A landmark legal action to test the law on abortion in Northern Ireland will be heard next March.
Two days have were set aside today for the case High Court case brought by the Family Planning Association.
Five anti-abortion groups are opposing the FPA's application for a judicial review of current abortion law and practice.
The FPA has stressed the case is not about extending the 1967 Abortion Act in Britain to Northern Ireland and insists it merely wants the court to order the Department of Health of publish guidelines on the provision of terminations under existing law.
Mr Justice Kerr told lawyers for the FPA and the Department of Health that when the hearing starts on March 21th they would each have half a day to present their legal arguments.
And the following day the five anti abortion groups will each be allocated one hour to make their submissions. The groups are the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), Care, Life, Precious Life and the Northern Catholic Bishops.
Mr Justice Kerr announced that the anti-abortion groups - referred to as interveners - would have to pay their own legal costs. He said the FPA's costs would be determined by the outcome of the case.