Civil litigation process

The State Litigator undertakes the conduct of all civil litigation on behalf of the State and its agencies. This means that if the State of Tasmania wishes to take legal action against an individual, corporation or other entity, the State Litigator will conduct the litigation on its behalf. Equally, if the State of Tasmania has legal action taken against it, the State Litigator acts on behalf of the State of Tasmania and defends the State against the claim.

In all of these instances, the relevant Government agency provides the State Litigator with instructions setting out what action it wishes the State Litigator to take on its behalf. Such instructions are formulated after the agency has received legal advice from the State Litigator.

In a limited range of circumstances, the State Litigator may also represent State servants who have had legal action taken against them as a consequence of their employment as a State servant.

The major areas of civil law work are workers' compensation claims, medical negligence claims, anti-discrimination and administrative law matters.