{"id":"tas:sr-2002-052","name":"Proclamation under the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001","slug":"proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"52 of 2002","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":318539,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2002-052-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Proclamation under the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001","content":"> Proclamation under the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001\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 [Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2001-079) fix 1 July 2002 as the day on which that Act commences.\n\n17 June 2002\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 26 June 2002\n\nThis proclamation is administered in the Department of Justice and Industrial Relations.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The proclamation does not alter the Act's content or coverage; it only sets the commencement date under the Act's section 2. Therefore the legislative scope remains unchanged."},"complexity_factors":["Single-purpose instrument: fixes a commencement date only","Clear legal authority cited (section 2 of the Act)","No substantive policy or procedural content within the proclamation","Administrative formalities: Governor, Executive Council, Gazette notification","Low discretion and minimal compliance requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"This proclamation, made by the Governor with Executive Council advice, fixes 1 July 2002 as the day the *Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001* starts to operate (under s.2). From that date the Act’s evidence rules become legally effective. It was notified in the Gazette on 26 June 2002 and is administered by the Department of Justice and Industrial Relations. The change affects courts, prosecutors, defence practitioners and people classified as children or special witnesses by moving the date when the Act’s procedures apply."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"A proclamation is a purely mechanical instrument — its scope is inherently fixed as the commencement of the Act it names. There is no indication the proclamation expanded or narrowed the original intent of the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001. It simply brought the Act into force on 26 June 2002 as intended by the Tasmanian Parliament."},"complexity_factors":["The document itself is purely administrative — it is a short commencement proclamation with no substantive legal content of its own","The underlying Act it activates (Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001) would be considerably more complex, but that Act is not reproduced here","Minimal operative text is visible; most of the document consists of metadata, status information, and formatting artefacts from the legislation website","No amending instruments or definitional provisions are present to interpret"],"plain_english_summary":"This Proclamation brings the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001 into operation in Tasmania (commencing 26 June 2002). \n\nIt matters because it enables court procedures that reduce trauma for children and other vulnerable witnesses — changing how they give evidence and affecting courts, legal practitioners, victims, and accused persons by improving the fairness and reliability of testimony."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a commencement proclamation, which by definition has a single, narrow purpose: to activate an Act of Parliament. It has not expanded beyond this original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (fixing the commencement date)","No defined terms","No cross-references to other legislation (except citation of the parent Act and Rules Publication Act 1953 for procedural purposes)","No conditional logic or exceptions","Standard proclamation format — essentially a template document"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short official notice (called a 'proclamation') that sets the start date for a Tasmanian law called the **Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001**.\n\n**What it does:**\n- It officially declares that the Act will come into force on **1 July 2002**.\n- Without this proclamation, the law passed by Parliament would not actually take effect.\n\n**Who made it:**\n- The **Governor of Tasmania** (G. S. M. Green), acting on advice from the **Executive Council** (the Premier and senior ministers).\n- The **Minister for Justice and Industrial Relations** (P. Patmore) authorised it.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- This is a routine but legally necessary step in the law-making process. Many Australian laws don't start automatically when Parliament passes them — they need a proclamation like this to 'switch them on'.\n- The Act itself deals with special rules for how children and vulnerable witnesses give evidence in court (for example, using video links or having a support person present). This proclamation simply activates those protections."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"low","reasoning":"A proclamation that has been file-modified in 2017 but carries no visible amendment history or substantive content changes raises questions about what was actually modified and whether the 'current from 26 June 2002' representation is accurate.","confidence":0.45,"description":"The proclamation states it is 'current from 26 June 2002 to date' while simultaneously stating the file was last modified 5 July 2017, creating an ambiguity about whether the instrument has actually been amended despite presenting as a simple proclamation with no operative substantive provisions visible."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Document Structure - Entire Instrument","severity":"high","reasoning":"A proclamation with no operative text cannot fulfil its legal function. Citizens, courts, and legal practitioners cannot comply with, enforce, or rely upon an instrument that contains no substantive content. If the operative provisions are simply missing from the reproduction, the instrument as presented is legally meaningless.","confidence":0.85,"description":"The proclamation as reproduced contains no operative legal provisions whatsoever. A proclamation under the Evidence (Children and Special Witnesses) Act 2001 should at minimum specify a commencement date or bring specific provisions into force, yet the reproduced instrument contains only metadata, status information, and navigation elements duplicated multiple times."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Status Information - Update policy","severity":"low","reasoning":"The promise of timely updates is undermined by the apparent stagnation of this specific instrument over nearly a decade, though this may simply reflect that no legislative changes occurred in that period.","confidence":0.35,"description":"The instrument states legislation is 'usually updated within 3 working days after a change' yet the file modification date of 5 July 2017 and the access date of 8 April 2026 represent a gap of nearly 9 years with no evident updates, contradicting the stated update policy."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Status Information - File last modified 5 July 2017","section_b":"Table of Amending Instruments - (click to view Table of Amendments)","confidence":0.5,"description":"The instrument acknowledges a Table of Amendments exists (implying amendments have been made) while the file modification date of 2017 is inconsistent with a proclamation that ostensibly commenced in 2002 and should be a static instrument. If the Table of Amendments contains entries, the 'current from 26 June 2002' currency statement without any visible amendment notation creates a contradiction about the instrument's true current state."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Currency statement: 'Version current from 26 June 2002 to date'","section_b":"Authorisation: 'File last modified 5 July 2017'","confidence":0.6,"description":"The currency statement implies the instrument has been unchanged since 26 June 2002, yet the file modification date of 5 July 2017 indicates the instrument was altered approximately 15 years after its commencement. These two statements are in direct tension and cannot both be fully accurate without further explanation of what was modified in 2017."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001","history":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001/history","analysis":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/proclamation-under-the-evidence-children-and-special-witnesses-act-2001/documents"}}