Cross-border justice: for legal professionals

Courts covered by the agreement

The Chief Magistrates of the three jurisdictions approved the agreement. The courts covered by the agreement include:

• Courts of Summary Jurisdiction and the Youth Justice Court of the Northern Territory
• the Magistrates Court and Children’s Court of Western Australia
• the Magistrates Court and Youth Court of South Australia.

What the agreement includes

The service level agreement includes all of the following:

• operational and practical issues of conducting court in another jurisdiction
• outline of protocols for the provision of cross-border court services, such as interpreters, witness support, handling of appeals and youth court cases
• clarifies that there is no collection of fines, fees or costs under laws of another state, and that magistrates may use facilities in another state at no cost
• the role of the registrars, including:
  • provision of information on court circuits in the region and forms for sittings of cross-border magistrates
  • coordinate cross-border cases
  • updates on changes to procedure, legislation and forms
• information on the cross-border court services committee that is made up of registrars and that meets quarterly to monitor and coordinate the operation of cross-border court services.