Australian Capital Territory Current Regulations

COURT PROCEDURES RULES 2006 - REG 2903

    (1)     Anyone may search the registry for, inspect, or take a copy of, any document filed in the registry.

Note 1     For a family or personal violence proceeding, a party to the proceeding may inspect, or take a copy of, a document filed in the registry provided the document does not include an affected person's home or work address or other information that may allow the affected person to be located (see r 3802 (2) (s)).

Note 2     Rule 4053 (Criminal proceedings—inspection of registry files) applies to documents filed in criminal proceedings.

    (2)     However, the registrar must not allow a person who is not a party to a proceeding to search the registry for, inspect, or take a copy of, any of the following documents about the proceeding unless the person appears to the registrar to have a sufficient interest in the document or the court gives leave:

        (a)     an order, transcript of the proceeding, or any other document, that the court has ordered to be kept confidential;

        (b)     an affidavit that has not been read in court;

        (c)     a part of an affidavit ruled to be inadmissible in evidence;

        (d)     an interrogatory, or an answer to an interrogatory, that has not been admitted into evidence;

        (e)     a list of documents given on discovery;

        (f)     an admission that has not been admitted into evidence;

        (g)     a subpoena;

Note     Rule 6609 (Inspection of, and dealing with, subpoenaed documents and things produced otherwise than on attendance) deals with the inspection of documents produced in response to a subpoena.

        (h)     an application for leave to serve a subpoena in New Zealand;

              (i)     a document in relation to a proceeding about the adoption, custody or guardianship of a child;

        (j)     a document in relation to a proceeding under the Family Law Act 1975

(Cwlth);

        (k)     a document filed in the probate jurisdiction, other than—

              (i)     a grant of probate or letters of administration; or

              (ii)     an order to administer an estate; or

              (iii)     a proceeding about a contested matter;

        (l)     a deposition taken before an examiner;

        (m)     a document filed in support of an application made in the absence of a party;

        (n)     a written submission that has not been read in court;

        (o)     an unsworn statement of evidence;

        (p)     a document that the registrar decides should be confidential to the parties to the proceeding in the interests of justice.

Note     Pt 6.2 (Applications in proceedings) applies to an application for leave under this rule.

    (3)     Also, a party to a proceeding may search the registry for, inspect, or take a copy of, a subpoena issued at the request of another party only with the court's leave.

    (4)     However, subrule (3) does not apply to a subpoena that has been served on the party.

    (5)     Further, a party to a proceeding may search the registry for, inspect, or take a copy of, a document filed to support any of the following applications only with the court's leave:

        (a)     an application for a document, evidence or thing to be kept confidential;

        (b)     an application for a document or thing to be granted privilege from production;

        (c)     an application for leave to serve a subpoena in New Zealand.

    (6)     Before considering an application for leave under subrule (3), the court may require the applicant for leave to do either or both of the following:

        (a)     give notice of the application for leave to a party to the relevant proceeding or another interested person;

        (b)     obtain the agreement of a party to the relevant proceeding or another interested person to the applicant searching the registry for, inspecting, or taking a copy of, a document to which the application relates.

    (7)     In this rule:

"document"—to remove any doubt, document includes a document kept electronically or in any other way.

Note     The title="A2001-14">Legislation Act

, dict, pt 1, defines "document" to mean any record of information, and includes—

        (a)     anything on which there is writing; or

        (b)     anything on which there are figures, marks, numbers, perforations, symbols or anything else having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; or

        (c)     anything from which images, sounds, messages or writings can be produced or reproduced, whether with or without the aid of anything else; or

        (d)     a drawing, map, photograph or plan.

Note to div 3.1.1

For provisions about accounts and commission, see div 2.20.4 (Executors, administrators and trustees—accounts and commission).