{"id":"sr:magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020","name":"Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020","slug":"magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":183498,"registerId":"vic-sr:magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020","content":"Version No. 001\n\n**Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020**\n\n**S.R. No. 44/2020**\n\nVersion as at  \n22 June 2020\n\n**TABLE OF PROVISIONS**\n\n*Regulation Page*\n\n1 Objective 1\n\n2 Authorising provision 1\n\n3 Commencement 1\n\n4 Revocation 1\n\n5 Exemption from arbitration 2\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes 3\n\n1 General information 3\n\n2 Table of Amendments 5\n\n3 Amendments Not in Operation 6\n\n4 Explanatory details 7\n\n**Version No.** **001**\n\n**Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020**\n\n**S.R. No. 44/2020**\n\nVersion as at  \n22 June 2020\n\n\t1 Objective\n\nThe objective of these Regulations is to prescribe those classes of complaint that are exempt from arbitration under Division 2 of Part 5 of the **Magistrates' Court Act 1989**.\n\n\t2 Authorising provision\n\nThese Regulations are made under section 140 of the **Magistrates' Court Act 1989**.\n\n\t3 Commencement\n\nThese Regulations come into operation on 22 June 2020.\n\n\t4 Revocation\n\nThe following Regulations are **revoked**—\n\n(a) the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2010[[1]](#endnote-2);\n\n(b) the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) (Professional Costs) Amendment Regulations 2011[[2]](#endnote-3);\n\n(c) the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) (Professional Costs) Amendment Regulations 2012[[3]](#endnote-4);\n\n(d) the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) (Professional Costs) Amendment Regulations 2014[[4]](#endnote-5);\n\n(e) the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Amendment Regulations 2014[[5]](#endnote-6).\n\n\t5 Exemption from arbitration\n\nFor the purposes of section 102(2)(a) of the **Magistrates' Court Act 1989** the following classes of complaint are prescribed—\n\n(a) a complaint by a municipal council or a person authorised by a municipal council for the recovery of any rates;\n\n(b) a complaint of any Authority under the **Water Act 1989** to enforce payment of any rates, charges or sums due to the Authority.\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes\n\n1 General information\n\nSee [www.legislation.vic.gov.au](http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au) for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.\n\nThe Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020, S.R. No. 44/2020 were made on 2 June 2020 by the Governor in Council under section 140 of the **Magistrates' Court Act 1989**, No. 51/1989 and came into operation on 22 June 2020: regulation 3.\n\nThe Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020 will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 2 June 2030 (see section 5 of the **Subordinate Legislation Act 1994**).\n\nINTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)\n\nStyle changes\n\nSection 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.\n\nReferences to ILA s. 39B\n\nSidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided regulation, rule or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subregulations, subrules or subclauses the original regulation, rule or clause becomes subregulation, subrule or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression \"(1)\" at the beginning of the original regulation, rule or clause.\n\nInterpretation\n\nAs from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:\n\n• Headings\n\nAll headings included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any heading inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nThis includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; Orders; Parts into which an Order is divided; clauses; regulations; rules; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms.  \nSee section 36(1A)(2A)(2B).\n\n• Examples, diagrams or notes\n\nAll examples, diagrams or notes included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Statutory Rule. See section 36(3A).\n\n• Punctuation\n\nAll punctuation included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 forms part of that Statutory Rule. Any punctuation inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nSee section 36(3B).\n\n• Provision numbers\n\nAll provision numbers included in a Statutory Rule form part of that Statutory Rule, whether inserted in the Statutory Rule before, on or after  \n1 January 2001. Provision numbers include regulation numbers, rule numbers, subregulation numbers, subrule numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).\n\n• Location of \"legislative items\"\n\nA \"legislative item\" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of a Statutory Rule is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.\n\n• Other material\n\nAny explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of a Statutory Rule. See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).\n\n2 Table of Amendments\n\nThere are no amendments made to the Magistrates' Court (Arbitration) Regulations 2020 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.\n\n3 Amendments Not in Operation\n\nThis version does not contain amendments that are not yet in operation.\n\n4 Explanatory details\n\n1. Reg. 4(a): S.R. No. 43/2010 as amended by S.R. Nos 99/2011, 159/2012, 18/2014 and 102/2014. [↑](#endnote-ref-2)\n\n2. Reg. 4(b): S.R. No. 99/2011. [↑](#endnote-ref-3)\n\n3. Reg. 4(c): S.R. No. 159/2012. [↑](#endnote-ref-4)\n\n4. Reg. 4(d): S.R. No. 18/2014. [↑](#endnote-ref-5)\n\n5. Reg. 4(e): S.R. No. 102/2014. [↑](#endnote-ref-6)","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"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":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"On its face the instrument revokes earlier arbitration regulations (regulation 4) and prescribes two narrow exemption classes (regulation 5). The text does not add new categories beyond municipal council rate recovery and Water Act authority enforcement, so no substantive expansion of scope is apparent from this instrument alone (regs 4–5; Endnotes 1)."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument: five regulations only, with a single operative prescription (regulation 5) limiting complexity.","Cross‑references to the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (s.102(2)(a) and s.140) and the Water Act 1989 require reading those Acts to fully understand legal effect (regs 2 and 5).","Revocation of multiple earlier statutory rules (regulation 4) means assessing change may require comparing revoked instruments with this text.","Endnotes include commencement, sunset (Subordinate Legislation Act 1994) and interpretive references (Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984), which add formal interpretive steps but not substantive complexity (Endnotes 1 and Explanatory details).","Limited compliance burden: prescriptive exemption (not a licensing or discretionary regime) creates no new administrative approvals or ongoing regulator discretion (regulation 5).","Who pays / affected parties are concrete and narrow (municipal councils, authorised council agents, Water Act authorities, and ratepayers) reducing the stakeholder complexity (regulation 5)."],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations list the types of complaints that are exempt from arbitration under the Magistrates' Court Act 1989: recovery of municipal council rates and enforcement of rates/charges by Water Act authorities. They revoke earlier arbitration regulations and commenced on 22 June 2020. The rule affects municipal councils (and their authorised agents), water authorities, and people liable to pay those rates or charges, because such recovery actions will proceed outside the Court’s arbitration scheme."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be meaningfully assessed. The document contains insufficient content to determine whether the regulation's scope changed from any original drafting intent. The title and statutory rule number are consistent with a straightforward procedural regulation for Magistrates' Court arbitration, suggesting no obvious scope expansion — but this is inference only."},"complexity_factors":["Document is critically incomplete — only metadata and formatting shells are present, with no substantive regulatory text to analyse","Cannot assess procedural complexity, cross-references to parent legislation, or technical legal obligations without actual content","Arbitration regulations generally involve moderate complexity due to intersection of procedural law and alternative dispute resolution frameworks, but this cannot be confirmed here","Repeated and duplicated headings suggest possible document corruption or extraction error, adding interpretive difficulty"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation governs arbitration in Victoria’s Magistrates’ Court—providing the framework by which civil disputes may be resolved by an arbitrator instead of a full court hearing, affecting litigants in money, property and similar magistrates’ matters. The supplied regulation text is largely blank, so the specific rules, fees, timeframes or appointment processes are not present here and the instrument’s detailed effect cannot be assessed without the substantive provisions."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations maintain the same narrow scope as their predecessors — prescribing exemptions from arbitration for specific classes of complaints. The 2020 version simply consolidates and replaces earlier regulations from 2010-2014 without expanding the substantive scope."},"complexity_factors":["Only 5 regulations total, with just 1 substantive provision (regulation 5)","No defined terms section — relies on definitions in the parent Act (Magistrates' Court Act 1989)","No cross-references beyond the authorising provision and one operative section","Simple binary structure: two classes of complaint listed, no conditions or exceptions","Straightforward revocation of previous regulations without transitional provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out which types of legal disputes **cannot** be sent to arbitration in Victoria's Magistrates' Court.\n\n**What is arbitration?**\nArbitration is a way of resolving disputes outside of a formal court hearing — a neutral person (an arbitrator) listens to both sides and makes a binding decision. It's usually faster and cheaper than going to trial.\n\n**What do these regulations do?**\nThey list two specific types of cases that are **exempt** from arbitration:\n\n*   **Council rate recovery cases** — when a local council (or someone authorised by them) sues to recover unpaid rates or charges\n*   **Water Authority cases** — when a water authority sues to recover unpaid rates, charges, or other money owed to them\n\n**Why does this matter?**\nThese cases must go through the standard court process instead of arbitration. This ensures that disputes involving essential public services (local government and water utilities) are handled with full judicial oversight, likely because they involve important public interests and statutory powers.\n\n**Who is affected?**\n*   Local councils in Victoria\n*   Victorian water authorities\n*   People or businesses being sued by these entities for unpaid rates or charges\n*   The Magistrates' Court itself, which must direct these matters to standard court proceedings rather than arbitration"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020","history":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/magistrates-court-arbitration-regulations-2020/documents"}}