Civil Justice

A civil claim involves formal legal action against a person or organisation.

A person or organisation can make a claim after they have tried other methods to resolve a dispute but have not been successful, or if they want to recover money they believe is owed to them.

Once a claim is filed in court, the person who made the claim is known as the plaintiff. The person who the claim is against is called the defendant. They are both called the parties.

Filing forms

The claims process starts when someone files their claim form at the District Court. This formalises the claim. It does not mean that the claim will need to have a court hearing. The claims process is designed to help both parties reach agreement so the dispute does not end up in court.

If you have a dispute, there are easy-to-use forms to help you with the claims process.

If you need help with filling in the forms or want to know more about the claims process you can talk to your lawyer, community law centres, legal aid or citizens advice bureaux. You may also be eligible for legal aid.

There are fees for making claims in the District Court. For more information, go to the fees page.

The process for making or responding to a claim

The fees in these diagrams are as of 1 October 2010.

• View a diagram of the process for making a civil claim in the District Court (PDF, 837Kb)
• View a diagram of the process for responding to a civil claim in the District Court (PDF, 653Kb)

Making a claim on someone who lives overseas

If the defendant (the person who a claim is against) lives outside of New Zealand you may still be able to make a claim against them in a District Court in New Zealand. You will need to fill out the form Notice to defendant served overseas (form G6) (PDF, 20Kb) as well as following the normal claims process.