the errors of law that you are relying on.
   2. If you don’t need leave, your first heading should be “What this appeal is about”; an introductory paragraph that sets out very basically what the case is about.
   3. Background; you should just include a couple of paragraphs setting out the key background facts of the case.
   4. Grounds of appeal; you should then use separate headings to discuss each of your ground of appeal first stating the law relating to that issue, then a separate paragraph applying the law to the facts of your case.
   5. Orders sought; you should include a heading where you set out what outcome you want from the court.

An outline for an interlocutory hearing might use the following headers:

1. Your Outline of Argument should contain the legal arguments you are relying on, not your evidence.
2. Your Outline of Argument should just be an outline or summary of your argument.
3. Consider using a chronology of the key facts.
4. Comply with the Practice Directions about Outlines of Argument in the court that you are appearing in.
5. If you are using an Outline of Argument, bring two copies for the court, one for each of the other parties and one for yourself.
6. Consider serving the Outline of Argument on the other party before the hearing.
7. Keep the outline short and to the point.
8. Use short paragraphs.
9. Avoid lengthy quotations.

Introduction

After we set the appeal date, both parties must provide an outline of submission. Use the correct format and submit by the date we give you.

Content

Introduction

An 'outline of submissions' is a document that explains your case to the Commission and to the other party. You may also submit statements of evidence from witnesses if you plan to use them during the appeal.

We ask for an outline of submissions from:

• the ‘appellant’ – the person who is appealing
• the ‘respondent’ – the person who needs to respond to the appeal.

When to submit it

You need to submit this by the date we give you when we confirm the hearing. This is usually at least a few weeks before the hearing.

How to write the outline

Before the appeal, you must write a summary, or ‘outline’, of the information you plan to submit.

The content of the submission

In the outline of your submission, you should:

• explain the reason (‘grounds’) for your appeal
• provide any specific and major legal or factual errors you believe were in the original case
• list any previous decisions ('case law') you wish to rely on in the appeal.

If you are appealing an unfair dismissal or general protections decision, you must also include clear details of why it is in the public interest for us to grant permission to appeal.

The format we need

• for page 1 of your submission, you must use or follow our appeal submission template (doc)
• use A4 paper size
• double-space your text
• keep to 10 pages or less.

How to send us the submission outline

All parties must lodge ('file') their outline of submissions with the Commission. To do this:

• email the chambers that appear on the information we sent you ('notice of listing') OR
• submit 3 printed copies in person or by post to the chambers in the notice of listing.

After you submit the outline, you must serve a copy on the other parties to the appeal.