A subpoena is a legal document issued by a court that compels a person to give evidence at a hearing or trial, and/or produce documents.
If you have received a subpoena (you are the ‘named person’), you need to comply with it unless the subpoena was not correctly served on you or you were not provided with conduct money.
If you wish to object to a subpoena to give evidence, or a subpoena to give evidence and produce documents, you must still attend court on the date stated on the subpoena so your objection will be heard.
If you wish to object to a subpoena to produce documents, see objecting to a subpoena below.
A subpoena may require you to:
If you have been served with a subpoena to give evidence, you need to attend Court on the date specified on the front of the subpoena, and in the notification letter from the Court.
If you have been served with a subpoena to give evidence and produce documents, you need to:
If you have been served with a subpoena to produce documents, and you do not object to the production of the documents, if possible you should electronically provide the documents to the Court via the eCourts Portal of WA before the date of production (the ‘production date’) found on the letter that accompanies the subpoena. If you wish to object to the documents being inspected or copied by any party, see how to object to a subpoena below.
If you cannot electronically provide the documents, you must provide the documents to the Subpoena Office at the Court on or before the production date.
The documents sought in the subpoena can be electronically provided to the Court by uploading via the eCourts Portal of WA, as per the instructions provided with the subpoena.
Supported file formats:
Please note – There is a 100-page attachment limit. If the documents you are providing to the Court exceed this limit, please do it in multiple uploads.
If the documents cannot be provided electronically, they can be produced to the Subpoena Office.
You need to provide the following documents to the Court Registry in person or by post:
Important - Do not send the documents to the person who asked for the subpoena to be issued. The documents must be produced to the Court electronically, in person or by post.
You can object to:
You can object to the producing of documents for reasons such as:
These objections can lead to an order setting aside all or part of the subpoena. The Court may also order that a party pay for any loss or expense relating to your attendance and production of the documents. The parties, an interested person or an Independent Children's Lawyer can also object.
If you produce the documents to the Court, the parties and the Independent Children’s Lawyer (if any) may be able to inspect and copy the documents unless you object to this.
Even if you have no objection to the documents being inspected or copied, a party or the Independent Children’s Lawyer may object to this. If so, they must advise you of this in writing. However, unless you object, you do not need to do anything else.
If you wish to object you must, before the production date:
You should provide a copy of the Part F to all of the parties to the proceedings.
You will be advised of a date when you must attend Court for the Court to hear and determine your objection.
You should bring the documents to the hearing, (if you have not already provided them to the Court), in case it is necessary for the Court to view the documents in order to decide on your objection.
If you provided the subpoenaed documents to the Court electronically, the Court will securely delete the documents from the electronic Court file no less than 42 days after the final orders are made, or the finalisation of any appeal instituted.
If you provided the subpoenaed documents to the Court manually, they will be securely destroyed if you authorised the Court to do so, otherwise the documents will be returned to you no less than 42 days after the final orders are made, or the finalisation of any appeal instituted.
The party who asks the Court to issue the subpoena needs to pay conduct money to the person required to comply with it. See the subpoena page for details of the set amounts.
There is a minimum set amount of conduct money, which is intended to cover the reasonable expenses of complying with the subpoena. For example, the costs of:
If you will incur substantial loss or expense in properly complying with the subpoena, you may apply to the Court for an order that the party who requested the subpoena pay you an amount in addition to the conduct money. If you anticipate that you will incur a substantial loss or expense, you need to notify to the party that requested the subpoena before complying with the subpoena, and include an estimate of the loss or expense.
If you do not comply with a subpoena, the Court can:
The Court may also find you guilty of contempt of court.
Last updated: 9-May-2022
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