Service of process (Prisoners)

We recently were instructed to effect service of a Statement of Claim issued out of the NSW Local Court on an individual who is an inmate at a correctional facility in NSW.

The instructions indicated that the Defendant had a history of avoiding service when he was living in society and whilst you would think that a person is unable to evade service whilst in custody, the facts are, they can choose not to make themselves available for service simply by not agreeing to a visit by a process server.

The good news is that Part 10, rule 10.25 (1) of the Uniform Civil Procedures Rules 2005 (NSW), allows for personal service on an inmate to be effected by leaving a copy of the document, at the correctional centre at which the inmate is held in custody, with the general manager of the correctional centre.?Other rules in other states have similar effect allowing personal service in a number of different ways which can include serving it on the person in charge of the prison in which the prisoner is imprisoned.?There are, however, other States that do not include this method of personal service for a prisoner.

It is important to ensure that when engaging a process server to effect service on a prisoner, that the process server is aware of the required procedure in the relevant jurisdiction.?Also, from a practical perspective, when attending to service under Part 10, rule 10.25 (1) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) or equivalent rule in other state jurisdictions,?it may be prudent to consider contacting the General Manager at the correctional facility to advise them that your agents will be contacting them to effect service. This pre-emptive approach will often pave the way for your process server to effect service more efficiently and remove any barriers and/or delays.

If you would like to discuss how we can assist you with your process serving needs, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 0481 262 942.