Filing number and case number: two different numbers that look the same
A matter is listed under its filing number while it is before the Registrar — the cause list marks it "(Filing No.)" — and under its registration number once registration completes. They are two separate counters, both printed as number/year, so the same-looking number can belong to two entirely different matters. Each has its own search on eCourts, and they are not interchangeable.
Reviewed against the official sources on 3 September 2026
Two stages, two numbers
When a matter is filed it gets a filing number, and while it is before the Registrar it is listed under that number. The cause list marks it, so the entry itself tells you which stage the matter is at. When registration completes the matter gets a registration number, and from then on it is listed — and called in Court — under that.
Both counters run independently, and both are written as a number, a slash and a year. There is nothing in the shape of the number that tells you which one you are holding. Only its context does — where it was printed, and whether it carried the filing marker.
Why the confusion is expensive
Because the wrong search does not fail. Put a filing number into the case-number form and it returns the matter whose registration number is that number — a real matter, with real parties and real dates, belonging to somebody else. There is no error to notice, and the answer looks exactly as an answer should.
When a filing number becomes a case number
Registration is not announced to the advocate. It shows up in the record, and the matter starts being listed under a different number than the one on the papers. Anybody watching for the matter by its filing number is watching the wrong number from that day on.
Johar Justice treats that moment as an event worth telling you about: the moment a filing number becomes a registered case number is one of the alerts. Until the registration number exists, the printed filing reference is shown on its own; once it exists, the registration number becomes the title with the filing number kept small beneath it, so the matter stays recognisable as the one you filed.
Common questions
- What does "(Filing No.)" mean in a cause list?
- That the matter is listed under its filing number because it is still before the Registrar and registration has not completed.
- Does the filing number stop working after registration?
- It remains the number the matter was filed under, and eCourts keeps a separate search for that series. What changes is that the matter is listed and called under its registration number.
- How do I tell which number I have?
- By where it came from. A cause-list entry carrying the filing marker is a filing number; a registration number is what the matter is listed and called under once registration is complete.