Western Australian Consolidated Regulations

DISTRICT COURT RULES 2005 - REG 71

71 .         Access to records and things

        (1)         In this rule —

        court record in respect of a case, means —

            (a)         any record or thing held by the Court in respect of the case; and

            (b)         the transcript of proceedings in the case before the Court.

        (1A)         Any person is, on payment of the prescribed fee, entitled to search for, inspect and receive a copy of any of these documents filed in a registry —

            (a)         any writ and the statement of claim (if any) endorsed on it under the RSC Order 6 rule 3;

            (b)         any judgment or order of the Court.

        (1B)         Subrule (1A) does not apply in relation to any document filed, or any judgment or order made, in any proceedings under the Surveillance Devices Act 1998 .

        (2)         An application made under subrule (3), (5) or (6) must be in writing and set out the grounds of the application.

        (2a)         After receiving an application made under subrule (3), (5) or (6) the Court may, in writing, direct the applicant to provide additional information in the form of an affidavit.

        (2b)         The Court is not required to deal with an application if the applicant fails to comply with a direction under subrule (2a).

        (3)         A person may apply to the Court for an order that prohibits or restricts access to, or the publication or possession of, all or any part of the court record in respect of a case by a person or class of persons.

        (4)         A party to a case is entitled, at no charge, to inspect and obtain a copy of any part of the court record in respect of the case.

        (5)         A party to a case whose access to any part of the court record in respect of the case is restricted may apply to the Court for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of it.

        (6)         A person who is not a party to a case may apply to the Court for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of all or a part of the court record not referred to in subrule (1A) in respect of the case.

        (7)         The Court may grant an application made under subrule (5) or (6) if satisfied —

            (a)         the applicant has sufficient cause to inspect or obtain the record in question; and

            (b)         that access to or possession of the record by the applicant would be lawful.

        (8)         An order made on an application made under subrule (5) or (6) may include —

            (a)         an order that the applicant pay or make arrangements to pay the cost of supplying any copy of a court record;

            (b)         conditions on which the applicant may inspect or obtain a copy of court record.

        (9)         The Court may determine the cost of making and supplying a copy of a court record.

        (10)         This rule does not entitle a person to search, inspect or obtain a copy of any part of a document that contains information that the person is prevented by a written law, an order made under a written law, or an order of a court from possessing.

        [Rule 71 amended in Gazette 31 Jul 2007 p. 3820; 10 Dec 2010 p. 6266‑7.]

[72 .         Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(f).]

        [Heading inserted in Gazette 31 Jul 2007 p. 3820.]