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• They must submit a letter/application, in writing, to the Registrar/ Magistrate of the court outlining that: they are requesting permission to sue or defend as an individual of limited financial means. Also explaining that they lack the financial means to afford their own legal assistance.
• The Registrar/Magistrate, on receipt of the letter/application, will make inquiries as to the means of the applicant in order to assess the legitimacy of the claim. The Registrar/ Magistrate may require the applicant to provide a verbal oath or a written affidavit for the lack of financial ability.
• Once the Registrar/ Magistrate approves the written application, the case is referred to a legal practitioner who makes the assessment of whether the applicant has a reasonable chance of success in their case before deciding whether take the case. The applicant will be informed through written correspondence of the outcome of his or her application.
• The Registrar/ Magistrate will grant the applicant leave to sue or defend without payment of court fees. The applicant will be given a document signed by the Registrar/Magistrate stating that he is given leave to sue or defend without payment of court fees. The applicant will then attach a copy of the said document whenever filling documents at the Registry.

In order to institute divorce proceedings  an applicant should file writ of summons, in Summons-Form 2 in the first schedule with such variations as circumstances require – (High Court Rules).

• The Plaintiff, or the Plaintiff's attorney or agent shall bring the original originating process documents and four copies to the Civil Registry in Gaborone, Francistown or Lobatse for date stamp, signing and filing.
• The Civil Registry will register the summons and retain two copies. 
• One copy is to be served to the respondent. 
• One copy is retained by the applicant.
• It is the responsibility of the filing party (applicant) to furnish the respondent with the originating process.
• Service upon a person of a  summons, may be made by any adult person who has no interest in the cause and is able to explain its nature and contents
• Except in the case of arrest; writs of summons, shall not be served on a Sunday or between 1900 hrs and 0700 hrs of any other day, and no such service shall be valid if made.
• The registered case is then assigned to a judge who will preside over it until completion.
• Following due process as instructed by the judge, a decree -nisi (tentative order granting divorce)  is granted. An applicant/respondent can then apply for a decree absolute (final divorce order) six (6) weeks following the order.
• A rule nisi is a court order that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met, in the case of divorce it is six (6) weeks. Once the condition is met, the ruling becomes decree absolute and is binding.
• Once the rule nisi is granted, the litigants have to wait six (6) before applying for the decree absolute
• The application for decree absolute can be made in the form of a letter addressed to the Registrar stating the case particulars and when the rule nisi was granted and whether six (6) weeks has passed since the order was granted

• Commenced by a writ of summons, petition or notice of motion (collectively referred to as "originating process") signed by the Registrar / Clerk of court and date-stamped with the stamp of the Court.
  1. A writ of Summons shall be in Writ of Summons (Form 2 for High Court or Form 7 for Magistrate) in the first schedule with such variations as circumstances require High Court rules/ Magistrate Court Act.
  2. The Notice of Motion shall be in Notice of Motion (Form 4 for High Court or Form 3 for Magistrate) in the first schedule with such variations as circumstances require, and shall state the rule under which the application is brought.
• The Plaintiff, or the Plaintiff's attorney or agent shall bring the original, originating process documents and three(3) copies (or if there is more than one defendant, an extra copy for each additional defendant) to the Civil Registry at the High Court/ Magistrate court for date stamp, signing and filing.
• Serve the defendant(s) with copies of the originating process documents that have been signed and date stamped by the Registrar/ Clerk of Court and file proof of service at the Civil Registry.
• Service upon a person of a petition, notice, summons, order, pleading or other document of which service is required, may be made by any adult person who has no interest in the cause and is able to explain its nature and contents.
• Except in the case of arrest; writs of summons, petitions, notices, summonses, orders, pleadings and other documents shall not be served on a Sunday or between 19:00. and 07:00 of any other day, and no such service shall be valid if made.

The steps involved in this process are as follows:

• Parties must visit the main Kgotla or ward Kgotla to verbally report dispute to the Headman of Arbitration and to seek redress. Please refer to this List of Tribal Courts (Kgotlas).
• The Headman would invite the involved parties to attend the hearing at an agreed date.
• The parties would provide the requested information, discussing the issues with the help of the Headman.
• With the help of the Headman, all parties involved would arrive at an agreement to which they must all adhere.

• An individual can file a claim in the Small Claims Court by filing an application at either the Gaborone Extension II or Francistown Magistrate Court.
• To serve a standard letter of demand to the party you wish to take to court. The letter should set out your claim and demand that it be settled within 14 days, failing which action will be instituted against the defendant (Letter of Demand - Form 1). 
• The opposing party has 14 days to respond. If no payment is made after 14 days, applicant approach the court to obtain a Summons form (Summons- Form 2) on which the Magistrate will set the case for hearing. The Summons form will also include particulars of the claim:
  1. The nature and amount of the claim.
  2. The defendant’s full names, place of residence and place of business or employment.
  3. The interest, if any, which shall not exceed 10 per cent per annum and the amount claimed up to the date of the summons.
  4. Any abandonment of any part of the claim.
• The applicant must then arrange the serving of the summons form to the defendant.
• The plaintiff shall return a copy of the summons and an affidavit of service (Part III of Form 2) to the clerk of the Court within three days of serving the defendant.
• If the defendant satisfies the claim by paying, the plaintiff will withdraw the action ( Notice of Withdrawal - Form 7 ). The plaintiff may also withdraw the claim if he accept the defendant’s counter offer.
• If an order in the Small Claims Court is provided against the defendant and the defendant fails to comply with the order, the applicant apply to the Clerk of Court to the issue of a writ of execution (Writ of Execution - Form 8).
• The Clerk instructs the Deputy Sheriff  to serve and enforce the writ of execution. The Deputy sheriff will demand payment of the debt on behalf of the plaintiff, with the authority to seize and sell property.
• The Deputy Sheriff will provide the plaintiff with the proceeds of any petition or sale of the property of the defendant at the conclusion of the execution.