Farquar and Farquar (No. 3)

In the matter of *Farquar and Farquar (No. 3)*, Strickland J of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory was required to determine applications and make orders concerning the conduct of a part-heard trial. The proceedings involved the father and mother, with an Independent Children’s Lawyer also participating.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether to grant the father's oral application to adjourn the trial, and how to manage the production of evidence and the resolution of objections to that evidence to ensure the efficient continuation of the hearing. The court also considered the need for further information regarding the mother and her partner, Mr M.

Strickland J dismissed the father's application for an adjournment. The court ordered the Independent Children’s Lawyer to issue a subpoena to the Northern Territory Police for incident reports concerning the mother and Mr M, returnable on a specific date. The trial was scheduled to resume shortly thereafter. To streamline the evidentiary process, the court imposed strict timelines for parties to notify each other of objections to affidavit evidence, provide grounds for those objections, and respond to such objections. Furthermore, parties were directed to confer on evidence, prepare a list of agreed deletions and disputed objections, and lodge this with the court. Directions were also given regarding the notification and inspection of documents intended for tender, and the identification of documents that could be tendered by consent. Finally, the court mandated the filing and service of Summary of Argument documents by each party prior to the resumption of the trial.