Starting a Court Case


Read this page carefully, as it is important you prepare your case in your own words. 

Lawyers cannot represent you in a common law court. You must present your own case to a jury. Failure to present all the facts of the case with corroborating evidence could mean losing the case.

You can ask a lawyer for advice to prepare and write your case before you present it in court. You can also have a lawyer sitting beside you in court to advise you while you present your case. But the lawyer may not say anything to the court or the jury. He is merely an advisor, known in court as a McKenzie Friend.

Why would you start a court case?

If anyone has harmed you or your family in any way, or if you have seen someone break the law, you have grounds for starting a court case.

Before you do, you should think very carefully about why you want to summon someone to court. You need a serious reason for charging anyone with a crime. And you need to know exactly what laws have been broken. 

Remember that the law is a double-edged sword. If you start a frivolous case against someone, they can turn the law back on you and haul you into court instead. Courts do not take kindly to anyone wasting their time. It costs a lot of time, effort and money to convene a court. There are many people involved, from the Adjudicator, the 12-man jury (plus substitutes), the court recorder, the Sheriffs and Bailiffs, and any witnesses. 

Getting started

To start a case, you need to submit a Statement of Claim to your local common law assembly court registrar. Only a common law assembly may elect and convene a common law court.

A Statement of Claim is a brief statement saying why you wish to summon one or more people to court.

A Statement of Claim states what your grievance is, who you are accusing, and what remedy you want.

Your claim must name those you are accusing, state their residential address (or business address if residential is unknown), and it must state in plain language what harm they have done to you.

Do not go into detail about the case. You only need to present the simple facts so that the court registrar can decide whether you have a valid case to bring before the court.

These are some, but certainly not all, of the categories of complaint a common law court can hear, but don’t be limited by this list. If you have a legitimate complaint against anyone you can prepare a Statement of Claim for consideration by a Common Law Court:

  1. The Australian government’s degradation of First Nations people living standards – you must name only living people who have caused you personal harm. A court cannot seek restitution from the dead.
  2. The Australian government has denied your basic right to freedom of religion – remember, you can only bring human beings into a common law court, so don’t name a government department…. name the people in the department who have caused you harm.
  3. Unlawful bank repossessions of people’s homes, land and other property, as well as other banking crimes. Who ordered and carried out the siezure? Name all involved, including the bank employees and anyone they employed to sieze your property, including police.
  4. Crimes against parents by government employees stealing your children under the Child Protection Act, or other legislation.
  5. Unlawful local councils pretending to be a 3rd tier of government in direct contravention of the 1988 and 1999 Referendums of the people that denied them any status as government. These councils are guilty of many crimes against the people, including
    • House/land repossessions for non-payment of Rates Demands
    • Unlawful arrest and incarceration, or property siezures for non-payment of fines
    • Siezure of your property for non-payment of registrations

Before you start writing your claim

The following tips will guide you:

  •  Your claim should be no more than ONE or TWO pages. Keep it brief and to the point.
  • Name the people who have caused you harm. You can only bring people into a common law court. Make sure you include their full name (if possible) and where the court can issue summons and documents to them; either at their place of work or their home.
  • Gather as much evidence as possible to present to the jury. The more evidence you can show the better your chances of getting a positive result. Remember, a jury need to hear only facts. You can only tell them what you saw and did. You cannot repeat what others told you unless you can call them to the stand to present their own statement of facts they saw or did. Nor can you say what you think. Thoughts are not valid evidence.
  • State what remedy is sought in your Claim. When presenting your evidence to the jury make sure you state what remedy you are seeking so that they can make a decision based on that. There is no limit to the monetary or propery restitution you may seek, but keep in mind that a jury will consider your claim as they consider their verdict.
  • You must be very clear in your intentions. Be precise, clear, and truthful at all times as you write your Statement of Claim, and when presenting your evidence to a jury. If you cannot prove any statement, either in your Statement of Claim or during the trial, you will lose your case.
  • You can only present evidence yourself about harm caused to you. You cannot make a claim on anyone else’s behalf.

That’s it. Keep it short, simple, and clear. You will have plenty of time to present your evidence when you get into court.

When you have written it, print it out, and sign it at the bottom hand side of the statement. You may add a thumbprint in red ink if you wish, and then save it as a PDF. Then return to this page and upload it trough the form below.

Who can appear before a Common Law Court?

Anyone who has submitted a Statement of Claim describing the harm done to them can appear before a court, and summon anyone involved in doing harm, or who can act as a witness of the harm done to you.

What if you cannot travel, or if the accused does not live in your community?

  • Common Law Courts convene in the community where the Claimant lives. If you are summoned to appear in court and you cannot travel, you can apply to the common law court to set up a Zoom call. You must give your testimony in person, or by video call.
  • If you are summoned as a witness, you may submit an affidavit to the court registrar to enter into the record beforehand, and if you cannot appear in person the Claimant read out your witness statement to the court.

Who can sign a Claim, and does my Claim need to be witnessed?

Anyone may submit a Statement of Claim to a common law court to ask for a hearing. If the court Adjudicator and Registrar decide you have not presented a claim that can be heard in a court they may advise you what else you need to do to prepare your claim for a hearing.

A claim need not be signed by a witness. A claim is your statement of facts you wish to present to a court, and therefore only you need sign it. Witness signatures do not add any weight to a Statement of Claim.

However, when submitting an affidavit to a court, it must be witnessed by at least a Justice of the Peace or Notary Public. If one is not available, you must get it signed by at least three people who have known you for at least twelve months. These witnesses may be called to testify in court that they know you.

What happens to your Statement after you submit it?

All Statements of Claim submitted to the Common Law Court will be held in strict confidence by the Common Law Court Registrar until such time as a court is ready to convene.

The court members must follow a set of steps that can take months before a court can sit to hear your testimony. This flow chart gives you a brief representation of the steps involved in bringing a Claim to court: