LawServa
LawServa Diary Deadline Rules
Deadline Rules in LawServa is the rule book behind every date the diary computes for you: each court and limitation period, the event it runs from, the rule that authorises it, the date that rule came into force, and whether LawServa has verified it against a primary source. It is used by fee earners checking where a diarised date came from, partners deciding whether to rely on computed dates, and risk officers answering a professional indemnity insurer.
Before You Start
- Deadline Rules is the third tab beside Calendar under Today, after Calendar Settings. You need permission to view the deadline rules; it is given widely, because anyone asked to file by a computed date is entitled to see the rule behind it.
- Calendar Settings needs a separate permission to manage the firm calendar, usually held by a partner or the office manager.
- The screen is read only. There is no button to add, edit or delete a rule.
- No AI is used on this screen. Every value is a stored, cited and dated fact.
What LawServa Will Not Do
The banner at the top of the screen, headed What LawServa will not do, states the limits of the engine:
- It will not compute a date from a rule that has not been verified against a primary source.
- It will not apply a rule to a date before that rule came into force.
- It knows the Malaysian public holidays up to a stated date (shown in the banner). Past that date it still gives the statutory date, but states no working day to act by.
- When a period ends on a weekly or public holiday, it runs to the next working day under s.54 of the Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967 and O.3 r.4 of the Rules of Court 2012. LawServa states that date and still diarises the last working day before it, so nothing is left to the last day.
Reading the Rules List
- Go to Today > Calendar and open the Deadline Rules tab.
- Choose a practice area from the section tabs at the top, or leave it on Every Area. Only areas that actually hold rules are offered.
- To narrow further, type into Search (for example a citation such as O.14, or a word such as limitation) and press Apply. Press Clear to remove the filters.
- Read the count line, which shows how many rules and triggers the rule book holds and how many are shown.
- Use the Triggers on this page contents list to jump to the event you want.
Each trigger is a card headed with the event that starts the clock (for example a writ being served), with pills showing the date it runs from and its practice area. A trigger with no rules shows LawServa computes nothing from this event. The event can still be recorded on the file, but any date from it must be worked out by hand.
The Rule Table
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Period | The length (for example 14 days), whether it runs before, after or beginning with the event or an earlier rule in the chain, and the counting basis. |
| What It Produces | The date created, its diary type (such as Filing Deadline or Limitation Date), and flags such as Critical, No power to extend or The court may extend, plus any practitioner note. |
| Authority | The citation, a Read the source link where one is held, and a source note. |
| In Force | The date the rule took effect, any end date, and the verified status. This column is hidden on narrow screens. |
Verified and Not Verified
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Verified | LawServa has checked the rule against a primary source. Dates are computed from it. |
| Not verified | The row reads LawServa will not compute this. It is not a weaker date; it is no date at all. You must work out any such period by hand. |
A verification note may appear below the status explaining what was checked.
How Computed Dates Work
When a trigger event is recorded on a matter, LawServa computes each verified rule in that trigger's chain and diarises the result with its rule and citation. The engine gives only two answers: a date with its authority, or a refusal in plain words. It never guesses.
- A rule not yet in force on the trigger date is refused.
- Limitation Act 1953 rules are refused on a file in Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan, because that Act applies to Peninsular Malaysia only and the East Malaysian ordinances have not been researched.
- If the trigger date later changes, the chain is recalculated. A date that a person has deliberately changed by hand is never moved automatically; it is reported for a human decision instead.
Working Days and Calendar Days
Every rule names its counting basis under the period:
| Basis Shown | How It Is Counted |
|---|---|
| Calendar days | Every day counts, including weekends and holidays. If the last day falls on a weekly or public holiday, the period runs to the next working day. |
| Working days only | Weekends and public holidays are skipped. If the holiday list does not reach the end of the period, LawServa refuses to compute, because an unknown holiday would move the deadline itself. |
| Calendar days. Under six days, holidays are not reckoned (RCA r.91) | Used for the appellate courts. For a period of less than six days, weekly and public holidays are left out of the count. |
For a calendar-day period that ends beyond the holiday list, LawServa still gives the date with a caveat, because the arithmetic is certain; only whether that day is a working day is unknown.
Holidays and Calendar Settings
Working days depend on which state's weekend and holidays apply. Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu observe a Friday and Saturday weekend; the other states observe Saturday and Sunday. These are set in Calendar Settings, which has three sections.
Where We Practise
- Go to Today > Calendar and open Calendar Settings, section Where We Practise.
- Tick every state the firm files in. The first ticked state, reading down, is the one the calendar grid is drawn for.
- Choose The Calendar Opens On: My own dates, My team or The whole firm.
- Press Save States. At least one state must be ticked.
Our Own Days
- Open the Our Own Days section and press Add Day.
- Enter the Date and What It Is.
- Choose the Kind: an office closure, a public holiday this firm observes, or a working day on which the firm is open whatever the calendar says.
- Choose Where: everywhere the firm practises, or one state.
- Add a Note, such as the gazette reference, and press Add Day.
A day recorded as a working day wins over everything, including a weekend. To withdraw a day, press Remove beside it and confirm. The record is kept for audit, not deleted, so you can later show how a past date was worked out.
Public Holidays
The Public Holidays section lists the next eighteen months for your states, each marked Fixed date, Estimated, not yet gazetted or This firm's own record. Islamic and lunar holidays, and some rulers' birthdays, are estimates until gazetted. When the gazetted date is published, record it under Our Own Days and the calendar will use it.
Printing and Downloading the PDF
- Set the search and practice area you want on the Deadline Rules screen.
- Press Download PDF for an A4 document on the firm's letterhead, or Print to open it for printing.
The PDF is titled Court Rules and Limitation Table. It shows the filter, the date, counts of events, rules, verified and not verified rules, and how far holidays are known. Each event has a table with No., Period, What It Produces, Authority, In Force and Status. Unverified rules are printed and marked NOT VERIFIED.
What LawServa Does Not Compute
At the foot of the screen, What LawServa Does Not Compute lists periods that were researched and deliberately left out such as limitation in Sabah and Sarawak. It also explains that there is no three-year personal injury limitation period in Malaysia: personal injury is six years under s.6(1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1953. An absent rule is one LawServa does not diarise, so the file handler must.
Adding or Changing a Rule
Rules cannot be added or edited from the screen, by design. A period changed quietly in a text box is exactly the kind of error the rule book exists to prevent. Rules are changed centrally by LawServa after review, with a citation and an in-force date. If you believe a rule is missing or wrong, report it through Bug Reports and Feature Requests with the citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Did LawServa Not Compute a Date for This Event?
The rule may be marked Not verified, may not have been in force on the trigger date, may be a Limitation Act rule on an East Malaysian file, or may be a working-day period ending beyond the known holidays. The refusal message says which.
Can I Change a Period to Match My Own Reading of the Rules?
No. The rule book is read only for every firm. You can change an individual diarised date by hand on the matter, and LawServa will not move it automatically afterwards.
Why Does My Diary Show a Date Earlier Than the Statutory Date?
When a period ends on a weekend or public holiday, LawServa states the statutory date on the next working day but diarises the last working day before it, so nothing is left to the last day.
Why Is Our Weekend Different from Another Office's?
The weekend depends on the state. Tick the right states under Where We Practise in Calendar Settings.