{"id":"C1915A00019","name":"Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915","slug":"jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"19 of 1915","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":264,"registerId":"C2023C00223","compilationNumber":"4","startDate":"2023-08-22","status":"InForce","reasons":[{"affect":"Amend","markdown":"sch 1 (item 42) of the [Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Amendment (Strengthening Land and Governance Provisions) Act 2023](/C2023A00057)","dateChanged":null,"amendedByTitle":null,"affectedByTitle":{"name":"Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Amendment (Strengthening Land and Governance Provisions) Act 2023","year":2023,"number":57,"titleId":"C2023A00057","provisions":"sch 1 (item 42)","seriesType":"Act","optionalSeriesNumber":null}}],"registeredAt":"2023-09-06T13:41:08.413Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act shall commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation, after the Act passed by the Parliament of the State confirming the said agreement and surrendering the territory to the Commonwealth has been proclaimed by the Governor of the State to be in force.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2A","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 2A Interpretation\n\n  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> Act does not include an enactment.\n\n> enactment has the same meaning as in the Australian Capital Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1988.\n\n> Ordinance means an Ordinance made under this Act.\n\n> Territory means the Jervis Bay Territory.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Ratification of agreement","content":"#### 3 Ratification of agreement\n\n  The agreement made between the Commonwealth and the State and set out in the Schedule to this Act is hereby ratified and confirmed.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Acceptance of territory","content":"#### 4 Acceptance of territory\n\n  (1) Upon the commencement of this Act, the territory set out in the agreement and surrendered by the State to the Commonwealth shall be and is hereby accepted by the Commonwealth as a territory of the Commonwealth.\n  (4) The territory so accepted shall be known as the Jervis Bay Territory.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"4A","sectionType":"section","heading":"Laws of Australian Capital Territory to be in force","content":"#### 4A Laws of Australian Capital Territory to be in force\n\n  (1) Subject to this Act, the laws (including the principles and rules of common law and equity) in force from time to time in the Australian Capital Territory are, so far as they are applicable to the Territory and are not inconsistent with an Ordinance, in force in the Territory as if the Territory formed part of the Australian Capital Territory.\n  (2) Subsection (1) extends to:\n    (a) sections 6 and 7 of the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909; and\n    (b) the whole of the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 except sections 9 and 12 of that Act;\n  but does not extend to any other Act or provision of an Act.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"4AA","sectionType":"section","heading":"Criminal Code does not apply","content":"#### 4AA Criminal Code does not apply\n\n  Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code does not apply in relation to, or in relation to matters arising under, a law in force in the Territory because of section 4A.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"4B","sectionType":"section","heading":"Powers and functions under adopted laws","content":"#### 4B Powers and functions under adopted laws\n\n  (1) Subject to subsection (2), where, by a law of the Australian Capital Territory in force in the Territory because of section 4A, a power or function is vested in a person or authority (not being a court), that power or function is, in relation to the Territory, vested in, and may be exercised or performed by, that person or authority.\n  (2) The Governor‑General may direct that a power or function vested in a person or authority (not being a court) by a law of the Australian Capital Territory in force in the Territory because of section 4A shall, in relation to the Territory, be vested in, and may be exercised or performed by, such other person or authority as the Governor‑General specifies.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"4C","sectionType":"section","heading":"Ordinance may amend or repeal adopted laws","content":"#### 4C Ordinance may amend or repeal adopted laws\n\n  A law in force in the Territory because of section 4A may be amended or repealed by an Ordinance or by a law made under an Ordinance.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"4D","sectionType":"section","heading":"Supreme Court of Australian Capital Territory to have jurisdiction in Territory","content":"#### 4D Supreme Court of Australian Capital Territory to have jurisdiction in Territory\n\n  (1) Each court of the Australian Capital Territory has jurisdiction in and in relation to the Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court Act 1933 and the practice and procedure of each such court for the time being in force apply in the Territory as if the Territory formed part of the Australian Capital Territory.\n  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a reference in the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court Act 1933 to an Ordinance or enactment is a reference to an Ordinance or enactment, as the case may be, in force under this Act.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"4E","sectionType":"section","heading":"Supply of water or electricity to persons outside the Territory","content":"#### 4E Supply of water or electricity to persons outside the Territory\n\n  The Minister may, on such terms and conditions as are agreed upon, supply water or electricity from the Territory to any person outside the Territory.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"4F","sectionType":"section","heading":"Ordinances","content":"#### 4F Ordinances\n\n  (1) The Governor‑General may make Ordinances for the peace, order and good government of the Territory.\n  (2) Notice of the making of an Ordinance shall be published in the Gazette, and an Ordinance shall, unless the contrary intention appears in the Ordinance, come into operation on the date of publication of the notice.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"4G","sectionType":"section","heading":"Tabling of Ordinances in Parliament","content":"#### 4G Tabling of Ordinances in Parliament\n\n  (1) An Ordinance shall be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the making of the Ordinance, and, if it is not so laid before each House of the Parliament, ceases to have effect.\n  (2) If either House of the Parliament, in pursuance of a motion of which notice has been given within 15 sitting days after an Ordinance has been laid before that House, passes a resolution disallowing the Ordinance or a part of the Ordinance, the Ordinance or part so disallowed thereupon ceases to have effect.\n  (3) If, at the expiration of 15 sitting days after notice of a motion to disallow an Ordinance or part of an Ordinance has been given in a House of the Parliament, being notice given within 15 sitting days after the Ordinance has been laid before that House:\n    (a) the notice has not been withdrawn and the motion has not been called on; or\n    (b) the motion has been called on, moved and seconded and has not been withdrawn or otherwise disposed of;\n  the Ordinance or part, as the case may be, specified in the motion shall thereupon be deemed to have been disallowed.\n  (4) If, before the expiration of 15 sitting days after notice of a motion to disallow an Ordinance or part of an Ordinance has been given in a House of the Parliament:\n    (a) the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires, or the Parliament is prorogued; and\n    (b) at the time of the dissolution, expiry or prorogation, as the case may be:\n    (i) the notice has not been withdrawn and the motion has not been called on; or\n    (ii) the motion has been called on, moved and seconded and has not been withdrawn or otherwise disposed of;\n  the Ordinance shall, for the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), be deemed to have been laid before that first‑mentioned House on the first sitting day of that first‑mentioned House after the dissolution, expiry or prorogation, as the case may be.\n  (5) Where an Ordinance is disallowed, or is deemed to have been disallowed, under this section or ceases to have effect by virtue of the operation of subsection (1), the disallowance of the Ordinance or the operation of subsection (1) in relation to the Ordinance, as the case may be, has the same effect as a repeal of the Ordinance.\n  (6) Where:\n    (a) an Ordinance (in this subsection called the relevant Ordinance) is disallowed, or is deemed to have been disallowed, under this section or ceases to have effect by virtue of the operation of subsection (1); and\n    (b) the relevant Ordinance repealed, in whole or in part, another Ordinance or any other law that was in force immediately before the relevant Ordinance came into operation;\n  the disallowance of the relevant Ordinance or the operation of subsection (1) in relation to the relevant Ordinance, as the case may be, has the effect of reviving that other Ordinance or law, as the case may be, from and including the date of the disallowance or the date on which the relevant Ordinance ceased to have effect by virtue of that operation of subsection (1), as the case may be, as if the relevant Ordinance had not been made.\n  (7) A reference in subsection (5) or (6) to an Ordinance shall be read as including a reference to a part of an Ordinance and a reference in subsection (6) to a law has a corresponding meaning.","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"4H","sectionType":"section","heading":"Ordinance not to be re‑made while required to be tabled","content":"#### 4H Ordinance not to be re‑made while required to be tabled\n\n  (1) Where an Ordinance (in this section called the original Ordinance) has been made, no Ordinance containing a provision being the same in substance as a provision of the original Ordinance shall be made during the period defined by subsection (2) unless both Houses of the Parliament by resolution approve the making of an Ordinance containing a provision the same in substance as that provision of the original Ordinance.\n  (2) The period referred to in subsection (1) is the period starting on the day on which the original Ordinance was made and ending at the end of 7 days after:\n    (a) if the original Ordinance has been laid, in accordance with subsection 4G(1), before both Houses of the Parliament on the same day—that day;\n    (b) if the original Ordinance has been so laid before both Houses on different days—the later of those days; or\n    (c) if the original Ordinance has not been so laid before both Houses—the last day on which subsection 4G(1) could have been complied with.\n  (3) If a provision of an Ordinance is made in contravention of this section, the provision has no effect.","sortOrder":13},{"sectionNumber":"4J","sectionType":"section","heading":"Ordinance not to be re‑made while subject to disallowance","content":"#### 4J Ordinance not to be re‑made while subject to disallowance\n\n  (1) Where notice of a motion to disallow an Ordinance has been given in a House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days after the Ordinance has been laid before that House, no Ordinance containing a provision being the same in substance as a provision of the first‑mentioned Ordinance shall be made unless:\n    (a) the notice has been withdrawn;\n    (b) the Ordinance is deemed to have been disallowed under subsection 4G(3);\n    (c) the motion has been withdrawn or otherwise disposed of; or\n    (d) subsection 4G(4) has applied in relation to the Ordinance.\n  (2) Where:\n    (a) because of subsection 4G(4), an Ordinance is deemed to have been laid before a House of the Parliament on a particular day; and\n    (b) notice of a motion to disallow the Ordinance has been given in that House within 15 sitting days after that day;\n  no Ordinance containing a provision being the same in substance as a provision of the first‑mentioned Ordinance shall be made unless:\n    (c) the notice has been withdrawn;\n    (d) the Ordinance is deemed to have been disallowed under subsection 4G(3);\n    (e) the motion has been withdrawn or otherwise disposed of; or\n    (f) subsection 4G(4) has applied again in relation to the Ordinance.\n  (3) If a provision of an Ordinance is made in contravention of this section, the provision has no effect.\n  (4) This section does not limit the operation of section 4H or 4K.\n  (5) In this section:\n\n> Ordinance includes a part of an Ordinance.","sortOrder":14},{"sectionNumber":"4K","sectionType":"section","heading":"Disallowed Ordinance not to be re‑made unless resolution rescinded or House approves","content":"#### 4K Disallowed Ordinance not to be re‑made unless resolution rescinded or House approves\n\n  If an Ordinance or a part of an Ordinance is disallowed, or is deemed to have been disallowed, under section 4G, and an Ordinance containing a provision being the same in substance as a provision so disallowed, or deemed to have been disallowed, is made within 6 months after the date of the disallowance, that provision has no effect, unless:\n    (a) in the case of an Ordinance, or a part of an Ordinance, disallowed by resolution—the resolution has been rescinded by the House of the Parliament by which it was passed; or\n    (b) in the case of an Ordinance, or a part of an Ordinance, deemed to have been disallowed—the House of the Parliament in which notice of the motion to disallow the Ordinance or part was given has approved, by resolution, the making of a provision the same in substance as the provision deemed to have been disallowed.","sortOrder":15},{"sectionNumber":"4L","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations, rules and by‑laws","content":"#### 4L Regulations, rules and by‑laws\n\n  (1) All regulations made under an Ordinance shall be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which the regulations are made and, if they are not so laid before each House of the Parliament, have no effect.\n  (2) Sections 4G, 4H, 4J and 4K apply in relation to regulations laid before a House of the Parliament as if, in those provisions, references to an Ordinance were references to regulations and references to a provision of an Ordinance were references to a regulation.\n  (3) In this section:\n\n> regulations includes rules and by‑laws.","sortOrder":16},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Disposal of Crown lands","content":"#### 5 Disposal of Crown lands\n\n  Subject to the Aboriginal Land and Waters (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986, Crown lands in the territory shall not be sold or disposed of for any estate of freehold.","sortOrder":17}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1915 Act was a straightforward acceptance and ratification instrument — essentially a one-page deal to take land from NSW and name it a Commonwealth territory. Over time, significant substantive provisions were added (sections 4A through 4L) establishing a full governance framework, adopting ACT laws, creating court jurisdiction, regulating Ordinances, and addressing land rights. The Act has evolved well beyond its original purpose as a simple territorial acceptance mechanism into a mini-constitution for the Territory."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-jurisdictional legal transplant: ACT laws are applied to a separate territory by reference, requiring readers to consult a second body of law","Layered lawmaking hierarchy: Ordinances, regulations, ACT laws, and Commonwealth Acts all interact with each other and must be read together","Detailed disallowance mechanics: Sections 4G through 4K contain intricate parliamentary procedure rules with multiple timing triggers, deemed disallowance scenarios, and revival effects","Exclusion of the Criminal Code (section 4AA) creates a carve-out that could confuse readers about which criminal law applies","Distinction between 'Acts' and 'enactments' imported from ACT self-government legislation adds a layer of definitional complexity","Historical context: The Act dates from 1915 but has been significantly amended, meaning the current version blends old and new provisions that may be difficult to reconcile without legislative history","Land tenure restrictions referencing a separate Act (Aboriginal Land and Waters Act 1986) require cross-referencing"],"plain_english_summary":"## Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915\n\n### What does this law do?\nThis Act formally accepted a piece of coastal land — Jervis Bay — from the State of New South Wales and made it a **territory of the Commonwealth of Australia** (meaning it is governed directly by the federal government, not by any state). The Act sets up the basic legal framework for how Jervis Bay Territory is governed to this day.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n- **Residents and businesses in Jervis Bay Territory** — their day-to-day legal rights and obligations flow from this Act\n- **The Australian Capital Territory (ACT)** — ACT laws automatically apply in the Territory as if it were part of the ACT\n- **The Governor-General** — who holds the power to make special local laws (called \"Ordinances\") for the Territory\n- **The Commonwealth Parliament** — which retains oversight and can override or disallow those local laws\n- **Aboriginal communities** — Crown land in the Territory cannot be sold as freehold (permanent private ownership), with additional protections under the Aboriginal Land and Waters (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986\n\n### Key things to know\n- **ACT laws apply here**: Unless a special local law (Ordinance) says otherwise, the laws of the ACT apply in Jervis Bay Territory. This means residents largely live under the same legal rules as Canberrans.\n- **ACT courts have jurisdiction**: The ACT Supreme Court and other ACT courts handle legal matters arising in the Territory.\n- **Governor-General makes local laws**: The federal executive (via the Governor-General) can make Ordinances — special rules tailored to the Territory — but Parliament can reject them within set timeframes.\n- **No freehold land sales**: Crown land (government-owned land) in the Territory cannot be permanently sold off to private owners as freehold property.\n- **Water and electricity supply**: The Minister can arrange to supply water or electricity from the Territory to people outside it.\n\n### Why does it matter?\nThis Act is the legal foundation of one of Australia's smallest and most unusual territories. Jervis Bay has no self-government — it is directly controlled by the federal government. Anyone living, working, or owning property there needs to understand that their legal framework is a hybrid of ACT law and federal Ordinances, not standard NSW law."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"source":"grok-batch-everything"},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1915 Act was limited to ratification of the agreement with New South Wales and simple acceptance of the surrendered land as a Commonwealth territory. Subsequent amendments have substantially expanded its scope to create an ongoing governance framework, including wholesale adoption of ACT laws, detailed ordinance-making and disallowance machinery, court jurisdiction rules, utility supply powers, and explicit linkages to self-government and Aboriginal land legislation."},"complexity_factors":["Layered application of external laws via section 4A, including selective extension of two Seat of Government Acts while excluding others","Detailed parliamentary oversight regime for Ordinances in sections 4G to 4K, covering tabling, disallowance, revival of prior laws, and multiple restrictions on re-making disallowed provisions","Multiple defined terms in section 2A that cross-reference the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988","Specific carve-outs such as the exclusion of Criminal Code Chapter 2 in section 4AA and the interaction with the Aboriginal Land and Waters (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986 in section 5","Nested subsections dealing with contingencies such as parliamentary dissolution or prorogation in section 4G(4)"],"plain_english_summary":"**The Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915** officially makes a small coastal area in New South Wales part of Australia. It approves an old agreement that transferred the land from the state to the federal government and declares it the Jervis Bay Territory.\n\nThe Act does three main things:\n- It applies the laws of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to Jervis Bay (including common law rules) as if it were part of the ACT, unless a local rule says otherwise.\n- It lets the Governor-General create local laws called Ordinances for 'peace, order and good government' and sets out strict rules for putting them before Parliament, where they can be blocked or disallowed.\n- It gives ACT courts full power over legal cases in the area, allows supply of water or electricity to people outside the territory, and stops the sale of most government-owned land (with an exception for Aboriginal land laws).\n\nIt affects anyone living in, working in, or doing business in the Jervis Bay Territory (mostly naval personnel, residents of the small communities, and visitors), as well as federal officials managing the area. It matters because it creates a hybrid legal system: the territory is not part of any state, follows ACT rules for most things, but has its own local law-making process watched closely by federal Parliament. This keeps the area under Commonwealth control while borrowing a ready-made legal code from the ACT."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The text of the Act, as provided, implements acceptance of the surrendered territory and sets out how ACT laws, Ordinances, courts and administrative arrangements apply. There is no provision within the supplied text that alters or narrows those core arrangements from their operative form; the Act continues to ratify the surrender (s.3), accept the Territory (s.4) and import ACT laws (s.4A), while providing the Ordinance and parliamentary oversight framework (ss.4F–4L) and the prohibition on freehold disposal of Crown land (s.5)."},"complexity_factors":["Dynamic application of laws: ACT laws are adopted \"from time to time\" into the Territory (s.4A), creating ongoing monitoring requirements.","Cross‑references to external statutes and definitions: 'enactment' is defined by reference to the Australian Capital Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1988 (s.2A).","Executive discretion: Governor‑General power to make Ordinances (s.4F) and to re‑vest or redirect powers created by adopted ACT laws (s.4B(2)).","Parliamentary procedural complexity: tabling, disallowance, re‑making prohibitions and revival rules with specific sitting‑day timing (ss.4G, 4H, 4J, 4K, 4L).","Legal carve‑outs: explicit exclusion of Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code from application to matters arising under adopted laws (s.4AA).","Interplay between Ordinances, regulations and adopted ACT laws, including the power for Ordinances to amend or repeal those adopted laws (s.4C) and the revival mechanism if disallowance occurs (s.4G(6)).","Property restriction: absolute bar on sale/disposal of Crown lands as freehold (s.5) which has durable consequences for land transactions."],"plain_english_summary":"Creates the Jervis Bay Territory by ratifying NSW’s surrender and treating the area as Commonwealth land. ACT laws apply dynamically (unless inconsistent), ACT courts have jurisdiction, and the Governor‑General can make Ordinances for governance subject to parliamentary tabling and disallowance; Crown land cannot be sold as freehold. Practically, the Commonwealth executive controls territory lawmaking, residents and businesses must track ACT legal changes, and administrators risk Ordinances being disallowed and earlier laws reviving."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"4AA","severity":"high","reasoning":"Section 4A imports ACT laws (including criminal laws) into the Jervis Bay Territory, but section 4AA then excises Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code from those laws. Chapter 2 contains the general principles of criminal responsibility - the framework that defines how offences are to be interpreted and applied. Criminal offences would therefore operate in a legal vacuum without the ordinary rules determining what constitutes a physical element, a fault element, or a valid defence. This creates a situation where criminal law nominally applies but its foundational interpretive framework does not, making consistent and fair criminal prosecution logically incoherent.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The Criminal Code Chapter 2 general principles of criminal responsibility are excluded from laws in force in the Territory via section 4A, meaning criminal laws apply in the Territory without foundational principles such as fault elements, physical elements, and defences that ordinarily govern criminal liability across Australia."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"2A","severity":"low","reasoning":"A definition that only states what a term is not, rather than what it is, provides no positive content and forces readers to first understand 'enactment' under another Act, and then subtract it from an undefined universe of 'Acts'. While contextually inferrable, as a legislative drafting matter this is a negative-only definition that creates interpretive uncertainty at the boundary between the two concepts.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The definition of 'Act' provides only that it 'does not include an enactment', which defines the term entirely by exclusion without affirmatively stating what an 'Act' is, rendering the definition substantively circular when read against the definition of 'enactment' which cross-references the ACT Self-Government Act 1988."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"4G(1) and 4G(6)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Subsection (5) says disallowance has 'the same effect as a repeal of the Ordinance'. Under ordinary statutory interpretation, a repeal does not revive previously repealed laws. Yet subsection (6) expressly does revive prior laws upon disallowance. The two subsections proceed on contradictory premises about the legal effect of disallowance - one treats it as equivalent to repeal (which normally extinguishes without revival), while the other treats it as triggering revival. While (6) may be read as a specific carve-out from (5), the internal logical contradiction within the same section remains a drafting absurdity.","confidence":0.7,"description":"When an Ordinance that repealed an earlier Ordinance or law is itself disallowed or ceases to have effect under s4G(1), the earlier Ordinance or law is revived. However, subsection (5) simultaneously deems the disallowance to have 'the same effect as a repeal'. A repeal does not ordinarily revive prior law, creating an internal tension between the deemed repeal in (5) and the revival mechanism in (6)."},{"type":"other","section":"4H(2)(c)","severity":"low","reasoning":"Where an Ordinance is never tabled as required by s4G(1), the prohibition on re-making in s4H operates by reference to when tabling 'could have been complied with'. Determining this hypothetical date requires knowledge of parliamentary sitting patterns across an indeterminate future period, creating practical uncertainty. Furthermore, an Ordinance that was never tabled ceases to have effect under s4G(1) anyway, so the practical value of prohibiting its re-making during this period is questionable - the executive is being restrained from re-making an instrument that has already automatically ceased.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The section defines the protected period for re-making an Ordinance as ending 7 days after 'the last day on which subsection 4G(1) could have been complied with' in cases where the Ordinance was never tabled. This creates a temporal reference point anchored to a hypothetical event that never occurred, making compliance with the re-making prohibition dependent on calculating a date for something that did not happen."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"4J(1) and 4J(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Under s4J(1)(b), once deemed disallowance under s4G(3) occurs, the prohibition on re-making in s4J lifts. However, s4K then immediately imposes a fresh 6-month prohibition on re-making the same substance following deemed disallowance. The effect is that s4J(1)(b) grants a permission that s4K simultaneously withdraws. Section 4J(4) acknowledges this interaction by stating the section does not limit s4K, but this only confirms rather than resolves the logical incoherence: the legislature listed deemed disallowance as a release condition in s4J while knowing it triggers a prohibition in s4K, making s4J(1)(b) a largely illusory permission.","confidence":0.72,"description":"Section 4J(1)(b) lists as a condition permitting re-making that 'the Ordinance is deemed to have been disallowed under subsection 4G(3)', yet section 4K separately prohibits re-making a disallowed Ordinance within 6 months. The two sections together create a situation where a ground releasing the re-making prohibition in 4J simultaneously triggers a separate prohibition in 4K."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"4A(1)","section_b":"4AA","confidence":0.85,"description":"Section 4A imports the laws of the ACT into the Jervis Bay Territory, which would include ACT criminal laws that rely on Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code for their operation. Section 4AA then removes Chapter 2 from those imported laws, potentially rendering imported ACT criminal offence provisions unworkable or operating without their intended interpretive framework."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4A(2)","section_b":"4D(1)","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 4A(2) extends the importation of ACT laws to specified provisions of the Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909 and the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910, but expressly states it 'does not extend to any other Act or provision of an Act'. Section 4D(1) then applies the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court Act 1933 directly in the Territory as if it were an ACT law. This application of a Commonwealth Act in the Territory appears to contradict the express limitation in s4A(2) that no other Act or provision of an Act is imported."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4C","section_b":"4A(1)","confidence":0.68,"description":"Section 4A(1) imports ACT laws as they are 'in force from time to time', meaning ACT law amendments automatically flow through to the Territory. Section 4C empowers Ordinances to amend or repeal those imported laws in their Territory application. This creates a potential contradiction where an ACT amendment to a law that has been locally modified by Ordinance may or may not override the Ordinance modification, as the Act does not specify which prevails when an ACT law is amended in a way that conflicts with a Territory Ordinance amendment to the same law."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4G(5)","section_b":"4G(6)","confidence":0.75,"description":"Subsection (5) provides that disallowance 'has the same effect as a repeal of the Ordinance'. Subsection (6) provides that disallowance revives prior law repealed by the disallowed Ordinance. Under the general law of repeal, a repeal does not revive previously repealed legislation. These two subsections therefore proceed on mutually inconsistent premises about the legal character of disallowance within the same section."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"4G(3)(b)","section_b":"4J(1)","confidence":0.55,"description":"Section 4G(3)(b) deems an Ordinance disallowed where a motion has been 'called on, moved and seconded' but not disposed of within 15 sitting days. Section 4J(1) prohibits re-making an Ordinance while a disallowance motion is pending, with deemed disallowance under s4G(3) as a release condition. However, under s4G(3)(b) the Ordinance is only deemed disallowed at expiration of the 15 days, meaning during the period the motion is active but not yet resolved, both the prohibition in s4J and the potential release under s4J(1)(b) are simultaneously in a state of suspense, creating ambiguity about the executive's re-making power at any given moment during that window."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915","history":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915/history","analysis":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/jervis-bay-territory-acceptance-act-1915/documents"}}