If you're a party to a criminal proceeding in the Supreme or District Court, you can ask the court to:
1. issue a subpoena requiring a person to:
- appear in court as a witness to give evidence and/or
- produce documents or items at a hearing at the hearing of the criminal proceeding.
OR
2. Issue a subpoena which will require a person to produce specified documents to the court registry, following which you may apply to the court for an order to inspect or copy those documents or items. You may only inspect or copy the documents upon payment of the prescribed fees (Medical, Hospital and certain government records may be inspected free of charge)
This page explains how to apply for these subpoenas.
Party to the proceeding
A party is an individual, corporation or other entity that has:
- started a criminal court proceeding; or
- had a criminal proceeding started against them; or
- later been joined by the court as a party to a criminal court proceeding.
Attend court subpoena – how to apply
To request a subpoena to require a person to appear as a witness in court to give evidence in a court proceeding and/or produce documents or another item in the court proceeding:
1. Complete the online Form 21 Subpoena – Subpoena to attend court and/or produce documents
2. Ensure you:
- include the name and address of the person or organisation being subpoenaed
- include the date the person or organisation is to attend the court (check with the list manager before completing the form)
- Clearly describe the documents or items being requested.
You can’t include Protected Counselling Communications in your request.
3. Serve the subpoena and notice
When the sealed subpoena is electronically provided to you, you must give to (serve on) the person named in the subpoena a copy of:
- the Form 21 subpoena
- a Form 23 – Notice to be served with Form 21 Subpoena (which explains the rights and obligations of the witness being served).
Produce documents only subpoena – how to apply
To request a subpoena for someone to provide documents or items to the registry before the trial or hearing so you can inspect or copy them, follow these steps:
1. Download the forms
2. Complete Form 22
- include the name and address of the person or organisation being subpoenaed
- include the court date the documents need to be returned
- clearly describe the documents or items being requested.
These details need to exactly match any orders made by the Court. If not, the subpoena may not be issued.
An order to inspect and copy subpoenaed material does not automatically allow a subpoena to be issued. You need to request orders for both issuing the subpoena and inspecting/copying the material.
3. File Form 22
Submit the completed form to the relevant court registry, either in person or via post.
4. Serve the subpoena and notice
Once the subpoena is issued, you must give to (serve on) the person named in the subpoena a copy of:
- Form 22
- Form 24
- a copy of the court order if required.
5. Allow time for compliance
Ensure there’s a reasonable amount of time for the subpoenaed party to comply with the request before the court date.
6. Follow up
If the documents or items are not produced, contact the registry or seek legal advice on the next steps.
7. Apply to the Court to inspect and/or copy the documents
Once the documents or items have been produced to the court registry, you may apply to the court for an order allowing you to inspect and/or copy the documents or items. If your application is granted, you may only inspect or copy documents upon payment of the prescribed fees.
Further information:
