(a) to reform and modernise the laws, practice, procedure and processes relating to civil proceedings in the Supreme Court, the County Court and the Magistrates' Court and provide for uniformity;
(b) to simplify the language relating to civil procedure;
(c) to provide for an overarching purpose in relation to the conduct of civil proceedings to facilitate the just, efficient, timely and cost-effective resolution of the real issues in dispute;
(d) to amend various Acts in relation to the conduct of civil proceedings to reflect the new procedures.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), this Act provides for—
(a) overarching obligations for participants in civil proceedings to improve standards of conduct in litigation;
S. 1(2)(b) repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 3(b),
new s. 1(2)(b) inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 4.
(b) expanding the powers of the courts in relation to costs in relation to civil proceedings;
(c) the enhancement of case management powers of the courts, including in relation to discovery;
(d) further enhancement of appropriate dispute resolution processes;
(e) reform of the law relating to summary judgment;
S. 1(2)(f) amended by No. 62/2012 s. 7(a).
(f) clarifying sanctions available to courts in relation to contravention of discovery obligations;
S. 1(2)(g) inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 7(b).
(g) the management and control of expert evidence in civil proceedings.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 June 2011, it comes into operation on that day.
3 Definitions
In this Act—
S. 3 def. of affidavit of document management inserted by No. 25/2014 s. 4.
affidavit of document management means an affidavit prepared under section 55B;
S. 3 def. of appropriate dispute resolution amended by No. 1/2011 s. 4(1).
appropriate dispute resolution means a process attended, or participated in, by a party for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of the civil proceeding or resolving or narrowing the issues in dispute, including, but not limited to—
(a) mediation, whether or not referred to a mediator in accordance with rules of court;
(b) early neutral evaluation;
(c) judicial resolution conference;
(d) settlement conference;
(e) reference of a question, a civil proceeding or part of a civil proceeding to a special referee;
(f) expert determination;
(g) conciliation;
(h) arbitration;
S. 3 def. of civil dispute repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 4(2).
civil proceeding means any proceeding in a court other than a criminal proceeding or quasi- criminal proceeding;
S. 3 def. of conference of experts inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 8.
conference of experts means a conference of expert witnesses conducted in accordance with a direction under section 65I or under rules of court;
court means the following courts—
(a) the Supreme Court;
(b) the County Court;
(c) the Magistrates' Court;
S. 3 def. of court appointed expert inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 8.
court appointed expert means an expert witness appointed by a court in accordance with an order under section 65M or under rules of court;
criminal proceeding means a proceeding to which the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 applies and includes—
(a) committal proceedings;
(b) proceedings relating to bail;
(c) proceedings relating to the sentencing of an accused;
expert witness, in relation to a civil proceeding, means a person who has specialised knowledge based on the person's training, study or experience;
head of jurisdiction means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice;
(b) in relation to the County Court, the Chief Judge;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, the Chief Magistrate;
S. 3 def. of joint experts report inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 8.
joint experts report means a joint report by expert witnesses prepared in accordance with a direction under section 65I or under rules of court;
judicial officer means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a Judge of the Court, an Associate Judge or a judicial registrar;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a judge of the court, an associate judge or a judicial registrar;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a magistrate or a judicial registrar;
judicial registrar means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Supreme Court Act 1986;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989;
judicial resolution conference means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a resolution process presided over by a Judge of the Court, an Associate Judge or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a resolution process presided over by a judge, an associate judge or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a resolution process presided over by a magistrate or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
S. 3 def. of law practice amended by No. 17/2014 s. 160(Sch. 2 item 15.1(a)).
law practice has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Victoria);
S. 3 def. of legal practitioner substituted by No. 17/2014 s. 160(Sch. 2 item 15.1(b)).
legal practitioner means an Australian legal practitioner;
overarching purpose has the meaning given in section 7;
overarching obligations means the obligations set out in sections 16 to 26;
overarching obligations certification means the certification required under section 41;
paramount duty means the duty set out in section 16;
party means party to a civil proceeding;
penalty interest rate means the rate for the time being fixed under section 2 of the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983;
person includes an unincorporated association, a firm and a partnership;
S. 3 def. of pre-litigation requirements repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 4(2).
S. 3 def. of pre-litigation requirements compliance certification repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 4(2).
proper basis certification means the certification required under section 42;
S. 3 def. of single joint expert inserted by No. 62/2012 s. 8.
single joint expert means a person engaged jointly by 2 or more parties as an expert witness in a proceeding in accordance with an order under section 65L or under rules of court;
S. 3 def. of statement of issues inserted by No. 25/2014 s. 4.
statement of issues means a statement—
(a) prepared by parties to a proceeding under section 50(1); or
(b) settled by a court under section 50(2);
S. 3 def. of substantive document substituted by No. 62/2012 s. 12, amended by No. 67/2013 s. 649(Sch. 9 item 3).
substantive document means—
(a) an originating motion;
(b) a writ that includes—
(i) a statement of claim; or
(ii) a statement sufficient to give, with reasonable particularity, notice of the nature of the claim, its cause and the relief or remedy sought;
(c) a complaint;
(d) a defence or a notice of defence;
(e) a reply;
(f) a counterclaim;
(g) an answer to a counterclaim or a response to an answer to a counterclaim;
(h) a claim by third party notice or a response to a claim by third party notice;
(i) a claim by fourth or subsequent party notice or a response to a claim by fourth or subsequent party notice;
(j) an application brought in accordance with section 93(4)(d) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 or a response to an application brought in accordance with that section;
(k) an affidavit which commences a civil proceeding or an affidavit which is the first response of a party in a civil proceeding;
(l) a summons which commences a civil proceeding or a summons which is the first response of a party in a civil proceeding;
(m) an application which commences a civil proceeding or an application which is the first response of a party in a civil proceeding;
(n) a notice of referral under section 80 of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 or a response to a notice of referral under that Act;
(o) a claim for contribution against another party under Part IV of the Wrongs Act 1958 or a response to a claim for contribution against another party under that Part;
(p) an application for leave to appear and defend under the Instruments Act1958;
(q) a claim for preliminary discovery;
but does not include—
(r) a summons for taxation of costs;
(s) an application to a court for punishment of a person for contempt of court;
(t) an application for a rehearing under section 110 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989;
(u) an application under section 299 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013;
(v) an application under section 24 of the Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1989;
(w) an application under section 83 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004;
(x) any process which commences an appeal or any process which is the first response of a party to an appeal;
(y) any process which commences proceedings under the Corporations Act or the ASIC Act or any process which is the first response of a party to proceedings under either of those Acts;
(z) any originating motion filed under Chapter III of the Rules of the Supreme Court.
4 Application of this Act
S. 4(1) amended by No. 1/2011 s. 5.
(1) Subject to this section, this Act applies to all civil proceedings.
(2) This Act does not apply to proceedings under the following Acts—
(a) the Family Violence Protection Act 2008;
S. 4(2)(b) substituted by No. 62/2012 s. 18.
(b) the Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010;
(c) the Confiscation Act 1997;
(d) the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 of the Commonwealth and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 of the Commonwealth;
(e) the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997;
S. 4(2)(ea) inserted by No. 80/2012 s. 140.
(ea) the Criminal Organisations Control Act2012;
(f) the Children, Youth and Families Act2005;
(g) the Coroners Act 2008;
(h) the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996;
S. 4(2)(i) amended by No. 83/2011 s. 17(a).
(i) the Sentencing Act 1991;
S. 4(2)(j) inserted by No. 83/2011 s. 17(b), amended by No. 53/2016 s. 93(a), substituted by No. 27/2018 s. 353.
(j) the Serious Offenders Act 2018;
S. 4(2)(ja) inserted by No. 31/2021 s. 11.
(ja) Part 3A of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998;
S. 4(2)(k) inserted by No. 53/2016 s. 93(b).
(k) the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme Act 2016.
(3) This Act does not apply to any proceeding in VCAT.
Note
VCAT means the Tribunal under the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998.
(4) This Act does not apply to any proceeding under a prescribed Act.