A trial judge has a duty to provide some advice and assistance to a self-represented litigant so as to ensure that the proceedings are conducted fairly but there are limits to the assistance which can properly be given. An example of this can be seen in the case of Cicek v The Estate of the Late Mark Solomon, where the New South Wales Court of Appeal held that the duty is not a duty to run the case for the self-represented litigant. I have written a paper about the case. Read the paper here.
