{"id":"tas:sr-2001-038","name":"Proclamation under the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996","slug":"proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"38 of 2001","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":318688,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2001-038-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996","content":"> Proclamation under the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996\n\nI, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, by this my proclamation made under [section 2 of the](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1996-013#) [Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1996-013) fix 1 July 2001 as the day on which that Act commences.\n\n9 April 2001\n\nG. S. M. GREEN\n\nGovernor\n\nBy His Excellency's Command,\n\nP. PATMORE\n\nMinister for Justice and Industrial Relations\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 18 April 2001\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Justice and Industrial Relations.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"A proclamation that has been unaltered since 2001 should logically have a file modification date contemporaneous with its commencement. A 2018 modification date without any corresponding amending instrument listed raises questions about what was changed and whether the 'current from 2001' currency claim is accurate.","confidence":0.45,"description":"The legislation states it is 'current from 18 April 2001 to date' yet the file was 'last modified 13 August 2018', creating an internal tension where the instrument purports to be unamended/current yet has a modification date 17 years after commencement."},{"type":"other","section":"Document Structure - Title/Heading","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A proclamation that contains no operative provisions whatsoever — only metadata, status information, and headings — is logically vacuous as a legal instrument. There is no substantive proclamation text visible, meaning the document as presented cannot actually achieve any legal effect.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The document contains repeated truncated titles ('Proclamation under the Crimina') alongside full titles, suggesting the instrument may have been improperly reproduced or is incomplete, raising questions about whether the operative text of the proclamation is actually present anywhere in the document."},{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"The access timestamp of 2026 combined with a commencement date of 2001 and a file modification date of 2018 creates a temporally inconsistent document where three different dates suggest three different states of the instrument, none of which are reconciled.","confidence":0.38,"description":"The document claims to be 'accessed 8 April 2026 at 3:10' which is a future date relative to any reasonable drafting date, and the legislation purports to have been continuously current since 18 April 2001, yet contains no operative provisions that could be evaluated for ongoing currency."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Status Information - 'Version current from 18 April 2001 to date'","section_b":"Authorisation - 'File last modified 13 August 2018'","confidence":0.5,"description":"The version currency statement implies the instrument has been in continuous unchanged force since 18 April 2001, yet the file modification date of 13 August 2018 indicates the document was altered approximately 17 years after commencement. No amending instrument is identified that would explain this discrepancy."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Table of Amending Instruments - hyperlink implying amendments exist","section_b":"Status Information - 'Version current from 18 April 2001 to date'","confidence":0.42,"description":"The existence of a dedicated 'Table of Amendments' link logically presupposes that amendments may exist, yet the version currency description beginning from 18 April 2001 with no end date or version number suggests no amendments have been made. These two elements are in tension — either there are amendments (requiring updated version numbering) or there are not (making the amendments table redundant)."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a procedural commencement instrument performing exactly the function intended — bringing an Act into force on a specified date. No scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (fixing a commencement date)","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation beyond citation of the parent Act","No conditional logic or exceptions","Standard ceremonial/formulaic language only"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a **commencement proclamation** — a formal government notice that brings a law into force.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Sets **1 July 2001** as the date when the *Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996* (Tasmania) officially starts operating.\n\n**Who made it:**\n- The **Governor of Tasmania** (acting on advice from the Executive Council, which is the formal body of senior government ministers).\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- Laws passed by Parliament don't always start immediately. This proclamation tells courts, lawyers, and the public exactly when the rules about compelling witnesses to attend criminal proceedings actually take effect.\n- Without this document, the 1996 Act would remain dormant — passed but not legally active."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The proclamation does not change the substantive scope or content of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996. It solely fixes the Act's commencement date under section 2, records formal notification (Gazette 18 April 2001) and specifies administrative responsibility (Department of Justice and Industrial Relations)."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow functional scope: it only sets a commencement date for an existing Act (s.2).","Simple legal formality: exercise of executive power by Governor with Executive Council advice.","Low substantive change: does not amend rights, offences or procedures — only timing.","Administrative steps: includes formal notification (Gazette) and departmental administration, which are procedural requirements.","Clear temporal effect: fixed start date reduces ambiguity but creates an implementation deadline for courts and practitioners."],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation, made under section 2 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996, fixes 1 July 2001 as the day that the Act begins to operate. Mechanically, it brings the Act’s rules on witness attendance into force on that date. The Governor acted with Executive Council advice; notification in the Gazette and placement with the Department of Justice and Industrial Relations identify who implements and enforces the change, and courts, parties and witnesses must comply once the Act commences."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"A commencement proclamation by definition has a fixed and narrow purpose — to activate legislation. There is no indication of scope change from original intent. The proclamation does exactly what such instruments are designed to do."},"complexity_factors":["Minimal substantive content — this is a commencement proclamation only, not a complex substantive law","Requires understanding the relationship between a proclamation and its parent Act to grasp full effect","The underlying Act (Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996) carries the real complexity, not this instrument","Repetitive formatting in the source document obscures what little content exists"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation is a formal notice by the Governor of Tasmania bringing the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1996 into force from 18 April 2001. \n\nIt activates the legal framework that compels witnesses to attend criminal proceedings — affecting witnesses, lawyers, courts, police and prosecutors — and ensures the state can require evidence necessary for fair trials."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-criminal-procedure-attendance-of-witnesses-act-1996/documents"}}