QLD Unsigned Court Order

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Myra Angai

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14 June 2018
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My husband was issued a court order for disqualification of his driver's licence for 2 years which is due end of this month 30/06/2018.

However the court issued him an unsigned Court order without any signature and court stamp. Please advise if there's anything wrong with this unsigned court order ?

Thank you.
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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16 February 2017
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If it accurately reflects what the court has said, no - aside from it potentially not being able to used as evidence of the order being made. Unsigned copies of orders from various courts are not uncommon. They're not the official record, merely a copy of what the official record says.
 

6pac

Member
12 August 2019
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If it accurately reflects what the court has said, no - aside from it potentially not being able to used as evidence of the order being made. Unsigned copies of orders from various courts are not uncommon. They're not the official record, merely a copy of what the official record says.
1. What is the point of signing "orders" at all then? (I have seen a bizarre mixture of some signed, some not, some "sealed" (rubber-stamped), some not, all in the same matter!)
2. Is this ink made from Echidna bile or some other unobtainium that makes it cost-prohibitive to sign ALL copies at the point of attachment of liability when the documents are signed, or what??
3. Logic would dictate that a clearly legible printed name accompanies said signature, surely?
4. "If it accurately reflects what the court has said, no - aside from it potentially not being able to used as evidence of the order being made." Can you please explain this a bit better?
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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16 February 2017
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1. Sealed orders are official and can be used as evidence of the order, such as if you need to register the order in another court or jurisdiction.

2. Orders are usually signed and sealed by a Registrar, by physically placing it in front of them and having them verify the correctness. The courts charge for this, and you don't pay the fee unless you need it sealed.

Also, quite a few courts now have copies of their orders available on the internet. For example: the Federal Court. You're not going to get a sealed copy of the orders on there in case they've been altered in some way.

3. Nope. The order is the order of a court - not a person. You'll get a designation and the seal of the court. In essence it's similar to a company's execution - there you get the 'seal' of the company (especially if they still have a common seal), a signature and the designation of the signer (e.g. director). The important thing is: the 'signature' of the court is the seal. The person signing is to attest that the seal has been properly affixed by someone in the position to do so.

4. What I mean is, so long as that is the correct order that was made by the court then there is nothing wrong with it. It's merely a copy of what the actual order is - the same as if you'd written it down word for word from what the magistrate said. The only official proof that that is the actual order is a sealed copy by the court. An unsealed copy doesn't mean that the information is wrong, it just can't be used as proof of correctness.

To explain by analogy: I have an autographed photo of Elvis that he gave me (i.e. the order). I know it's real, but no one else believes me. If I have a Certificate of Authenticity to go with it (i.e. a sealed copy of the order), then people will believe me.