Ask any lawyer in Sydney and they could regale you with war stories of waiting hours to seek a court order that takes minutes to make.

In a bid to improve the efficiency of the justice system, the Baird government is trialling an online court to allow parties to manage cases and seek preliminary orders without setting foot in a courtroom.

NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton says a bill that gives the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Police Integrity Commission the power to launch prosecutions clarifies the agencies' powers. Credit:Cole Bennetts

A pilot of the online court will kick off in the Sydney Downing Centre Local Court in the final quarter of this year, covering civil cases in the general division. A previous pilot in 2011 covered criminal cases.

The government believes the online court is the first of its kind in a jurisdiction as large as NSW, although some work has been done in the United States and similar work is underway in Western Australia.