{"id":"tas:sr-1998-001","name":"Proclamation under the Evidence Amendment Act 1997 ","slug":"proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"1 of 1998","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":319103,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-1998-001-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Evidence Amendment Act 1997 ","content":"> Proclamation under the Evidence Amendment Act 1997\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-1997-031#GS2@EN) [Evidence Amendment Act 1997](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1997-031) fix 28 January 1998 as the day on which that Act commences.\n\n22 January 1998\n\nG.S.M. GREEN\n\nGovernor\n\nBy His Excellency's Command,\n\nR.J. GROOM\n\nMinister for Justice\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 28 January 1998\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Justice.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a procedural commencement instrument with no substantive scope beyond its original purpose of bringing the parent Act into force."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (fixing a commencement date)","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation (except 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 effect.\n\n**What it does:**\n- The Governor of Tasmania (acting on ministerial advice) officially declares that the *Evidence Amendment Act 1997* will start operating on **28 January 1998**.\n\n**Why this matters:**\n- Laws passed by Parliament don't automatically take effect immediately. They often need a proclamation like this to \"switch them on.\"\n- This document fixes the exact date when the new evidence rules became legally binding in Tasmania.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone involved in Tasmanian court proceedings from 28 January 1998 onwards, as the amended evidence laws would have changed how evidence could be admitted or used in court."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"A commencement proclamation is a one-off instrument. Its operative legal content cannot meaningfully change after it takes effect. A 2021 modification date suggests either metadata/formatting changes are being treated as legal amendments, or something substantive changed in an instrument that logically has nothing left to change, creating a presentational absurdity about the nature of the document.","confidence":0.62,"description":"The proclamation states it has been 'current from 28 January 1998 to date' yet the file was last modified on 13 August 2021, implying substantive changes occurred to an instrument whose entire purpose is to fix a single commencement date. A proclamation that merely brings an Act into force should be immutable after gazettal."},{"type":"other","section":"Table of Amending Instruments","severity":"low","reasoning":"Amending a proclamation that has already spent its legal force (bringing an Act into operation on a fixed date) is a logical impossibility in substantive terms. The amendments table either contains no entries (rendering it meaningless) or contains entries that raise the question of what legal content was altered after the proclamation's operative moment passed.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The instrument provides a hyperlink to a 'Table of Amendments' for what is inherently a single-operation proclamation. A proclamation's sole function is to declare a commencement date; once operative, there is nothing capable of being amended, making the existence of an amendments table logically superfluous and potentially misleading."},{"type":"other","section":"Document structure - all headings","severity":"low","reasoning":"Under strict statutory interpretation principles, repeated headings could be read as creating duplicate provisions. Although clearly a technical artefact, the consolidated legislation as published is the authoritative version, meaning the duplication exists in the official record and could theoretically cause interpretive uncertainty.","confidence":0.7,"description":"Every heading and section title in the document is duplicated verbatim (e.g. 'Currency of version Currency of version', 'Authorisation Authorisation'). While likely a rendering or markup error, if treated as the authoritative legal text, it creates structural ambiguity as to which instance of each heading governs and whether two distinct sections with identical names exist."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Currency of version: 'Version current from 28 January 1998 to date'","section_b":"Authorisation: 'File last modified 13 August 2021'","confidence":0.65,"description":"The instrument claims an unbroken currency since 28 January 1998, yet simultaneously discloses a file modification in 2021, spanning 23 years. These two statements are in tension: an unmodified instrument current since 1998 should not carry a 2021 modification date, and a 2021 modification undermines the claim of seamless currency from 1998 without any disclosed amendment in the Table of Amending Instruments."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This proclamation does not alter the scope of the Evidence Amendment Act 1997. It simply activates that Act's provisions as intended. No expansion or narrowing of the original legislative intent is evident from the text of this instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Purely administrative/procedural instrument with no substantive legal content of its own","Single operative purpose: setting a commencement date","No definitions, offences, rights, or obligations created directly by this document","The actual legal complexity, if any, resides in the parent Evidence Amendment Act 1997, not this proclamation","Very short and formulaic in nature"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation formally brought the Evidence Amendment Act 1997 into force in Tasmania on 28 January 1998. It doesn't change law itself but activates the amended evidence rules Parliament enacted.\n\nIt affects courts, lawyers, witnesses and anyone involved in Tasmanian legal proceedings by making the new evidence provisions applicable from that date."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The proclamation does not alter the content or scope of the Evidence Amendment Act 1997; it simply fixes the Act’s commencement date under section 2. It changes timing only, not substantive legal obligations."},"complexity_factors":["Single, discrete action: fixes a commencement date rather than altering substantive law","Reference to enabling provision (section 2 of the Evidence Amendment Act 1997) creates a legal hook for commencement","Formal administrative steps: Governor acting with Executive Council, Gazette notification, and Rules Publication Act compliance","Low compliance burden but operational effect on courts, legal practitioners and litigants from the stated commencement date","No substantive provisions or detailed transitional arrangements within the proclamation itself"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation fixes 28 January 1998 as the day the Evidence Amendment Act 1997 starts to operate, bringing its changes to evidence law into force. The decision is made by the Governor acting with the Executive Council and was notified in the Gazette.\n\nFrom that date, courts, lawyers and parties in legal proceedings must apply the Act’s amendments. The Department of Justice administers this commencement; the proclamation itself does not change the Act’s substance."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-amendment-act-1997/documents"}}