Using CourtSA to lodge civil cases and documents online By Julie-Anne Burgess

Using CourtSA to lodge civil cases and documents online

JULIE-ANNE BURGESS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, COURTS ADMINISTRATION AUTHORITY

It is with excitement that the Courts Administration Authority (CAA) launched CourtSA in the Civil jurisdiction on Monday 18 May, 2020.

In addition to Probate, you can now use CourtSA to: • start a civil case; • defend a civil case; • access your civil case; • receive notifications about your civil case; • find out about your civil hearings; and • view your orders, judgments and documents for the civil jurisdiction.

As of Monday 21 September, 2020, it will be mandatory for legal practitioners to lodge cases and documents in previously the Civil jurisdiction via CourtSA. If you haven’t used CourtSA you are encouraged to take advantage of the transition period to use and become familiar with it and identify any changes that need to be made to the way you practice.

WHAT IS COURTSA?

CourtSA is a service that enables court users to lodge cases online, access information about their case from anywhere at any time, and find out what they need to do at every stage of their court journey.

It helps court users navigate their court experience by providing the ability to lodge cases online, information about what they need to do at each stage of their court journey, clearer communication about what the Courts are doing and why, and an electronic case file that keeps everything in one place and can be accessed from anywhere at any time. replace its case management systems as they were coming to the end of their life and needed to be replaced. The old case management systems were difficult to enhance to comply with legislative reform and were no longer supported.

In an age of fast internet and cutting-edge software, there is a growing expectation that services will be delivered digitally. By introducing a more streamlined, accessible, online court service, the CAA aim to make it more convenient for court users to interact with the Courts. This means making the Courts more accessible for everyone. It also means improving access to relevant information both before and during your case, so you no longer need to contact court staff by phone or in person to track your case, find out a trial date, or find out what to do. The introduction of CourtSA is kickstarting a fundamental transformation of the way justice is delivered in South Australia, forming the foundation of a suite of services to be offered in future.

WHAT DO I NEED TO USE COURTSA?

CourtSA requires access to a computer, internet, scanner and in some instances a printer. You can use any modern browser (Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) but Chrome is recommended.

HOW DO I USE IT?

Everyone will use CourtSA differently. CourtSA is an electronic lodgement system, not a practice management tool. It is not intended to be used to draft and settle documents or to replace practice management software. WHAT DO I DO TO GET STARTED?

To get started you will need a CourtSA account. You can create an individual or law firm account. A law firm account is run by an account administrator who can grant law firm users access to cases that the firm has been granted access to. In general, individual accounts are for those registering for themselves. Law firm accounts are to be created by a representative of an organisation who can then invite people to join the account. If you are legal practitioner that is part of a law firm, you should not need to create an account, as you will be invited to join your law firm CourtSA account by your firms account administrator.

Once you have created an account or been invited to join your law firm account, you can login and work through the welcome page options. If you would like access to a case, you need to request case access. There are instructional videos which show you how to use CourtSA. Please see the CourtSA Help Centre for more information.

HOW DO THE COURTSA FORMS WORK?

CourtSA uses a combination of smart forms and uploads. A smart form requires you to enter your data directly into CourtSA. Using this data, CourtSA will create your court documents. Comparatively, an upload requires that you upload your already completed document to CourtSA and provide some information about it. Most lodgements to start a case are smart forms, whereas most lodgements completed after a case is started are uploads.

WHAT IS CASE ACCESS?

Case access is the ability to view a case you are a party to, defend a case or lodge documents.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR CASE ACCESS?

You can apply for case access if you are: • Representing yourself; • A practitioner representing a party; • A barrister representing a party; or • A party represented by a lawyer.

HOW DO I APPLY FOR ACCESS TO A CASE?

You can request case access by logging into CourtSA and selecting ‘Request Access to a case’ from the drop down menu, completing the ‘CourtSA Request Case Access Form’ and clicking ‘Proceed’. A green verification notification box will appear with the details of the case.

You will receive an email acknowledging your request. This is not your access. The link will not take you to your case. It will take you to the administrative case associated with your case request.

WHAT IS AN ADM NUMBER?

An ADM number is simply an administration number that is allocated to the case. This is the number Court Services use to process your request. It is not the case number you are requesting.

WHAT DO I DO IF MY REQUEST FOR CASE ACCESS IS URGENT?

Requests for case access are not immediate. Each request is manually reviewed. It is advisable that legal practitioners seek case access as early as possible.

If your request for case access is urgent you will need to make the request using the ‘CourtSA Request Case Access Form’ CourtSA and then email CourtSA Registry Services using the enquiry@ courts.sa.gov.au email address noting in the subject of the email the ADM and that it is an urgent case access request. CourtSA Registry Services prioritise the processing of urgent case access requests.

What happens to your case access request once it is submitted?

Your request will be reviewed by Court Services. When approved you will receive an email granting you access. If you are a lawyer the request will be sent to the P or L Code email address you entered into the form.

Click the link within the email to be directed to a CourtSA page with a confirmation notification. For the link

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to work you must be logged into CourtSA using the same email address as where the notification was sent. If you are logged in to another account, the link will not work.

Once you are logged in to CourtSA go to ‘My Cases’, find the case you wish to access and click ‘View Case’. Your Notice of Acting will be available under the ‘Documents’ tab.

WHAT HAPPENS TO A DOCUMENT THAT IS LODGED USING COURTSA?

Once a document has been lodged it will either be automatically accepted for filing or reviewed by Court Services. At this stage, the Courts are unable to say how long the review process might take. Once CourtSA has been operating for a while it is hoped that the Courts will have a better understanding. Please take case access approvals or document reviews into consideration for compliance with dates set out in the Rules.

HOW DO I UPDATE THE DETAILS TO DO WITH MY P OR L CODE?

You need to contact the Law Society of South Australia to update the email or address that is associated with the P or L code. The CAA receive information from the Law Society of South Australia when P or L code details are updated and then update our case management system with this information. WHAT CAN’T I DO USING COURTSA?

The majority of civil cases and documents can be lodged using CourtSA. There are some low volume applications and cases that you will need to attend a Court Services location in person to lodge such as an application for a fee waiver or remission, amended documents, a case where the respondent or interested party has an address outside Australia or New Zealand, a document to be served outside of Australia, certain types of cases and certain administrative appeals or reviews. For a full list of the types of cases and documents that cannot be lodged using CourtSA please see the page in the CourtSA Help Centre on ‘Things you can’t do using CourtSA’. As the system continues to be enhanced and expanded this list will change.

WHAT SUPPORT IS THERE FOR LEGAL PRACTITIONERS USING COURTSA?

A range of support is available for legal practitioners from written resources to videos. You can locate the Help Centre on CourtSA by clicking here. The Help Centre includes useful information on setting up your accounts, unlocking your account, resetting your password, updating your details, payments, viewing receipts, inviting a user, accessing your case, how to use the CourtSA forms, types of cases you can start, how to lodge documents, a glossary and things you can’t do using CourtSA. There are also numerous videos on CourtSA to help you to navigate the system.

If you have questions you can also contact the CAA via live chat on the CAA website, by phone (08) 8204 2444 or email enquiry@courts.sa.gov.au During this time of change there may be longer wait and process times. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

It is suggested you also keep an eye on the Law Society e-newsletter InBrief for the CourtSA Snapshot, updates, hints and tips as well as instructional videos. There are also CourtSA tips that are being sent out every Tuesday as a Practitioner Alert.

The Uniform Civil Rules 2020 (Rules) can be located on the CAA website. Unfortunately, the CAA are unable to answer questions related to the Rules. Please refer any questions you have regarding Rules to the Law Society of South Australia. Alternatively, it is recommended that you speak to a senior practitioner or your practice manager about any questions regarding the Rules.

WHAT IF I USE COURTSA AND IDENTIFY SOMETHING I THINK SHOULD CHANGE?

The CAA welcomes your feedback and suggestions for improving CourtSA. There will be a continual process of improvement. An enhancement list is being maintained with suggested changes to CourtSA and additional functionality will be rolled out in future releases. B