The following resources are provided to help you prepare for court, or to understand the practices and procedures connected to court matters.

Forms and Fees
Local Court Judgments
Practice Notes, Time Standards and Delegated Powers
Interest Rates
Garnishee Amount
Professional Costs
Costs in Criminal Cases
Getting Legal Help

Forms and Fees
This link will take you to the Forms and Fees that apply in the Local Court.

Local Court Judgments
The Local Court only publishes a small selection of judgments that provide interpretations of legislation and legal principles relevant to criminal, civil and other matters determined in the Local Court. Published judgments are available on the NSW Caselaw website that is an online service providing published judgments and decisions of NSW Courts and Tribunals.

Practice Notes
The Chief Magistrate of the Local Court makes Practice Notes that apply to the management of cases in the Local Court.

Interest Rates
This link will take you a list of interest rates to assist with the calculation of interest pursuant to the Civil Procedure Act 2005. Interest rates are located in schedule 5 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005.

Garnishee Amount
Garnishee Orders issued in the civil jurisdiction of the Local Court for wage or salary must include instruction to the garnishee regarding the amount that a judgment debtor is entitled to retain, known as the "weekly compensation amount" which is the amount specified for the purposes of section 37(1)(a)(i) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987.

The weekly compensation amount effective from 1 October 2009 is $396.10.

(The weekly compensation amount is adjusted in April and October each year)

Appropriate wording for inclusion on a garnishee order:
Any amount paid under one or more garnishee orders must not, in total, reduce the net weekly amount of any wage or salary received by the judgment debtor to less than the standard workers compensation weekly benefit (section 122 Civil Procedure Act 2005). This amount is adjustable – refer to http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/WorkersCompensation/WorkplaceInjuries/Benefits/Pages/weekly.aspx to determine the applicable rate

Professional Costs
Professional Costs that apply to civil proceedings in the Local Court are located on Schedule 2 of the Legal Profession Regulation 2005.

Costs in Criminal Cases
A claim may be made in certain circumstances where a defendant in criminal proceedings is acquitted or discharged. More information and the forms are available from the Legal Services Branch website on Lawlink.

Getting Legal Help
If you have a legal problem in NSW, you can contact LawAccess NSW, a free government telephone service that provides legal information, advice and referrals.

This brochure will provide you with more information about the service LawAccess NSW provides. LawAccess online, www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au is also a great starting point to search for information about your legal problem or question about the law.

You can contact LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or TTY 1300 889 529.

If you need an Interpreter, you can contact LawAccess NSW through the Telephone and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

For other links that may assist you with a legal problem, click here: Legal Links