"Sovereign citizens" have been ejected from a Canberra courtroom after a noisy ruckus, during which one young woman plonked a large binder down on the magistrate's bench in an apparent attempt to "serve" documents.
"Please don't approach my court, madam," magistrate Beth Campbell warned as the protester drew near.
"Don't you dare," Ms Campbell then shouted as she leaned forward and shoved the folder that had been left in front of her to the floor of the ACT Magistrates Court.
The commotion occurred during the brief but eventful first court appearance of Bruce Shillingsworth snr, who has been charged with trespassing on Commonwealth premises at Old Parliament House on Boxing Day.
Mr Shillingsworth is a senior figure in the group of protesters that was sent packing by police last Friday after illegally camping near the former national parliament for weeks.
Members of that group, including his son, Bruce Shillingsworth jnr, have been charged over a December 30 fire that damaged the historic building.
The elder Shillingsworth had barely set foot in the courtroom on Thursday morning when he began shouting "objection" at Ms Campbell, who was trying to confirm his name.
He and an unknown woman then yelled over the top of the magistrate while she was reading the trespassing charge aloud.
When Mr Shillingsworth refused to enter a plea, Ms Campbell listed the matter for a hearing and said she would assume he was pleading not guilty unless he indicated otherwise.
But Mr Shillingsworth, who did not appear to be listening anymore, responded by shouting a number of names that included that of Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker.
As he did so, the woman who had accompanied him to court walked forward and appeared to leave one binder in the witness box before putting another on the bench.
Mr Shillingsworth then proclaimed: "You have now been served."
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What was inside the binders is unclear, but the protest group has recently been attending government buildings and serving "eviction papers" on officials.
In response to the assertion that "you have now been served", Ms Campbell replied: "I haven't."
The magistrate then instructed sheriff's officers to remove Mr Shillingsworth from the courtroom, adjourning briefly as that occurred.
The defendant eventually complied and left, though he could be heard yelling: "No jurisdiction. This kangaroo court doesn't exist on this country."
Several police officers spoke to Mr Shillingsworth, the unknown woman and another person near the courthouse's metal detectors as the group departed to meet fellow protesters.
"They got no jurisdiction," Mr Shillingsworth said, laughing as he walked out the building's front door.
He is due back in court for a hearing on August 5.
