Access to Justice Obstructed: High Court Filing Blocked by System Failure

NEWSLETTER
Title: Access to Justice Obstructed: High Court Filing Blocked by System Failure

Summary:
A matter has arisen concerning the High Court filing process that engages a fundamental legal principle: access to justice.

An urgent Judicial Review has been prepared and transmitted for filing.
The filing party is ready and willing to pay the prescribed fee.

Payment has not been refused.
It cannot be made.

The Failure:
The High Court requires payment through its “File & Pay” system before documents are
processed.

However:
– The system cannot be accessed or utilised despite repeated attempts
– No alternative payment method has been provided
– Filing will not proceed without payment

This produces a closed loop:
Payment is required to file
Payment cannot be made
Filing is therefore prevented

Legal Significance:
This is not an administrative inconvenience.
It is a structural failure engaging the Court’s obligation to ensure that its processes remain
accessible and functional.
Where compliance is rendered impossible by the system itself, strict procedural
requirements cannot operate to defeat access.

Current Position:
– The Judicial Review documents are complete
– There is a clear and continuing intention to >ile
– The failure arises from system inaccessibility
– No workable payment pathway has been provided

The matter has been escalated to the Senior Courts team for urgent resolution.
Issue:
Whether the High Court’s filing process can lawfully operate in a manner that prevents filing
where payment cannot be made due to system failure.

Conclusion:
Access to the Court must be real.
It cannot depend on the successful operation of a single administrative system without
contingency.
Where the system fails, the obligation shifts to the institution.
A barrier of this kind is not procedural.
It is substantive.

Final Line:
The Court’s jurisdiction cannot be conditioned on a system that does not function.