We give a simple and accurate method for estimating the paramters of continuous time systems under the constraint that all the poles of the system lie to the left of the line s = -1. The method relies on the simple solution of a linear system of equations in the complex domain. We demonstrate by the use of simulation that the proposed methods gives accruate estimates when compared to existing methods. Methods for obtaining sparse solutions, which help in determining the order of the system are also given. © IFAC.