General Form (Form 1)

Under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 17 the Uniform Rules Committee approves forms for civil proceedings, and a document filed with or issued by the court must be in the approved form where one exists (s 17(3)). Many documents have no dedicated form, and Form 1 (version 4) supplies the standard layout for them: court details, title of proceedings, filing or preparation details, a numbered body and a signature block. It also helps you meet UCPR r 4.2, which lists the information every filed document must carry (title of proceedings, case number, nature of the document, the filing party and their solicitor), and r 4.3 on paper, margins and page numbering. The form notes it may also be adapted in Supreme Court Corporations List matters where the Supreme Court (Corporations) Rules 1999 prescribe no form.

When you need it

• You need to file or serve a document in NSW Supreme, District or Local Court civil proceedings and there is no specific approved form for it on the UCPR forms list.
• You are preparing a short notice, list or statement that still needs the standard court headings required by UCPR r 4.2.
• In a Corporations List matter, where no form is prescribed by the Supreme Court (Corporations) Rules 1999 and the form note allows Form 1 to be adapted.
• Do not use it where a specific form exists (for example Form 40 for an affidavit or Form 20 for a notice of motion): CPA s 17(3) requires the approved form.

1. 1

   Rule reference and title

   At the top, replace "[enter UCPR rule]" with the rule that authorises or requires the document, and replace "[TITLE OF FORM]" with the document's name in capitals, for example "LIST OF DOCUMENTS RELIED ON".

2. 2

   Court details and title of proceedings

   Enter the court, division, list, registry and case number exactly as they appear on the originating process, then the first plaintiff and first defendant (and the number of parties if there are more than two). Use the "Additional information" or "In the matter of" lines only where they apply.

3. 3

   Filing, issuing or preparation details

   Pick filed, issued or prepared as appropriate and name the party it is for and their role. If you are a lawyer and the document will be eFiled, complete the legal representative, reference, contact and email lines.

4. 4

   Body

   Set out the content in consecutively numbered paragraphs. Dates, sums and other numbers go in figures (UCPR r 4.7).

5. 5

   Signature

   The legal representative signs, or the party (or someone on their behalf) if not represented. State the capacity of the signatory and the date.

• File the document in the registry of the court where the proceedings are, either through the NSW Online Registry (where the document type is available online) or at the registry counter or by post. Lawyers filing online need an Online Registry account.
• Serve it on the other active parties if the rule you are relying on requires service.
• A filing fee may apply. Check the current fee schedule of the court where the proceedings are (Supreme, District or Local Court).

• Check the approved forms list first. Using Form 1 where a dedicated form exists can lead to the document being rejected.
• Delete the instructional square-bracket text and the "#" options you do not use before filing.
• Keep the case number and party names identical to the originating process so the registry can match the document to the file.