When Can a Party Access Court Documents in Criminal Proceedings

A party to a proceeding in the Federal Court is entitled under sub-rule 1.20(1) of the Federal Court (Criminal Proceedings) Rules 2016 (Cth) (Federal Court (Criminal Proceedings) Rules) to inspect any document in the proceeding except:

• a document for which a claim of privilege has been made but not decided by the court; or
• a document that the Court has decided is privileged; or
• a document for which a claim of public interest immunity has been made but not decided by the Court; or
• a document that the Court has decided is immune on the grounds of public interest; or
• a document affected by the operation of the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004; or
• a document that the Court has ordered be confidential.

However, a party to a proceeding may apply, under r 1.20(4) of the Federal Court (Criminal Proceedings) Rules, to the Court or a Judge for leave to inspect a document that the party is not otherwise entitled to inspect.

Documents available on the Commonwealth Courts Portal

Many files created from mid-2014 are electronic files which can be accessed by parties through the Commonwealth Courts Portal (CCP) for no cost.

How to make an access request to inspect Court documents

For documents which cannot be accessed via  the CCP, see How to make an Access request to inspect court documents in criminal proceedings.

At December 2024