You need to use a recent browser (Internet Explorer 5.5, or Mozilla 1.7.7 and above).
To view and print completed forms you require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The Court has published information on its Department of the Attorney General website under the fact sheets area.
If you have not lodged the document electronically, you have to lodge the document at the registry of the Magistrates Court. Depending on what you have decided, either the Court or you will have to serve the documents to the defendant(s). Refer to the fact sheet on service on the Department of the Attorney General website. What happens next depends on how the defendant responds to the claim. They may admit to claim; provide notice of intention to defend; or ignore the claim. Refer to the fact sheets Understanding civil proceedings located on the Department of the Attorney General website for further information.
Note that at this point in time the Court has only published initiating forms via online forms. These are originating documents. Other forms are available for download from the Department of the Attorney General website.
The site has security protection and encrypts data that passes over the Internet.
The system will calculate the Court fee based on the type of application and distance travelled for serving documents (if the Court is required to serve your documents). The system will show the fees payable on a summary screen at the end of the process. Refer to the Magistrates Court Fees schedule located on the Department of the Attorney General website, for further information.
You only have to document a summary description of the dispute. This may include the date of a transaction, the date when any problem arose and details of the transaction or issues between the Parties. You may at a later stage be required to provide a statement of claim which is more detailed.
The sytem will keep unlodged documents for a period of 45 days from the date the document was last modified.
If your have lodged documents with the Court then your account will remain active. If you have not lodged any documents, your account will be deleted after 60 days of inactivity. If you need to lodge a document thereafter, you will need to register again.
The lodgement process is run from the Courts Systems and may take a few minutes. As soon as you have provided payment details and proceeded to the next step, the system will process your document independent of your computer system. You can login later, and retrieve a document where lodgement is in progress to see the status of lodgement.
If the lodgement process reports a failure, please click on the feedback link to send Customer Support a detailed status message.
You can use the system to download the unlodged document so that your can lodge manually over the counter. If payment has already been received, then contact Customer Support who will assist you further.
You will receive confirmation that the document has been successfully lodged. You will receive a receipt number for payment and a matter number at the end of the lodgement process. In addition you will be able to download an invoice/receipt and the claimants copy of the document - that include the file number and the seal of the Court.
If you experience a problem, or need further information, please use the feedback form or contact your closest registry.
