Seeking a court order

The registry no longer requires orders to be filed, i.e. signed and sealed, unless requested by a party (see rule 661, Uniform Civil Procedure Rules).

Hand one copy of a proposed draft order to the presiding judge who will, if they agree, initial it and either ‘order as per draft’ (OAPD) or ‘order as per amended draft’ (OAPAD).

The document will be placed on the file and scanned to the court’s eSearch facility.

The registry no longer requires additional copies. Additionally, unless specifically requested, none will be signed or sealed.

The only times a sealed order is likely to be required are where:

  • the order is FINAL and two copies may be handed to the presiding judge—the OAPD initialled by the judge becomes the original, and is signed and sealed, while the second copy is signed and sealed, and delivered to the party)
  • the OAPAD is not legible
  • a party needs to use the order for enforcement purposes.

In the last two cases, the additional copy can be given to the registry or emailed to the list manager, who will print, sign and seal, and put it out for collection.

When the order is only endorsed on the file by the associate (i.e. there is no draft), a party may obtain a copy of that order (by searching the file) and present a typed version to the registry for signing and sealing. It may be emailed to the list manager.