Part of series of documents relating to information access and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Issuing a subpoena
A Subpoena to Produce must be issued on the Proper Officer, Primary Industries and Regional Development ("the department").
A Subpoena to Attend to Give Evidence or a Subpoena to Give Evidence and Produce must be issued on the specific departmental officer who is required to give evidence.
Service of subpoena
A Subpoena to Produce can be served by emailing the subpoena to:
gipa@regional.nsw.gov.au (preferred method of service)
A Subpoena to Produce can also be served by mailing (by registered post) or delivering the subpoena to:
The Proper Officer
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development – Legal & Governance
105 Prince Street
ORANGE NSW 2800
Please also email a copy of the subpoena to gipa@regional.nsw.gov.au)
If the subpoena is not sent to the above email address or delivered to the above postal address, there is likely to be a delay in processing the subpoena.
When a subpoena is served on a departmental officer in their capacity as an officer of the department, the Legal and Governance Branch will accept service of the subpoena.
Compliance time/return date
The department does not hold documents in a central area. For a Subpoena to Produce, you should allow a minimum of 14 days for the department to locate the documents that fall within the scope of the subpoena.
If the department is unable to produce the documents that fall within the scope of the subpoena by the relevant return date, the Legal and Governance Branch will contact the issuing party prior to the return date to discuss.
Description of documents
A subpoena should contain a precise description of the documents sought. This is a legal requirement, and assists the department to quickly locate the documents sought by the subpoena. Broad and expansive requests for information may take a considerable time to comply with and this will have associated cost implications for the issuing party.
Oppressive requests and fishing expeditions
The department reserves the right to set aside a subpoena which is oppressive, or on such other grounds as the department considers appropriate.
Conduct money
Conduct money of $100 should accompany any subpoena served on the department. This can be paid in the form of a cheque, made out to ‘Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’ and posted to the above listed Orange address. Alternatively, the Legal and Governance team can contact you to process payment via credit card over the phone and issue a receipt via email upon payment.
Costs
The issuing party may be asked to sign an undertaking for reasonable costs for work done by the department in complying with a subpoena. The department will generally issue an invoice for these costs once the subpoena has been complied with.
Costs for a Subpoena to Produce
The costs incurred in complying with a Subpoena to Produce may include, but are not limited to, searching, reviewing and collating files and documents, plus photocopying charges.
Costs for a Subpoena to Attend to Give Evidence
The costs incurred in complying with a Subpoena to Attend to Give Evidence may include, but are not limited to, the salary of any departmental officer attending court and any additional expenses associated with their attendance, including travel and accommodation.