General civil proceeding – recovering money or settling a dispute
If you want to recover money or settle a dispute with another person or an organisation, you can file a statement of claim in a District Court. You may only file the claim in a District Court if the value of the claim is less than $350,000. Only Inland Revenue can file a claim with a value of $350,000 or more in a District Court.
You can also file one of the following documents if you want to speed up the process:
an interlocutory application for summary judgment (which asks the court to find judgment in your favour, without trial, because the defendant has no lawful defence) or
an interlocutory application for an interim injunction (which asks the court to make an order for the defendant to discontinue, or not take, a certain action) or
an interlocutory application for a different order.
Certain applications to the court are made by an originating application. Applications are made by originating application if one of the following statements applies:
They are made under an Act that states the applications must be filed in the District Court by way of originating application
Civil appeal – asking a District Court to reconsider a Judge’s decision
Note: This section only covers civil appeals. If you want to appeal a criminal conviction or sentence, or any other order made in the criminal jurisdiction, please talk with a lawyer.
If you are unhappy with a decision made by a tribunal or other authority, you may be able to ask a District Court to reconsider that decision.
Check the relevant Act to see if:
the decision can be appealed and
the decision is appealed to the District Court or somewhere else.
If you file for an appeal you are called the appellant and the other party in the case is called the respondent.
Time limit
There is always a time limit for bringing an appeal. You must check the Act under which you make the appeal to see what the time limit is. If no time limit is set in the Act, the default time limit is 20 working days after the decision is given – see rule 18.4(2) of the District Court Rules(external link)
If you are outside that time limit and you have a good reason for the delay, you may be able to bring an appeal but you will have to apply for an extension to the time limit. You need to refer to the Act under which you are bringing your appeal to see if this is possible. To apply for an extension to the time limit, you need to file an interlocutory application
Documents
You need to file the following documents to bring a civil appeal:
At the first case management conference, the Judge may fix security for costs. This is intended to make sure that, if a litigant is unsuccessful, they will be able to pay the costs of the litigation. The Judge may decide security for costs is not needed if the person is getting legal aid, or in the interests of justice generally. You can find more information about security for costs on this website.
A Restraining Order imposes certain conditions on the person subject to the order, to protect the applicant from more harassment. It is a criminal offence to violate a Restraining Order without a reasonable excuse.
Note: You cannot apply for a Restraining Order against someone with whom you are in a domestic relationship. Instead you can apply to the Family Court for a Protection Order.
Documents
You need to file the following documents to apply for a Restraining Order:
Interlocutory application – applying for directions or orders secondary to the main claim
An interlocutory application is an application for directions or orders that are secondary to the main claim, and usually relates to the procedure of the case. It may be accompanied by an affidavit supporting the application.
You can file an interlocutory application on notice (where you have to give a copy of the application to the other party and give them a chance to oppose it) or without notice (where you do not give the other party a copy of the application and they do not have a chance to oppose it).
Time limit
An interlocutory application must be filed before the close of pleadings date (the date by which a hearing must be scheduled) unless the Judge says you can file the application after that time: see rule 7.6 of the District Court Rules(external link)
If you want to ask if you can file an interlocutory application after the close of pleadings date, you will need to file a separate interlocutory application.
Notice of appearance under protest to jurisdiction.
Usually the defendant will have 25 working days to respond to a notice of proceeding after being served (if they live in New Zealand).
The defendant may instead file a notice of appearance reserving rights, or a notice of appearance on ancillary matters. If this happens then you can still ask for a judgment by default depending on the matters raised in the notice of appearance.
Liquidated, unliquidated, and non-monetary demands
How you ask for and get a judgment by default depends on what you are claiming. A monetary claim is considered to be a liquidated demand if the sum claimed:
has been stated in, or can be precisely calculated on the basis of, a contract relied on by the plaintiff or
is stated in, or can be precisely calculated on the basis of, or by reference to, an enactment relied on by the plaintiff or
has been decided by agreement, mediation, arbitration, or previous litigation between the same parties or
is a reasonable price for goods supplied or services given (when no contract states the price).
All other monetary claims are considered to be unliquidated demands.
Unless the law or a judicial direction requires the matter to be determined by a judge, a request for a judgment by default on a liquidated demand will usually be considered by a deputy registrar without a hearing.
A request for a judgment by default on a non-monetary claim for land and/or chattels follows the same process as a request for a judgment by default on a liquidated demand.
A judge can only consider a request for a judgment by default on any other type of unliquidated demand (such as for damages) after a formal proof hearing.
Documents
If you are asking for a judgment by default on a liquidated demand, or a claim for land and/or chattels, you will need to file:
A letter to the Registrar asking for a judgment by default
Affidavit [DOCX, 56 KB] establishing each cause of action relied on (and enough information to calculate damages if damages are sought)
Affidavit [DOCX, 56 KB] verifying the statement of claim if the defendant was not personally served.
You will also need to file a draft judgment (using a modified version of Form 34) if your request for a judgment by default on an unliquidated demand is granted at the formal proof hearing:
If you obtain an order you must draw up the order and submit it to the Registrar for sealing if the order:
affects a person who is not a party or
joins a person as a party or
directs that it be served on a person.
In most cases you will need to draw up an order if you obtain an order for substituted service.
You will also need to draw up a final order and submit it to the Registrar for sealing if you wish to have the order enforced.
You may also draw up an order and submit it to the Registrar for sealing for other reasons (for example NZTA requires limited licence orders to be sealed before they will issue you with a limited licence).
Note judgments by default issued without a formal proof hearing are sealed orders and resealing them is not required.
Charging orders – asking the court to issue an order to prevent the debtor’s property from being disposed
A charging order stops a judgment debtor from disposing of the property (listed in the order) until the judgment creditor has had the chance to seize or sell it to cover the judgment debt.
A charging order issued under this application is a final order if the property charged is land.
A person served with an interim charging order must not:
make, agree to or allow any conveyance, transfer, assignment or disposition of any estate, right or interest, or of any share in a partnership or company, of the judgment debtor or
pay over any income, interest, dividends, bonus, profits or other money due or accruing to the judgment debtor.
Additionally when applying for a final charging order over land it is recommended that you file a recent copy of the certificate of title for the land that you are seeking to be charged. This will help the Registrar ensure that the debtor has a registered interest in the land and that the property description in the charging order is correct.
If you are asking for an interim charging order to be made into a final charging order you need to file: