151.1. Before the date indicated in the notice to the defendant for presentation of the action or application, the parties, except impleaded parties, must negotiate an agreement as to the conduct of the proceeding, specifying the arrangements between them and the timetable with which they are to comply within the 180-day or, in family matters, the one-year peremptory time limit.
Any person impleaded in the motion to institute proceedings who wishes to take part in the negotiation of the agreement determining the proceeding timetable must notify the parties within five days of service of the motion. Otherwise, the person is presumed not to wish to do so.
The agreement must cover, among other things, the preliminary exceptions and safeguard measures, the procedure and time limit for the communication of exhibits, written statements in lieu of testimony and detailed affidavits, the number and length of and other conditions relating to examinations on discovery before the filing of the defence, expert appraisals, any planned or foreseeable incidental proceedings, the oral or written form of the defence and, in the case of a written defence, the time limit for its filing as well as the time limit for filing an answer, if one is to be filed. The agreement must be filed without delay at the office of the court, no later than the date fixed for presentation of the action or application.
2002, c. 7, s. 19; 2004, c. 14, s. 2.