Welcome to the Northern Territory Local Court
The Local Court of the Northern Territory is established by the Local Court Act 2016. The Local Court is the first level of the Northern Territory's two tier court system and in the great majority of cases is the first point of contact that members of the public have with the judicial system. The Court handles the greatest proportion of cases in the Northern Territory, dealing with both criminal and civil cases.
Court Updates
On 2 December 2019 all Northern Territory Courts will have a new civil case management system called ‘Odyssey’. Odyssey was successfully implemented at the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) in December 2017 and the Court civil implementation is another step on the road to the Northern Territory being the first completely digital jurisdiction in Australia.
In March 2019, the Northern Territory Local Court will open the doors to a new pilot providing holistic solutions for Northern Territory families. The Family Law Pilot is a joint initiative between the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth governments that aims to make it simpler for parents, Territory Families and interested parties to navigate what may otherwise be a complex family law system.
Commencing Monday December 2nd 2019 the Local Court at Darwin will be trialling a new case-management system for domestic and personal violence matters.
Domestic and personal violence lists on Monday and Friday mornings will be initially presided over by a judicial registrar and then later in the day by a Local Court judge.
The judge will manage any matters that are beyond the power and scope of the judicial registrar.