{"id":"constitution-supreme-court-act-1989","name":"Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989","slug":"constitution-supreme-court-act-1989","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173465,"registerId":"vic-constitution-supreme-court-act-1989-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989","content":"Version No. 003\n\n**Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989**\n\n**No. 22 of 1989**\n\nVersion incorporating amendments as at  \n23 August 2012\n\n**table of provisions**\n\n*Section Page*\n\n1 Purpose 1\n\n2 Commencement 1\n\n3 Principal Act 1\n\n4 Validity of certain Acts etc. 1\n\nENDNOTES 3\n\n1. General Information 3\n\n2. Table of Amendments 4\n\n3. Explanatory Details 5\n\n**Version No.** **003**\n\n**Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989**\n\n**No. 22 of 1989**\n\nVersion incorporating amendments as at  \n23 August 2012\n\n**The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:**\n\n\t1 Purpose\n\nThe purpose of this Act is to make further provision relating to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and to remove doubts about the validity of certain Acts.\n\n\t2 Commencement\n\nThis Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nNo. 8750.\n\n\t3 Principal Act\n\nIn this Act, the **Constitution Act 1975** is called the Principal Act.\n\n\t4 Validity of certain Acts etc.\n\nS. 4(1) amended by No. 35/1991  \ns. 6.\n\n(1) [[1]](#endnote-1)The enactment or validity of the **Retail Tenancies Act 1986**, the **Planning and Environment Act 1987** or any other Act enacted or purporting to have been enacted after 1 December 1975 and before 1 July 1991 shall not be called in question in any proceeding in any court or tribunal on the ground that the Bill for the Act contained any provision by which section 85 of the Principal Act may be repealed, altered or varied and, because the requirements of section 18(2) of the Principal Act were not complied with, the Bill was not lawfully presented for Royal Assent or was void.\n\n(2) In subsection (1), a reference to a provision in a Bill for an Act does not include a reference to a provision directly amending Part III of the Principal Act by the insertion, substitution, omission or repeal of matter.\n\ns. 4\n\n(3) Anything done or omitted to be done under the authority or purported authority of an Act to which subsection (1) applies shall not be called in question on the ground referred to in subsection (1).\n\n\n\nENDNOTES\n\nEndnotes\n\n1. General Information\n\n\n*Minister's second reading speech—*\n\n*Legislative Assembly: 19 April 1989*\n\n*Legislative Council: 26 May 1989*\n\nThe long title for the Bill for this Act was \"A Bill to amend Part III of the **Constitution Act 1975** and for other purposes.\".\n\nThe **Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989** was assented to on 2 June 1989 and came into operation on 2 June 1989: section 2.\n\n1. Table of Amendments\n\n\nThis Version incorporates amendments made to the **Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989** by Acts and subordinate instruments.\n\nEndnotes\n\n–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––\n\n**Constitution (Jurisdiction of Supreme Court) Act 1991, No. 35/1991**\n\n| Assent Date: | 18.6.91 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Commencement Date: | S. 6 on 1.7.89: s. 2(1); rest of Act on 18.6.91: s. 2(2) |\n| Current State: | All of Act in operation |\n\n\n–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––\n\n1. Explanatory Details\n\n\nEndnotes\n\n1. S. 4(1): Section 7 of the **Constitution (Jurisdiction of Supreme Court) Act 1991**, No. 35/1991 reads as follows:\n\n  7 Transitional\n\n  (1) This section applies where, before 1 May 1991, a party to a proceeding before a court or tribunal had sought, in the course of that proceeding, to call in question the enactment or validity of an Act enacted or purporting to have been enacted before that date but on or after 1 July 1989 on the ground referred to in section 4 of the **Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989**.\n\n  (2) A court or tribunal may decide a question referred to in subsection (1) as if this Act had not been enacted but only in so far as affects the particular facts, matters or circumstances in issue in those proceedings.\n\n  (3) A decision of a court or tribunal under subsection (2) is not binding on that or any other court or tribunal in relation to any other proceedings. [↑](#endnote-ref-1)","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: validating specific Acts passed between 1975-1991 that may have breached section 18(2) of the Constitution Act 1975. The 1991 amendment (No. 35/1991) added transitional provisions for pending litigation but did not expand the substantive scope beyond the original validation purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 operative sections, with the substantive content contained entirely in section 4","Heavy reliance on cross-references to the Constitution Act 1975 (sections 18(2), 85, and Part III)","Nested conditional logic in section 4(1) with multiple date ranges (1 December 1975 to 1 July 1991) and exclusion clauses","Requires understanding of Victorian constitutional procedure regarding 'messages' to the Governor for Bills affecting Supreme Court jurisdiction","Transitional provisions in the amending Act (Constitution (Jurisdiction of Supreme Court) Act 1991) create additional temporal complexity for pre-1991 proceedings"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a short, technical Victorian law that fixes a legal loophole from the 1980s. It protects the validity of certain Acts passed between December 1975 and July 1991 — specifically the *Retail Tenancies Act 1986* and the *Planning and Environment Act 1987* — from being challenged in court.\n\n**The problem it solved:**\n\nUnder Victoria's *Constitution Act 1975*, any Bill (proposed law) that affects the Supreme Court's jurisdiction (its power to hear certain cases) needs special handling — it must be presented to the Governor with a specific message. Some laws passed in the 1980s accidentally skipped this step. Without this fix, someone could have argued those laws were invalid, creating chaos for thousands of property leases and planning decisions.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Property owners and tenants** — the *Retail Tenancies Act* governs shop leases\n- **Developers and councils** — the *Planning and Environment Act* controls land use\n- **Anyone who relied on decisions** made under these laws\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis is a \"savings provision\" — it stops courts from overturning decades of legal decisions based on a technical paperwork error. It ensures stability in commercial property and planning law, even though the constitutional requirements weren't perfectly followed when the original laws were made.\n\n**Key limitation:**\n\nThe protection doesn't apply if a Bill directly amends Part III of the Constitution Act (the part dealing with the Supreme Court itself) — only to laws that indirectly affect the Court's jurisdiction."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed — the substantive text of the legislation was not included in the material provided. Only the title, act number, and version history metadata were available for review."},"complexity_factors":["Insufficient legislative text provided — only metadata and version history information is present","Cannot assess true complexity without substantive provisions","Based on title only, court constitution acts are typically moderately technical but narrow in scope","Score reflects inability to analyse content rather than actual simplicity"],"plain_english_summary":"## Constitution (Supreme Court) Act 1989\n\nUnfortunately, the text provided for this legislation is **incomplete** — it contains only metadata (title, version history, and status information) but **no actual legislative content**. The substantive provisions (the actual rules and law) are missing.\n\nBased on the title alone:\n- This is a **Victorian Act** (Act number 22/1989) relating to the **constitution** (meaning the structure, composition, and powers) of the **Supreme Court of Victoria**\n- It was enacted in **1989** and appears to still be **in force**\n- Laws like this typically govern things like: how many judges sit on the court, their qualifications, how the court is organised, and its jurisdiction (the types of cases it can hear)\n\n**Who it likely affects:** Judges, legal practitioners, litigants (people involved in court cases), and the court administration.\n\n⚠️ *A full analysis cannot be provided without the actual legislative text.*"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act's original validation rule was later amended and qualified by the Constitution (Jurisdiction of Supreme Court) Act 1991. That amendment (noted at s.4(1)) and its transitional provision (s.7 of the 1991 Act, Endnote 1) allowed courts to decide challenges already pursued before 1 May 1991 as if the 1991 Act had not been enacted — limited to the particular facts of those proceedings and not binding in other cases. The change therefore narrows the absolute temporal bar by creating a transitional exception and clarifies application timing."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-reference to the Constitution Act 1975 (s18(2) and s85) creates a dependence on constitutional drafting/formalities.","Retroactive validation with precise temporal bounds (post-1 Dec 1975 to pre-1 Jul 1991) requires date-based sorting of statutes and actions.","Express exclusion for direct amendments to Part III of the Principal Act narrows scope and adds a interpretive question about what counts as a 'provision in a Bill' (s4(2)).","Transitional amendment by the Constitution (Jurisdiction of Supreme Court) Act 1991 introduced exceptions for proceedings begun before 1 May 1991, adding procedural nuance (Endnote 1).","Short text but high doctrinal technicality: courts may still litigate narrowly framed factual disputes about whether the section applies, producing litigation risk over scope and retrospective effects."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act stops courts and tribunals from challenging the enactment or validity of Acts (notably the Retail Tenancies Act 1986 and the Planning and Environment Act 1987) made after 1 Dec 1975 and before 1 Jul 1991 on the ground that a Bill failed to comply with section 18(2) of the Constitution Act 1975; it also preserves anything done under those Acts. It therefore removes a legal route for challengers and gives legal certainty about past acts taken under the validated statutes. (s4(1)–(3))"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989","history":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989/history","analysis":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/constitution-supreme-court-act-1989/documents"}}