---
title: "Check whether New South Wales leave is needed before proceedings"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/plan-how-to-take-instructions-from-a-client-who-is-in-custody/new-south-wales"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-IN20261023-17-NSW"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["NSW"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Check whether New South Wales leave is needed before proceedings

> List the facts that bear on sections 4 and 5: whether the client is in custody because of a conviction or a finding of a serious indictable offence, whether the next step institutes civil proceedings, and the material…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/plan-how-to-take-instructions-from-a-client-who-is-in-custody/new-south-wales  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | List the facts that bear on sections 4 and 5: whether the client is in custody because of a conviction or a finding of a serious indictable offence, whether the next step institutes civil proceedings, and the material the lawyer has on abuse of process and a prima facie ground. Do not draft the application. |
| What the lawyer must review | The lawyer decides whether section 4 applies. The lawyer writes any application. The tool writes none of it. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11, and whether a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). |
| Written for | New South Wales |
| Applies to | [Plan how to take instructions from a client who is in custody](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/plan-how-to-take-instructions-from-a-client-who-is-in-custody.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

Leave is required only in the case section 4 describes, and only to institute proceedings. Section 5 states the test.

- What the AI does: List the facts that bear on sections 4 and 5: whether the client is in custody because of a conviction or a finding of a serious indictable offence, whether the next step institutes civil proceedings, and the material the lawyer has on abuse of process and a prima facie ground. Do not draft the application.
- What the lawyer does: The lawyer decides whether section 4 applies. The lawyer writes any application. The tool writes none of it. Check ASCR r 9, APP 11, and whether a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
- Who reviews: Responsible lawyer with competence in the matter
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. The note does not say every person in custody needs leave.
2. The note separates being in custody from instituting proceedings.
3. Section 5 is stated as the Act states it: not an abuse of process, and a prima facie ground.
4. No application is drafted.

## Notes

- No New South Wales prison-visit rule was opened. Contact arrangements stay with the lawyer.
- Sections after section 5 were not opened.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: New South Wales. Instituting civil proceedings while in custody for a serious indictable offence.

**Deliverable**: A fact list for the lawyer's decision on sections 4 and 5.

**Inputs**

- Why the client is in custody
- Whether the next step institutes proceedings
- The facts the lawyer holds on a proper claim

**Example**: Illustrative example: The client is on remand for an offence the lawyer has not identified as a serious indictable offence, and no proceeding has been drafted. The note says section 4 is not yet shown to apply. It does not draft an application.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The note says leave is required of every person in prison.
- The tool produces an application.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Felons (Civil Proceedings) Act 1981 (NSW) s 4](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/fpa1981240/s4.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Felons (Civil Proceedings) Act 1981 (NSW) s 5](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/fpa1981240/s5.html) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Letter asking a prison for contact with a client](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/custody-contact-request.md) | Letter | Yellow | Letter asking a Victorian, Queensland or New South Wales prison to arrange a confidential legal conference with a person in custody, using that centre's own booking rule. |
| [Authority for a lawyer to act for a person in custody](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/custody-client-authority.md) | Form | Yellow | A short authority the person in custody can sign so the firm may arrange contact with the prison and receive non-medical information about where they are. It is not a medical release. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*