Step by step guide - Subpoenas

If you need documents or other evidence for your case, you need to complete a Subpoena for Production.

If you want to make sure a witness comes to the hearing to give evidence, you need to complete a Subpoena to Give Evidence.

If you want a witness to produce documents and to attend court to give evidence, you need to complete a Subpoena for Production and to Give Evidence.

You can get blank copies of these forms from:

• your nearest Local Court registry, or
• the Forms page on the Local Court of NSW website.

You need one form for each subpoena.

You should address the subpoena to the witness you want to attend or the person you want to produce documents. 

There are three different types of subpoenas:

• Subpoena for Production,
• Subpoena to Give Evidence or
• Subpoena for Production and to Give Evidence.

If you want to get documents from an organisation or company, you should:

• address the subpoena to the 'Proper Officer'
• include the registered address of the organisation or company.

If you are filling out a Subpoena for production, it is important that you clearly describe the documents or things the person needs to produce to the Court. If your request is too vague or broad, the person might object and the Court might order that the person doesn’t have to comply with the subpoena.

Instructions: Instructions for completing a Subpoena to Give Evidence

Sample: Sample Subpoena to Give Evidence

Sometimes, you might need to apply for an extension of time for the service of a subpoena. For example, you find out about new evidence a few days before your hearing date and you don’t have time to comply with the standard rules.

A court may order short service if it is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to do so. Any order made for short service must be attached to the subpoena and served.

To apply for an order for short service, you will need to complete:

• a Notice of Motion, and
• an Affidavit in support of your application.

You can get blank copies of these forms from:

• your nearest Local Court registry, or
• the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules Civil Forms website.

You can file your subpoena in person, by post, fax or email.  

You need to file three copies of each subpoena.

You don’t have to pay a fee to file a subpoena.

A court may order short service if it is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to do so. Any order made for short service must be attached to the subpoena and served.

The Court will fill in the date that the documents have to be provided by and/or the date to attend the hearing. The Court will also fill in the last date for service.

Instructions: Completing a Notice of Motion for short service of a subpoena

Sample: Sample Notice of Motion for short service of a subpoena

Instructions: Instructions for completing an Affidavit in support of short service

Sample: Sample Affidavit in support of short service

The subpoena must be served on (given to) the person it is addressed to on or before last date for service.

A person doesn’t need to comply with a subpoena if it is served after the last date for service.

You can pay for a professional process server to serve the subpoena or do it yourself.

You can serve a subpoena by:

• handing it to the person it is addressed to
• emailing it to them, or
• posting or faxing it to their residential address.

When you serve the subpoena you must also give the person or organisation you are serving conduct money. Conduct money is money paid to a person who receives a subpoena to cover the cost of producing the document(s) or going to court.

There is no specific amount of conduct money you must give for a subpoena to produce but must be reasonable. Many organisations will have a set amount for conduct money. You should contact the organisation before serving the subpoena to make sure you provide enough conduct money.

The amount to be given for a Subpoena to Give Evidence should not be less than $50.05 (as at July 2014). This amount covers the cost of the witness travelling to attend court.

The person who served the subpoena needs to fill out and signed the Statement of Service at the bottom of the subpoena.

Their signature must be witnessed.

The return of subpoena date is the day the Court has ordered for the person or organisation in the subpoena to:

• bring the documents to court, or
• attend to give evidence.

It is written on the subpoena.

The documents requested under a Subpoena for Production can be posted to the Court but they must arrive by the return date.

On the return date, you should go to the court registry and ask for leave (permission) to look at and/or make copies of the documents. Sometimes the Registrar can give you access and sometimes you may need to ask the Magistrate for leave to look at and/or make copies. You usually can't take the produced documents away from the courthouse without a court order.

If the Court has given you leave to look at and/or copy the documents, you can do this on the return date or come back on another day.

You should check with the Court how much they will charge to make photocopies of the documents if you have been given permission to copy them.

If the person or organisation that has been served with the subpoena can't find the documents you are asking for, they will need to tell the Court that they haven't been able to find the documents.

The person the subpoena is addressed to may object to providing the documents or attending to give evidence. They can ask the Court to set aside the subpoena. If this happens, you will be served with a copy of their application and get a chance to explain to the Court why you need the documents and/or witness and how they are relevant to your case.

If a witness does not comply with a subpoena, the Court may issue a warrant for their arrest and have them brought before the court. ​