Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
17 January 2023
Paul King
[FYI request #21332 email]
Our ref: OIA 101497
Tēnā koe Paul
Official Information Act 1982 request: Court filing fees
Thank you for your email of 4 December 2022, requesting under the Of icial Information Act
1982 (the Act), information regarding court filing fees. Specifically, you requested:
1. I would like to know under the Official Information Act if law firms and lawyers, barristers
and other legal entities have to pay the filing fee at the time of the filing in the Court or
whether they pay the fees at another time.
2. I would also like to know under the Official Information Act if there are instances where
Court filing fees are paid by law firms and other legal entities (including lawyers ) after the
matter has ended?
In response to part 1 of your request, I can advise that the requirements for payment of filing
fees are legislated under the respective Court Rules and Fees Regulations. There are dif erent
Rules and Fees Regulations for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and District
Court. These can be found online.
In response to part 2 of your request, the Case Management System (CMS) which data is
extracted from, does not record who pays the court filing fees, whether it is counsel or the
plaintiff themselves. CMS also does not record at what stage fees were paid as that is at the
discretion of the courts. For this reason, I am refusing your request under section 18(g) of the
Act as the information requested is not held by the Ministry of Justice and I have no grounds for
believing it is held by another agency or Minister.
If you require any clarification of the information contained in this response, please contact Joe
Locke, Media Manager on 021 636 416, or email: [email address]
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Ombudsman may be contacted by phone on
0800 802 602 or by email to [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Donella Gawith
Acting Group Manager, Senior Courts