There are four types of preliminary motions that either party to a case may make. These are to be made in the opening moments of a hearing, and parties should indicate to the Chief Justice (or Associate Chief Justice in the absence or recusal of the Chief Justice) before the hearing begins of an intent to make any of these motions.
MOTION TO RECUSE – this is where a party asks that a Justice of the Court be excluded from participation in (and even presence during) a particular hearing. Each party may request the recusal of one justice. The party making the request will have a burden of proof of demonstrating one or more of the following forms of reasonable doubt as to the ability of the Justice to participate in the case in an unbiased manner: a) breach of decorum concerning the matter before the Court; b) vested interest in the outcome of the proceedings; c) conflict of interest; or, d) known or demonstrable bias against persons, organizations or affiliations representing any part or party involved in the proceedings.
MOTION FOR SUMMARY DISMISSAL OR JUDGMENT– this is where a party requests that the Court waive the hearing it had scheduled and rule on the case on the filings, briefs and other preliminary actions in the case. The two main grounds where the Court is likely to grant such a request is a failure of one of the parties to the case to appear before the Court at a scheduled hearing, or on demonstrations that circumstances have resolved the conflict or otherwise removed the need for a ruling by the Court. This motion may, under very special circumstances, be valid at later stages of a hearing as well.
MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE – this is a motion to postpone the Court proceedings until a later date due to circumstances that have arisen between the scheduling of a hearing and the hearing itself.
MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE – this is a motion to ask that a particular piece of evidence be neither admitted into the record of the proceedings nor considered by the Court in conducting the hearing. This motion must be made with an explanation of what evidence should be suppressed and the grounds for suppressing it. As an almost absolute rule, in order for evidence to be entered, it must be known to both petitioner and respondent before the start of proceedings; failure of one side to conform to this standard may constitute grounds for the other side to make a motion for summary dismissal or judgment.