Representing yourself in civil proceedings
Introduction
Everyone has the right to have their legal dispute resolved by a court or tribunal.
Because the law is complicated, it is generally better for people who are involved in a court case to have a lawyer (a solicitor or barrister).
But not everyone does.
The term "self-represented litigant" is often applied to people who decide to run their own court proceedings without a legal representative.
This section of the website is specifically aimed at assisting:
self-represented litigants currently involved in ongoing civil proceedings
people considering commencing new proceedings at the Supreme Court without legal representation
people who currently have a lawyer in an ongoing civil case but are investigating the possibility of representing themselves in the future.
The aim of the content presented here is to help people:
understand the Court's most important rules and procedures which must be followed by everyone, whether or not they have a lawyer
locate court rules relevant to civil proceedings, and other helpful resources, easily and quickly.
None of the information set out in this section should be interpreted as:
a substitute for legal advice
a substitute for legislative requirements or court rules
specifically relevant to probate applications
applicable to criminal proceedings.