Step by step guide - Subpoenas

In the Small Claims Division of the Local Court, you can’t file and serve a subpoena unless the court has given you leave (permission) to do this. 

If you want a subpoena, you should ask for leave at the pre-trial review. You will need to explain why you need the subpoena. If you are not sure whether you need a subpoena you should get legal advice. 

If the court gives you leave to file and serve a subpoena, you will need to complete one of the forms listed below depending on the type of subpoena you need: 

• ​​​Form 25 - Subpoena to attend to give evidence
  
• Form 26A - Subpoena to produce with subpoena notice and declaration
  
• Form 27A - Subpoena to give evidence and produce with subpoena notice and declaration.
  

You can get copies of the forms from: 

• ​​​any Local C​ourt​ or
  
• the Uniform Civil Procedure Rul​es (UCPR) forms website.
  

You can also complete and file this form online using the NSW Online Re​gistry​. 

The subpoena form must be addressed to a person. If you want to get documents from an organisation or a company you will need to use the words 'To the Proper Officer' followed by the name and registered address of the organisation or company.

You can contact the organisation or company to find out their registered address. For more information on finding a company's registered address, see Identify the other party, in Making a claim.

If the subpoena is for the production of documents, you need to clearly describe which document or documents you are asking for. 

• Instructions: Subpoena to attend to give evidence (PDF, 14KB).
•  ​Instructions: Subpoena to produce (PDF, 27KB).
• Sample: Subpoena to attend to give evidence – Defendant (PDF, 12KB).
• Sample: Subpoena to attend to give evidence – Plaintiff (PDF, 12KB).
• ​​Sample: Subpoena to produce (PDF, 25KB).

When you have filled out the subpoena form, you need to make three copies of the subpoena and send or take it to the court.

The filing fee is $126.00 for an individual and $252.00 for a corporation (as at 1 July 2024).  For more information, see Fees on the Local Court of NSW Website.   

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 serving the subpoena. 

To see a video on the process of filing the subpoena with the NSW Online Registry, see Issuing subpoenas on one or more recipients on Youtube.

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.

If you are considering applying for an order for short service of a subpoena, you should get legal advice.

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

• a Notice of Motion form and
  
•  an affidavit in support of your application.
  

You can get copies of forms from your nearest local court or the Local Courts website.

• Sample: Notice of Motion for short service of a subpoena (PDF, 47KB)
• Sample: Affidavit in support of short service (PDF, 25KB).

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 out of time.

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 with the subpoena some money, called 'conduct money'.

The amount of money must be enough to cover the cost of travelling to and from the court or the cost of looking for, photocopying and sending the documents to the court. 

The conduct money can be paid by cash, bank cheques, or money transferred electronically, through online banking or other digital payment methods. Prepaid travel options, such as petrol vouchers, also count as conduct money.

The recipient doesn’t have to comply with a subpoena unless they are given or offered conduct money a reasonable time before they need to attend court. You may be ordered by the court to pay the amount requested by the person subpoenaed. 

Before you serve your subpoena, you should contact the subpoenaed person to find out how much conduct money they will require to comply with the subpoena.