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File and Pay - Terms of Use

These terms of use are for the File and Pay system. They help to ensure you understand how File and Pay can be used.

You are being asked to agree to these terms and conditions, so please read them carefully and ensure you understand them. If you choose to accept them, these terms and conditions will form an agreement between you and the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry). 

About File and Pay

File and Pay will allow participants to interact with the Ministry in an electronic way by providing a platform for:

  • court documents to be filed online where electronic filing is permissible under the relevant Court Rules or Practice Note; and
  • payment of filing fees to be made online by credit or debit card.

Please note:

  • The formatting, content and timeframes for filing documents with the Court(s) has not changed. You must comply with all existing legislation, applicable Court Rules and Practice Notes.
  • If you are required under the legislation to file a hard copy, you must comply with this rule. An electronic copy will not amount to compliance.
  • If a filing is submitted outside of Court hours, it will be deemed to be received by the registry the next working day, as per the Court Rules.

Access to File and Pay

File and Pay has been designed to allow participants to file applications and pay court fees online.

The Ministry will endeavour to provide access to File and Pay with reasonable skill and care.
However, the Ministry does not warrant that File and Pay will operate on a continuous or fault-free basis.

The requirement to file a hard copy for particular jurisdictions or matters may be modified at times for business continuity purposes. Please ensure that electronic filing is allowed by checking the relevant Court Rules or Practice Notes before using File and Pay.

Jurisdictions and matters for which File and Pay are available at any given time will show as a drop-down option when accessing File and Pay. If the jurisdiction or matter which your filing relates to does not show as an option, then you must submit a hard copy and pay for your filing at the relevant registry as per the usual process.

The status of a case

Filings submitted through File and Pay will not be deemed accepted until registry staff have processed and accepted them. If your filing is not accepted, you will be contacted by registry staff in the first instance. In the event that you withdraw an unaccepted filing, you will be refunded the filing fee paid (if any).
There is no ability for case participants to track the status of cases or filings through the portal.
Tracking a case will continue the usual way with the registry. Users are to contact the relevant
registry directly if they have any questions relating to their filing.

Unique identification number

Once an application has been submitted and/or a fee paid, you will receive an email notification with a unique identification number. This unique identification number is for the purposes of locating a filing made through File and Pay at your request. This number will be displayed in the following format FXXXXXX e.g., F000047 and is different to a case number issued by the court registry or tribunal.

You must ensure the court participant has referenced the relevant case number (where they have one) on documents being filed, and not the File and Pay identification number.

Additional filings related to the same case or person

If you are submitting multiple filings for the same case, these must be uploaded and paid for individually. Select the check box signalling that the filing is part of a combined filing prior to submitting.

Fees and charges

If there is a payment associated with a filing, you will be required to pay the calculated fee unless you have uploaded a fee waiver or provided evidence that you have paid using an alternative payment method.

All fees are in New Zealand dollars and are inclusive of GST (if applicable).

Any charges will be detailed on screen and with the option to 'Pay & Submit’ or exit without completing the transaction.

Failure to pay the charges, provide evidence that you have already paid, or upload a fee waiver when submitting a filing may lead to the application and/or documents being rejected by the registry.

Each filing must be paid for individually. It is not possible to pay for a combined filing in a single payment transaction.

To ensure the security and integrity of credit/debit card payments the Ministry is using a third-party provider, Windcave, for all credit and debit card payments made online. The Ministry do not receive or hold credit or debit card details.

Privacy

These terms of use apply in addition to the Courts of New Zealand website privacy policy. Where there is an inconsistency between the two, these terms of use shall prevail.

File and Pay requires some identifying information from you each time a filing is submitted. By using File and Pay, you confirm that the information required is correct. This information is linked to each filing. The registry may use the contact information provided to contact you if required. The Ministry will not disclose your contact information to third parties.

Information provided by you will be held on a third-party server for a limited period of time during which the information will be downloaded into the Ministry’s system.

  • Documents are uploaded to a secure server via an encrypted channel. 
  • No case document uploaded to the portal will be able to be altered.
  • No document uploaded to the portal will be visible to external parties.
  • Information that has been downloaded by the Court will be removed from the third-party server after 90 days.


The Ministry may collect statistical information about your use of File and Pay to help us improve the service. This information is aggregated and doesn’t identify you personally. It includes:

  • The number of filings made through the system
  • The number of filings made by filing type
  • The number of filings made by court location
  • The number of filings made by court type
  • The number of filings made by case type 
  • The number of filings using a fee waiver or equivalent document
  • The number of filings using any of the fee options listed in the form 
  • The number of filings which were a part of a combined filing
  • The number of documents uploaded into the system
  • The size of filings (in MB) uploaded into the system
  • The value (in dollars) of filings made through the system

None of the identifying information provided by you will be used for statistical purposes.

Statistical information, and any feedback you provide on the File and Pay service, may be shared with the Ministry’s File and Pay service provider to assist in improving the File and Pay service.

Amendments to these terms of use

The Ministry can revise these terms of use from time to time. The current terms of use are available
in File and Pay for your review at any time.

Contact us

For help with your case, please contact the relevant registry directly https://www.justice.govt.nz/contact-us

For help with File and Pay, or to provide feedback on these terms of use or the File and Pay service, please contact us

Resources

Court Rules/Practice Notes

Supreme Court – Supreme Court Rules 2004
http://legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2004/0199/19.0/DLM270805.html

Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal (Civil) Rules 2005
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2005/0069/latest/dlm319746.html

Court of Appeal (Criminal) Rules 2001
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2001/0371/latest/dlm95709.html

High Court – High Court Rules 2016
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2016/0225/latest/DLM6959801.html

District Court
District Court Rules 2014
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2014/0179/latest/DLM6129567.html

Criminal Procedure Rules 2012
http://legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2012/0415/latest/DLM4914717.html

Family Court Rules 2004
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2002/0261/latest/DLM142995.html

Environment Court – Environment Court Practice Note 2014
https://www.environmentcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/2014-ENVC-practicenotes.pdf

Employment Court – Practice Directions, Legislation & Rules
https://employmentcourt.govt.nz/legislation-and-rules/

Filing fee information

Court fees are prescribed by regulation, for more information visit:
Supreme Court fees – https://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/supreme-court/
Court of Appeal fees – https://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/court-of-appeal
High Court Civil fees – https://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/civil/forms-and-fees/
High Court Criminal fees – http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2013/0180/latest/whole.html
District Court Family fees – https://www.justice.govt.nz/family/about/fees-and-costs/
District Court Criminal fees – http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2013/0180/latest/whole.html
District Court Civil fees – https://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/civil/forms-and-fees/
Environment Court fees – https://www.environmentcourt.govt.nz/forms-fees/
Employment Court fees - https://employmentcourt.govt.nz/forms-and-fees/