{"id":"F2021L00979","name":"Foreign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2021","slug":"foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440924,"registerId":"F2021L00979-fast-fetch-1775956374929","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Foreign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2021","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nForeign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2021\n\nI, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 08 July 2021\n\nDavid Hurley\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nMichaelia Cash\n\nAttorney‑General\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Introduction\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\nPart 2—Application of amendments to State and Territory court proceedings\n\n6 Application of amendments to State and Territory court proceedings\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nForeign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2011\n\n \n\nPart 1—Introduction\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Foreign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2021.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 1 October 2021. 1 October 2021\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subitem 19(3) of Schedule 1 to the Foreign Evidence Amendment Act 2010.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Foreign Evidence Amendment Act 2010.\n\nPart 2—Application of amendments to State and Territory court proceedings\n\n \n\n6  Application of amendments to State and Territory court proceedings\n\n (1) For the purposes of subitem 19(2) of Schedule 1 to the Act, the amendments made by that Schedule apply to a proceeding mentioned in subsection 20(2) of the Foreign Evidence Act 1994 in a court of any of the following States and Territories:\n\n (a) Western Australia;\n\n (b) South Australia;\n\n (c) Tasmania;\n\n (d) the Australian Capital Territory;\n\n (e) the Northern Territory.\n\n (2) This section applies in relation to a proceeding that commences on or after 1 October 2021.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nForeign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2011\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument implements the application of Commonwealth amendments to specified State and Territory court proceedings rather than altering which kinds of proceedings are covered. It specifies territorial reach (Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) and the temporal trigger—proceedings commencing on or after 1 October 2021 (see reg 6(1)–(2))—and repeals the prior 2011 instrument (Schedule 1)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to external statutes: depends on the Foreign Evidence Amendment Act 2010 (subitem 19(2)) and the Foreign Evidence Act 1994 (subsection 20(2)), requiring readers to consult those Acts to see substantive effects (see reg 3 and reg 6(1)).","Limited substantive content: instrument is largely administrative (commencement, territorial application, repeal) rather than setting new procedural rules (regs 1–6, Schedule 1).","Temporal scope: applies only to proceedings commencing on or after 1 October 2021, so advisers must determine commencement dates for individual matters (reg 6(2)).","Jurisdictional selection: applies to a subset of States and Territories (WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT), so interaction with other jurisdictions requires separate analysis (reg 6(1)).","Repeal interaction: repeal of the 2011 regulations (Schedule 1) necessitates checking differences between instruments for transitional and continuity issues."],"plain_english_summary":"_Foreign Evidence (Application of Amendments) Regulations 2021_ makes specified Commonwealth amendments to how foreign evidence is treated in certain State and Territory courts, effective for proceedings that start on or after 1 October 2021, and repeals the 2011 regulations. It applies to proceedings described in subsection 20(2) of the Foreign Evidence Act 1994 in courts of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Courts must apply the amended rules and litigants bear any compliance effort or costs."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow, technical purpose: specifying which jurisdictions and time periods the foreign evidence amendments apply to. It has not expanded beyond this machinery function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 6 substantive sections plus a repeal schedule","Only 2 defined terms ('Act' and implicit references to existing legislation)","Single operative provision (section 6) with straightforward geographic and temporal conditions","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Heavy reliance on external legislation (Foreign Evidence Act 1994 and Foreign Evidence Amendment Act 2010) for actual substantive content"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation switches on amendments from the Foreign Evidence Amendment Act 2010 so courts in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory must follow the new rules for using foreign evidence (documents, recordings, other overseas material). It applies only to proceedings that start on or after 1 October 2021 and repeals the prior 2011 regulations.\n\nIt affects litigants, lawyers and judges in those jurisdictions and harmonises process with federal courts; New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are excluded."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021","history":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021/history","analysis":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/foreign-evidence-application-of-amendments-regulations-2021/documents"}}