Local Court (Civil Procedure) Act 1989 (NT)
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
LOCAL COURT (Civil Procedure) ACT 1989
As in force at 1 May 2016
northern territory of australia
As in force at 1 May 2016
LOCAL COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE) act 1989
An Act relating to procedure for civil proceedings in the Local Court
This Act may be cited as the
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the Administrator by notice in the
In this Act:
This Act applies in relation to the Court’s civil jurisdiction (as defined in section 3 of the
A child may bring proceedings in the Court for the recovery of money payable to the child under a contract of service or a contract for services as if the child were an adult.
(1) Where a claim is wholly or partly beyond the jurisdiction of the Court, the Court may:
(a) amend the claim for the purpose of bringing it within jurisdiction;
(b) order that the proceedings be stayed pending the making of an application under section 18; or
(c) order that the claim be struck out and award costs as if it had jurisdiction and the claim were dismissed.
(2) Where:
(a) under subsection (1)(b), the Court orders that proceedings be stayed pending the making of an application under section 18; and
(b) within a reasonable time after the making of that order the proceedings have not been transferred to the Supreme Court,
the Court may exercise the power conferred by subsection (1)(c).
(1) The:
(a) Court may, whether of its own motion or on the application of a party, order; or
(b) Rules may require,
that proceedings, or a matter raised in proceedings, be referred to:
(c) a pre-hearing conference;
(d) a mediation conference; or
(e) an arbitration conference,
which shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules by the person presiding.
(2) If a matter is not settled between the parties at a conference referred to in subsection (1), the person presiding may refer it back to the Court.
(3) In the settlement of a matter at a conference referred to in subsection (1), the person presiding at:
(a) a pre-hearing conference or a mediation conference – may, with the consent in writing of each of the parties, make a final order in the proceedings; or
(b) an arbitration conference – may make a final order in the proceedings.
(4) A party to the proceedings may, within 14 days after the making of an order under subsection (3)(b), apply for a rehearing, in accordance with the Rules, to the Court.
(5) An order made under subsection (3) has effect as an order of the Court.
The Court may, at any stage of proceedings (including a pre‑hearing, mediation or arbitration conference), give such directions for the conduct of the proceedings as it thinks conducive to the effective, complete, prompt and economical determination of the proceedings.
(1) A party to proceedings (other than an appeal) may apply to the Court for an order that the proceedings be transferred to the Supreme Court.
(2) An application may be made under subsection (1) even if the claim the subject of the proceedings is wholly or partly beyond the jurisdiction of the Court.
(3) On an application under subsection (1), the Court may, if it considers it appropriate to do so, order that the proceedings be transferred to the Supreme Court.
(4) Where an order is made under this section:
(a) the proceedings in the Local Court are is discontinued;
(b) the record and all documents relating to the proceedings must be transmitted by the principal registrar to the Supreme Court; and
(c) the Supreme Court has power to regulate the procedure in the transferred proceedings.
19 Appeal to Supreme Court (1) A party to proceedings may:
(a) within 28 days; or
(b) with the leave of the Supreme Court, after the expiration of 28 days,
after the day on which the order complained of was made, appeal to the Supreme Court, on a question of law, from a final order of the Court in the proceedings.
(2) The Supreme Court may grant leave under subsection (1)(b) and the appellant may proceed with the appeal if the Supreme Court:
(a) is of the opinion that the failure to institute the appeal within the period referred to in subsection (1)(a) was due to exceptional circumstances; and
(b) is satisfied that the case of any other party to the appeal would not be materially prejudiced because of the delay.
(5) An appeal under this section shall be brought in accordance with the Rules of the Supreme Court.
(6) After hearing and determining the appeal, the Supreme Court may make such order as it thinks fit, including an order remitting the case for re-hearing to the Court with or without directions on the law.
(7) An order made by the Supreme Court on the appeal, other than an order remitting the case for re-hearing to the Court, may be enforced as an order of the Supreme Court.
(1) Where, in proceedings other than an appeal, an order is made by the Court against a person who:
(a) did not file a notice of defence;
(b) did not appear in the proceedings; or
(c) consented to the making of the order but there are grounds on which to satisfy the Court that the order is to be set aside (for example on the grounds of fraud, duress, suppression of evidence or the giving of false evidence),
the person may, subject to and in accordance with the Rules, apply to the Court for an order that the order be set aside and the proceedings be re-heard.
(2) On an application under this section, the Court may set aside the order subject to such terms and conditions, if any, as it thinks fit and re-hear the proceedings.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), an application under this section does not operate as a stay of the order unless the Court so orders.
(4) An application under this section in respect of an order for the payment of money operates as a stay of so much of the order as relates to the payment of money.
(5) If an applicant under this section fails to appear at the time fixed for the hearing of the application and the application is struck out, the applicant may re-apply only if the applicant first obtains the leave of the Court.
(1) An order made by the Court for the payment of money may, subject to and in accordance with the Rules, be enforced by:
(a) a warrant of seizure and sale;
(b) an attachment of earnings order;
(c) an attachment of debts order;
(d) a charging order;
(e) the appointment of a receiver; or
(f) sequestration,
or any combination of those means.
(2) A warrant of seizure and sale may direct and authorize the person to whom it is directed to take and sell any property belonging to the person named or described in the warrant.
(3) An order for the delivery of goods and an order for the delivery of goods or the payment of their assessed value may, subject to and in accordance with the Rules, be enforced by a warrant of delivery.
(4) A warrant of delivery may direct and authorize the person to whom it is directed to cause the goods described in the warrant to be delivered to the person specified in the warrant or to levy payment of the assessed value of the goods from other property of the person against whom the order is made.
(5) An order for the payment of the assessed value of goods may be enforced by the same means as any other order for the payment of money.
(6) An order for the possession of land may, subject to and in accordance with the Rules, be enforced by a warrant of possession.
(7) A warrant of possession to enforce an order for the possession of land may direct and authorize the person to whom it is directed to turn out any person from the land described in the warrant and may include provision for enforcing the payment of money required by the order to be paid.
(8) A person shall not dismiss an employee or injure an employee in the employee’s employment, or alter an employee’s position to the prejudice of the employee, because an attachment of earnings order has been made in relation to the employee or the employee is required to make payments under an attachment of earnings order.
Maximum penalty: 85 penalty units.
(9) A court convicting a person of an offence against subsection (8) may order the person to reimburse the employee any lost wages resulting from the action constituting the offence and to cause the employee to be reinstated in the employee’s former position or in a similar position.
(10) An amount ordered to be reimbursed under subsection (9) may be recovered from the person found guilty in the same manner as the penalty to which that person is liable under subsection (8) and may be included in the same warrant of distress.
(11) An attachment of earnings order may apply to earnings falling to be paid:
(a) by the Crown in right of the Territory or the Commonwealth;
(b) by a statutory authority representing the Crown in right of the Territory or the Commonwealth; or
(c) from the public moneys of the Territory.
(12) An attachment of earnings order or an attachment of debts order shall bind the relevant earnings or debts in the hands of the person named in the order.
(13) For the purpose of securing the payment of a judgment debt, the Court may, by order, impose a charge on the beneficial interest of the judgment debtor in a security.
(14) An application for the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution may be made in accordance with the Rules and the Rules apply to the receiver who is appointed as they apply to a receiver appointed for any other purpose.
(15) A sequestration order must appoint one or more persons as sequestrators and provide that the sequestrator or sequestrators be authorised and directed to:
(a) enter on and take possession of the real and personal estate of the person bound;
(b) collect, receive and get into his, her of their hands the rents and profits of the person’s real and personal estate; and
(c) keep the rents and profits under sequestration in his, her or their hands until the person bound complies with the judgment to be enforced by sequestration, or until further order.
22A Powers of person executing warrant of seizure and sale (1) A person to whom a warrant of seizure and sale is directed is, by operation of this section, authorised for the purposes of executing the warrant to enter and remain on premises he or she believes on reasonable grounds to be owned or occupied by the person named or described in the warrant.
(2) Subject to section 22B, the authorisation under subsection (1) does not authorise the use of force or violence.
(3) A person referred to in subsection (1) may request a member of the Police Force to assist him or her in the execution of the warrant.
(4) In this section,
premises includes land (whether built on or not), a building or part of a building.
(1) A member of the Police Force who:
(a) is the person to whom a warrant of seizure and sale is directed; or
(b) is assisting a person in the execution of a warrant of seizure and sale,
may for the purpose of the execution of the warrant enter and remain, with the force that is necessary and reasonable, on premises that he or she believes on reasonable grounds to be owned or occupied by the person named or described in the warrant.
(2) Nothing in this section derogates from the powers a member of the Police Force has under any other law in force in the Territory.
(1) Where by or under this or any other Act a power (whether or not expressed as a power to make an order) is given to the Court to require:
(a) a person to do or abstain from doing an act or thing, other than to pay money; or
(b) an act or thing, other than the payment of money, to be done or left undone,
the Court may exercise the power by an order or orders.
(2) Where the Court makes an order under subsection (1), it may:
(a) attach to the order conditions as to time or mode of action which are authorized by or under an Act or as it thinks fit;
(b) suspend or rescind the order on an undertaking being given or condition being performed, as it thinks fit; and
(c) generally make an arrangement for carrying into effect the power, as it thinks fit.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person who defaults in complying with an order made under subsection (1) is, for the default, liable to:
(a) pay a fine for every day during which the default continues; or
(b) be imprisoned for so long as the default continues,
and pay damages where loss occurred as a result of the default.
(4) A person is not liable under this section to imprisonment for a period or periods amounting in the aggregate to more than 2 months for non-compliance with the requirement of the Court (whether made by one or more orders) to do or abstain from doing an act or thing.
(1) Where an order is made by the Court and a warrant of seizure and sale has been returned unsatisfied in whole or in part, a registrar must, on the application of the person entitled to enforce the order, give that person a certificate of the order and of the amount remaining unpaid under the order and record the fact of the giving of the certificate in the Court records.
(2) A person who is given a certificate under subsection (1) may file the certificate in the Supreme Court and, on the filing of the certificate, judgment shall be deemed to have been entered in the Supreme Court for the amount mentioned in the certificate as being unpaid, together with all fees paid for obtaining and filing the certificate and the prescribed amount for costs.
(3) After the issue of a certificate under subsection (1) no further proceedings shall be taken in the Court in relation to the order but, on the filing of the certificate in the Supreme Court, the judgment that shall be deemed to have been entered may be enforced by the same means as any other judgment entered in the Supreme Court.
In this Division:
(1) On the application of a judgment creditor the Court may issue a summons for the examination of a judgment debtor.
(2) An examination summons may require the debtor to attend and be examined, on oath or otherwise, about the debtor’s financial circumstances and may require the debtor to produce any document or thing in the debtor’s possession or control that may tend to show the financial circumstances of the debtor.
(3) If a judgment debtor does not attend as required by an examination summons, the Court may:
(a) adjourn the examination; or
(b) issue a warrant for the arrest of the debtor.
(4) A warrant issued in pursuance of subsection (3)(b) continues in force until it:
(a) is executed;
(b) is revoked; or
(c) expires in accordance with the Rules,
whichever first occurs, and is executed when the Court has completed its examination of the debtor.
(1) The Court may order that a judgment debtor pay the amount of a judgment debt then owing by instalments.
(2) An instalment order may be made:
(a) by the Court of its own motion; or
(b) subject to the Rules, on the application of a judgment creditor or judgment debtor.
(3) While an instalment order is being complied with, it operates as a stay of enforcement of the judgment concerned.
(4) Failure to comply with an instalment order does not terminate the stay of enforcement referred to in subsection (3) until the failure has continued for 14 days.
The Court may, at any stage of proceedings, except where otherwise provided by this or any other Act, order a stay of the proceedings on the terms and conditions (if any) as it thinks fit.
(1) The Court may, on application by a person (the
victim ), issue a certificate if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that:(a) an offence against section 228C, 228D or 228E of the Criminal Code has been committed; and
(b) the victim’s identification information was the subject of the offence; and
(c) the certificate may assist the victim to deal with any problems the commission of the offence has caused in relation to the victim’s personal or business affairs.
(2) The Court may issue a certificate whether or not:
(a) the person who committed the offence is identifiable; and
(b) any criminal proceedings have been or can be taken against a person in relation to the offence or are pending.
(3) A certificate must:
(a) identify the victim of the offence; and
(b) explain how identification information relating to the victim was used to commit the offence; and
(c) contain any other information the Court considers appropriate in order to assist the victim to deal with any problems the commission of the offence has caused in relation to the victim’s personal or business affairs.
(4) Despite subsection (3), a certificate must not identify the person who committed, or allegedly committed, the offence to which it relates.
(5) A certificate is not admissible as evidence in any criminal proceedings in relation to the offence to which it relates.
(6) In this section:
identification information , see section 228A of the Criminal Code.
(1) The Court may, on the application of a party to proceedings or on its own initiative, adjourn a hearing:
(a) to such times and places;
(b) for such purposes; and
(c) on such terms as to costs or otherwise,
as it thinks fit.
(2) Where the Court has adjourned a hearing to a particular time, it may, on the application of a party, reasonable notice of which has been given to the other party or parties, or by consent of all the parties, order that the hearing be held or resumed before that time.
(1) Subject to this or any other Act or the Rules, the costs of and incidental to proceedings in the Court are in the Court’s discretion and it has full power to determine by whom, to whom and to what extent the costs are to be paid.
(2) This section applies even if the claim the subject of the proceedings is wholly or partly beyond the jurisdiction of the Court.
(1) Where a legal practitioner for a party to proceedings, whether personally or through a servant or an agent, has caused costs to be incurred improperly or without reasonable cause or to be wasted by undue delay or negligence or by any other misconduct or default, the Court may make an order that:
(a) all or any of the costs between the legal practitioner and the client be disallowed or that the legal practitioner repay to the client the whole or part of any money paid on account of costs;
(b) the legal practitioner pay to the client all or any of the costs which the client has been ordered to pay to any party; or
(c) the legal practitioner pay all or any of the costs payable by a party other than the client.
(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a legal practitioner is in default for the purposes of that subsection if proceedings cannot conveniently be heard or proceed, or fail or are adjourned without any useful progress being made, because the legal practitioner failed to:
(a) attend in person or by a proper representative;
(b) file a document which ought to have been filed;
(c) lodge or deliver a document for the use of the Court which ought to have been lodged or delivered;
(d) be prepared with proper evidence or an account; or
(e) otherwise proceed.
(3) The Court shall not make an order under subsection (1) without giving the legal practitioner a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
(4) The Court may order that notice of proceedings or an order against a legal practitioner under this section be given to the client in such manner as it directs.
(5) This section applies even if the claim the subject of the proceedings is wholly or partly beyond the jurisdiction of the Court.
(6) This section also applies to a law practice, as defined in section 4 of the
Legal Practitioners Act 2006 , that employs the legal practitioner.
(1) All moneys which, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, have been paid into court to the use of a party to a proceeding before the Court shall, if unclaimed for 3 years, be paid into the Central Holding Authority.
(2) A person entitled to claim money paid under subsection (1) into the Central Holding Authority may apply to the principal registrar for a certificate certifying the claimant’s right to claim the money.
(3) On receiving a certificate referred to in subsection (2), the Treasurer, if satisfied that the claimant is not precluded from claiming the amount by the
Limitation Act 1981 , shall authorize payment of the money to the claimant or the claimant’s agent.
The Administrator may make regulations under this Act.
The Acts listed in the Schedule are repealed.
(1) A Local Court in existence immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue as if it were the Court established by this Act and all proceedings already commenced in that Court shall be continued, heard and determined under this Act in accordance with this Act and the Rules and all judgments and orders of that Court shall continue in force as if they were judgments and orders of the Court established by this Act.
(2) All records of a Local Court in existence immediately before the commencement of this Act shall continue and be incorporated with, and shall be deemed to form part of, the records of the Court established by this Act.
(3) A reference to a Local Court in an Act, instrument of a legislative or administrative character or other document in force before the commencement of this Act shall be read as including a reference to the Court established by this Act.
(4) A reference to a Clerk of Court in an Act, instrument of a legislative or administrative character or other document in force before the commencement of this Act shall be read as including a reference to a Registrar, or to a Clerk of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, as appropriate.
section 37
Number and year | Act or provision year |
No. 6 1941 | |
No. 4 1947 | |
No. 9 1952 | |
No. 20 1954 | |
No. 25 1955 | |
No. 41 1957 | |
No. 2 1965 | |
No. 24 1965 | |
No. 46 1970 | |
No. 60 1970 | |
No. 17 1971 | |
No. 14 1974 | |
No. 5 1976 | |
No. 40 1979 | |
No. 115 1979 | |
No. 25 1981 | |
No. 108 1981 | |
No. 45 1983 |
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Assent date | 28 June 1989 |
Commenced | 1 January 1991 ( |
Assent date | 10 December 1991 |
Commenced | 1 February 1992 ( |
Assent date | 23 June 1995 |
Commenced | 23 June 1995 |
Assent date | 19 April 1996 |
Commenced | s 7: 19 April 1996; rem: 1 July 1996 (s 2, s 2 |
Assent date | 7 May 1997 |
Commenced | 1 June 1998 ( |
Assent date | 1 September 1998 |
Commenced | 7 October 1998 ( |
Assent date | 18 June 1999 |
Commenced | 18 June 1999 |
Assent date | 21 December 2001 |
Commenced | 13 February 2002 ( |
Assent date | 18 March 2003 |
Commenced | 1 May 2003 ( |
Assent date | 18 March 2003 |
Commenced | 18 March 2003 |
Assent date | 3 November 2006 |
Commenced | 3 November 2006 |
Assent date | 8 March 2007 |
Commenced | 8 March 2007 |
Assent date | 12 March 2009 |
Commenced | ss 67(b), 68(2)(e), 106, 108, 114, 116 and pt 15, div 6: 1 December 2009; rem: 1 November 2009 ( |
Assent date | 20 May 2010 |
Commenced | 1 July 2010 ( |
Assent date | 18 November 2010 |
Commenced | 1 March 2011 (s 2, s 2 |
Assent date | 21 March 2012 |
Commenced | pts 2, 3 and 5 to 7: 1 August 2012; rem: 1 September 2012 ( |
Assent date | 12 July 2013 |
Commenced | 28 August 2013 ( |
Assent date | 16 April 2014 |
Commenced | 1 July 2014 ( |
Assent date | 6 April 2016 |
Commenced | 1 May 2016 ( |
3 SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
s 8(2)
4 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table of amendments to this reprint) are made by the
5 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
lt sub No. 9, 2016, s 29
s 1 sub No. 9, 2016, s 30
s 3 amd No. 14, 1995, s 12; No. 20, 1997, s 4; No. 32, 2006, s 10
sub No. 9, 2016, s 31
pt II hdg rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 4 sub No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 5 amd No. 76, 1991, s 4
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 5A ins No. 1, 2009, s 150
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 6 – 8 rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 9 amd No. 14, 1995, s 12; No. 1, 2009, s 151
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 10 amd No. 40, 2010, s 75
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 10A ins No. 20, 1997, s 5
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 11 amd No. 76, 1991, s 5
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 12 amd No. 76, 1991, s 6; No. 20, 1997, s 6
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
s 13 amd No. 20, 1997, s 7
rep No. 9, 2016, s 31
pt III hdg sub No. 9, 2016, s 32
s 14 amd No. 76, 1991, s 7; No. 20, 1997, s 8
sub No. 9, 2016, s 33
s 15 amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 16 sub No. 76, 1991, s 8
amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 17 amd No. 76, 1991, s 9; No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 18 amd No. 20, 1997, s 9; No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 19 amd No. 20, 1997, s 10; No. 64, 2001, s 4; No. 12, 2003, s 10; No. 2, 2012, s 15; No. 9, 2016, s 34
s 20 amd by No. 20, 1997, s 11; No. 9, 2016, s 39
pt IV hdg rep No. 9, 2016, s 35
s 21 amd No. 76, 1991, s 10; No. 58, 1998, s 4; No. 4, 2003, s 4
rep No. 9, 2016, s 35
s 22 amd No. 17, 1996, s 6; No. 20, 1997, s 12; No. 27, 1999, s 15; No. 12, 2010, s 3; No. 9, 2016, s 39
ss 22A – 22B ins No. 58, 1998, s 5
s 24 amd No. 20, 1997, s 13; No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 28 rep No. 9, 2016, s 35
s 28A ins No. 20, 1997, s 14
amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 28B ins No. 20, 1997, s 14
rep No. 9, 2016, s 35
s 28C ins No. 9, 2014, s 8
s 29 amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 30 amd No. 40, 2010, s 76
rep No. 9, 2016, s 35
s 31 amd No. 9, 2016, s 36
s 32 amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 33 amd No. 76, 1991, s 11; No. 23, 2013, s 8
rep No. 9, 2016, s 37
s 34 amd No. 20, 1997, s 15; No. 32, 2006, s 11; No. 40, 2010, s 77; No. 23, 2013, s 8
rep No. 9, 2016, s 37
s 35 rep No. 9, 2016, s 37
s 36 amd No. 14, 1995, s 12; No. 4, 2007, s 7
amd No. 9, 2016, s 39
s 36A ins No. 58, 1998, s 6
amd No. 64, 2001, s 5
sub No. 9, 2016, s 38
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