Juries (Fees) Regulations 2022

The Regulations operate through a small set of concrete concepts and cross-references. Those concepts are stated and defined in the instrument itself or in the explanatory details appended to it.

• Prescribed fee: For purposes of section 24(1) of the Juries Act 2000, the prescribed fee for the first day of trial is 40F + 25R (reg 5(1)). F is a fee unit (see Monetary Units Act 2004) and R is the amount of remuneration payable under s 51 of the Juries Act 2000 for attendance for jury service on the first day, subject to two explicit exclusions: amounts paid in respect of service of more than 8 hours on the final day of the trial and travel or other allowances (reg 5(1)(a)-(b)).

• Prescribed fee for subsequent days: For purposes of section 24(2) of the Juries Act 2000 the regulator prints a formula beginning “4F +” and then defines F, R and J. In the text supplied the operative formula after “4F +” is missing (reg 5(2)). The accompanying definitions indicate R is the remuneration under s 51 for a second and subsequent trial day and J is the number of jurors serving on the jury for the trial (reg 5(2)). The presence of J in the definitions implies the second-and-subsequent-days fee is intended to interact with the number of jurors, but the missing text means the precise arithmetic relationship is not printed in the instrument as supplied.

• Fee units: The Regulations use fee units (F) within the meaning of the Monetary Units Act 2004 (Explanatory details, Fee Units). The explanatory details specify the value of a fee unit for the 2022-23 financial year as $15.29, state that calculated amounts may be rounded to the nearest 10 cents, and note that the Treasurer fixes the fee unit for future years and must publish that value in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June in the preceding financial year (Explanatory details).

• Administrative expenses on refund: For the purposes of section 24(7) of the Juries Act 2000 the prescribed administrative expense is fixed at 4.6 fee units (reg 6). Using the 2022-23 fee unit value given in the explanatory details, that administrative expense equates to 4.6 × $15.29 = $70.334, subject to rounding to the nearest 10 cents in accordance with the rounding rule (Explanatory details; reg 6).

• Cross-references to the Juries Act 2000: The Regulations operate as numeric inputs to statutory payment and refund mechanisms that are located in the Juries Act 2000; they repeatedly state that they are “for the purposes of” particular subsections (reg 5(1), 5(2), 6), rather than restating the underlying procedural or collection rules. The Regulations are therefore a schedule of prescribed monetary figures rather than a freestanding payment or refund regime.

• Temporal effect and repeal: The instrument commences on 25 September 2022, revokes the 2012 Regulations (reg 4) and, per the Endnotes, will sunset ten years after the day of making, on 13 September 2032 (Endnotes).

These concepts define the inputs a court registry or finance office will use when charging, collecting or refunding jury fees for civil cases in the Supreme and County Courts under the Juries Act 2000.

The instrument creates monetary obligations and administrative adjustments that fall primarily on litigants, and secondarily on courts and Treasury/registries involved in calculation and collection.

• Payors: Regulation 1(a) identifies the immediate payors: “a party requiring a civil case to be tried by a jury in the Supreme Court or the County Court.” The express text therefore allocates payment responsibility to the litigant who demands a jury trial in those courts (reg 1). The Regulations do not create alternative payors or exemptions in their text.

• Courts and registries: The Supreme Court and County Court registries (and any delegated administrative unit) will have operational responsibility to apply the formulae set out in reg 5 when assessing prescribed fees for first and subsequent days, to apply the administrative expense defined in reg 6 when processing refunds, and to use the relevant fee unit value for the applicable financial year when converting fee units to dollars (reg 5; reg 6; Explanatory details). The Regulations do not themselves set collection procedures; they provide the numeric inputs that registries will need to implement whatever procedural rules are in the Juries Act 2000 or in court fee collection systems.

• Jurors: The Regulations reference juror remuneration amounts under section 51 of the Juries Act 2000 as an ingredient of the prescribed fees (reg 5(1), 5(2)). While the Regulations do not change juror pay directly, they link the amount a litigant pays to the remuneration amounts set under s 51 by including R in the fee formulae.

• Government agencies and the Treasurer: The explanatory details make clear the value of a fee unit is fixed under the Monetary Units Act 2004 by the Treasurer and published in the Government Gazette (Explanatory details, Fee Units). Consequently, the Treasurer and the agency tasked with publishing the relevant rates have a role in determining the dollar equivalents of the fees set by these Regulations for each financial year.

• Parties seeking refunds: Regulation 6 prescribes an administrative expense of 4.6 fee units for the purposes of s 24(7) of the Juries Act 2000, i.e. when a fee paid is refunded (reg 6). The refund process and eligibility are matters for the Juries Act and court practice; the Regulations quantify the deduction permitted for administrative expenses on a refund.

• Indirectly affected entities: Accountants, costs assessors or lawyers who prepare budgets for litigants will need to incorporate these prescribed fees into estimates for jury trials in Supreme and County Courts, using the applicable fee unit value and any juror remuneration rates published under s 51 (reg 5; Explanatory details). The revocation of the 2012 Regulations (reg 4) means historical fee tables may be superseded and finance systems should be updated.

The Regulations do not create criminal offences, incentives, or subsidies. They set numeric amounts and link them to other statutory instruments; the practical incidence is therefore clear from the instrument’s text: the party requiring a jury trial bears the financial charge and registries and the Treasurer supply the administrative mechanisms and published values needed to calculate the dollar amounts.

The Regulations impose numeric obligations and create correlative administrative rights; they do not create procedural rights or duties beyond setting amounts.

• Duty to pay prescribed fee: A party who requires a civil matter to be tried by a jury in the Supreme or County Court must pay the prescribed fee as determined by the formulas in regulation 5. The first day fee is prescribed for the purposes of s 24(1) of the Juries Act 2000 as 40F + 25R (reg 5(1)). The second-and-subsequent-days fee is prescribed for the purposes of s 24(2), but the operative formula text is incomplete in the published regulation supplied (reg 5(2)). The duty of payment is therefore expressed in terms that require registries to apply the formulae and to convert fee units to dollars using the Treasurer’s fee unit value (Explanatory details).

• Right to refund subject to prescribed administrative expenses: Regulation 6 prescribes an administrative expense of 4.6 fee units for the purposes of section 24(7) of the Juries Act 2000. That provision in the Juries Act is the operative statutory source for refunds; the Regulation supplies the fixed administrative deduction that may be applied when a fee paid is refunded (reg 6). The Regulations thus define the quantum of administrative expense applicable on a refund, but they do not themselves define eligibility for a refund or the mechanics of repayment.

• Duty to use specified definitions: The Regulations require use of defined items F (fee unit), and R (jury remuneration under s 51) in the arithmetic; registries must apply the exclusions listed for R when computing its value in the formulae (reg 5(1)-(2)). The exclusions are explicit: do not include amounts paid for juror service of more than 8 hours on the final day of a trial, and do not include travel or other allowances (reg 5(1)(a)-(b); reg 5(2)(a)-(b)). Those exclusions are part of the Regulations’ operative definitions and must be observed when calculating the R component.

• Administrative duty to use current fee unit value: The Explanatory details instruct that fee units are to be converted to dollar amounts by multiplying the number of fee units by the value of a fee unit as fixed under the Monetary Units Act 2004 (Explanatory details, Fee Units). The Treasurer’s publication in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June in the preceding financial year is the external mechanism for fixing the monetary value for each financial year.

• Right to rounding: The Explanatory details provide that the amount of the calculated fee may be rounded to the nearest 10 cents. This gives registries discretion, consistent with the explanatory details, to round the computed dollar amount after multiplying fee units by the fee-unit value (Explanatory details).

• No penalties or enforcement mechanism in these Regulations: The Regulations do not themselves create offences, fines, or enforcement mechanisms. They operate as an authorised schedule of dollar amounts for use under the Juries Act 2000. Any duty to collect, actions for non-payment, or penalties for breach must be located in the Juries Act 2000 or other legislation or court rules; the Regulations only supply the numerical components (reg 2; reg 5; reg 6). Practically, registries must therefore apply these Regulations in conjunction with the Juries Act and any relevant court collection procedures.

These duties and rights are numeric and administrative: pay the fee calculated using F and R as defined; if a refund is made the administrative deduction is 4.6 fee units; use the Treasurer’s fee-unit value and apply permitted rounding.

The Regulations themselves do not create criminal offences, fines, or enforcement procedures; they function as a schedule of prescribed monetary figures to be applied under the Juries Act 2000. The instrument is authorised under section 90 of the Juries Act 2000 (reg 2), and its provisions are expressed consistently with being inputs to payment and refund mechanisms in that Act (reg 5(1), reg 5(2), reg 6). Because the Regulations do not set collection processes or sanctions, any penalty, recovery method or enforcement procedure to secure payment of the prescribed fees must be found in the Juries Act 2000 or in other legislation or court rules; the Regulations supply only the amounts to be collected or deducted.

Two practical enforcement implications follow directly from the text provided:

• Administrative implementation: Court registries and finance offices will need to integrate these figures into whatever existing fee-collection and refund systems are in place. That means the immediate enforcement mechanism is institutional: systems must be configured to invoice parties who elect jury trials, to withhold or refund fees in accordance with s 24(7) of the Juries Act as adjusted by reg 6, and to use the Treasurer’s fee unit values for conversions.

• Ambiguity risks affecting enforceability: The second-and-subsequent-days provision (reg 5(2)) as printed is incomplete , the operative formula line appears truncated to “4F +” with the remainder missing while definitions are present. That incompleteness creates an implementation risk for collection: registries cannot determine the full prescribed fee for subsequent days on the face of the Regulations as published. Where a statutory instrument lacks an operative numeric element, the practical result is that collection might be delayed, contested by payors, or require guidance from the issuing agency or corrective amendment. The Regulations themselves contain no protocol for resolving such a printing or drafting omission.

Because enforcement mechanisms and penalties are not specified in these Regulations, anyone seeking to know legal consequences for non-payment must consult the Juries Act 2000 and court rules or practice directions that implement fee collection. The Regulations’ role is numeric and subordinate: they prescribe what is to be charged and the administrative deduction on refunds; they do not prescribe how to enforce payment or what penalties attach to failure to pay.

The Regulations operate by reference to, and in conjunction with, several other statutory instruments and administrative processes described in the explanatory material. The text establishes the Regulations as numeric inputs to the Juries Act 2000, and it links conversion of fee units to the Monetary Units Act 2004 and to the Treasurer’s annual determinations.

• Juries Act 2000: The Regulations are made under section 90 of the Juries Act 2000 (reg 2). They expressly reference subsections of the Juries Act when prescribing fees and administrative expenses: reg 5(1) is “for the purposes of section 24(1) of the Juries Act 2000”, reg 5(2) is “for the purposes of section 24(2) of the Juries Act 2000” and reg 6 is “for the purposes of section 24(7) of the Juries Act 2000”. They also incorporate juror remuneration amounts determined under s 51 of the Juries Act 2000 as the R component of the formulae (reg 5(1)-(2)). Consequently, legal effect requires the Regulations to be read and applied alongside the Juries Act 2000: the Act will contain the procedural, collection and refund rules to which these monetary figures attach.

• Monetary Units Act 2004: The Regulations adopt “fee units” as a unit of account (Explanatory details). The fee unit amount is determined under the Monetary Units Act 2004; the Explanatory details state the value for the 2022-23 year is $15.29 and set out that future values are to be fixed by the Treasurer and published prior to 1 June in the preceding financial year. Therefore, the dollar amount payable under the Regulations varies with the Treasurer’s fee-unit determinations under the Monetary Units Act 2004 (Explanatory details).

• Subordinate Legislation Act 1994: The Endnotes state that the Regulations will sunset 10 years after the day of making (13 September 2032) in accordance with section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. This imposes a statutory expiry on the instrument unless it is remade, extended or saved by later legislative action.

• Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984: The Endnotes include an explanation of interpretation and style matters pursuant to the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (ILA). Those notes clarify that headings, notes, examples, punctuation and provision numbers form part of the Statutory Rule and explain the treatment of amendments for the purposes of style and numbering. That affects how the Regulations are to be read and how any subsequent amending instrument will be interpreted.

• Revocation and prior instruments: Regulation 4 expressly revokes the Juries (Fees) Regulations 2012. The effect of that revocation is that the 2012 fee prescriptions no longer apply; the 2022 Regulations contain the currently effective fee prescriptions. The Endnotes confirm the making date (13 September 2022) and commencement date (25 September 2022).

• Government Gazette and public notices: The R component in reg 5 is tied to remuneration rates “fixed by notice published in the Government Gazette” (reg 5(1), reg 5(2)), and the Explanatory details require the Treasurer to publish the fee unit value in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper in accordance with the Monetary Units Act 2004. That means two separate Gazette/notice processes affect the ultimate dollar figures: one by which juror remuneration rates under s 51 are published, and another by which the fee unit value is announced for each financial year.

In short, the Regulations do not operate in isolation. They supply numeric inputs that depend on (a) the procedural and collection rules in the Juries Act 2000, (b) juror remuneration notices in the Government Gazette under s 51, and (c) the Treasurer’s fee-unit determinations under the Monetary Units Act 2004. The explanatory and endnote material identifies these statutory cross-references and the sunset mechanism under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994.

The Regulations themselves contain a short formal amendment history in the Endnotes and a Table of Amendments.

• No amendments recorded: The Table of Amendments in the Endnotes states there are no amendments made to the Juries (Fees) Regulations 2022 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments or Acts (Endnotes, Table of Amendments). The Version number is 001 and the version date is 25 September 2022.

• Revocation of prior instrument: Regulation 4 expressly revokes the Juries (Fees) Regulations 2012 (reg 4), replacing that prior instrument with the 2022 Regulations.

• Making and commencement dates: The Endnotes record the date of making as 13 September 2022 and the date of commencement as 25 September 2022 (Endnotes). The Regulations were made by the Governor in Council under section 90 of the Juries Act 2000 (Endnotes; reg 2).

• Sunset provision: The Endnotes note that the Regulations will sunset 10 years after the day of making (13 September 2032), under section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (Endnotes). That is an automatic expiry term applying to the instrument unless action is taken to remade or otherwise preserve the substance.

• Style and interpretation updates: The Endnotes include explanatory material referencing the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 and the effect of style changes, headings, and other interpretive matters on the Statutory Rule. Those notes are administrative, but they are part of the printed instrument’s endnotes and inform how the instrument is to be read and how future amending instruments will be interpreted.

There are no entries of case law, statutory amendment or subordinate instrument amendments recorded against the 2022 Regulations in the material provided. Users should check the official consolidations on www.legislation.vic.gov.au for any later amendment not reflected in the supplied version.

The Regulations, as published and supplied here, contain no litigation history. The Endnotes and Table of Amendments do not record any judicial consideration, and the text of the instrument does not cite any cases or judicial determinations (Endnotes). There is therefore no litigation history contained within this instrument.

If a party were to litigate about the application or interpretation of these Regulations, the likely loci of dispute would be predictable from the text: the mathematical formulae (particularly the truncated reg 5(2) formula), the interpretation of the R component exclusions (what counts as travel or “other allowances”, or the meaning of “service of more than 8 hours on the final day of the trial”), the application of rounding rules and the conversion of fee units to dollars under the Treasurer’s determinations. None of those disputes are reflected in a reported litigation history in the material supplied.

Practitioners seeking to rely on or challenge the Regulations should therefore consult the Juries Act 2000, any Government Gazette notices fixing remuneration under s 51, and Treasury Gazette notices fixing fee-unit values for the relevant financial years. Any legal disputes about the Regulations’ operation would be decided on the applicable statutory text and facts; there is no confirmed precedent or litigated interpretation recorded in the supplied instrument.

The Regulations are short and numeric, but several drafting, administrative and operational issues require attention. Each item below is grounded in the text supplied and in the explanatory notes appended to the instrument.

• Truncated formula for subsequent days (reg 5(2)): The printed operative formula for the second and each subsequent day of trial appears incomplete in the supplied text: the line shows “4F +” and then proceeds to definitions. The absence of the remainder of the formula in the published text prevents a definitive calculation of the prescribed fee for those days on the face of the Regulation. This is a drafting/printing omission in the instrument as supplied and creates an immediate implementation risk: registries cannot, from this text alone, compute the full prescribed fee for subsequent days. That omission is the single most significant “gotcha”.

• R definitions and explicit exclusions (reg 5(1)-(2)): The R component is defined as the amount of remuneration to be paid under s 51 for attendance for jury service on the relevant day, but the Regulations explicitly exclude (a) “any amount paid for a juror in respect of service of more than 8 hours on the final day of the trial” and (b) travel or other allowances (reg 5(1)(a)-(b); reg 5(2)(a)-(b)). Both exclusions require operational interpretation. For example, whether an overtime payment on a final day is structured as a separate “amount paid for a juror” or embedded in a daily rate could affect whether it is captured by the exclusion. Similarly, “travel or other allowances” may encompass various items; the Regulations do not define “other allowances”, so administrative guidance will be needed.

• Fee-unit dependence and annual variability (Explanatory details): The Regulations express fee amounts in fee units (F). The explanatory details specify a fee unit value for the 2022-23 financial year ($15.29) but state that the Treasurer fixes the value for future years and that it must be published in the Government Gazette and a Victorian newspaper before 1 June in the preceding financial year. Practically, this means that the dollar cost of the prescribed fees can change each financial year, and registries must check and apply the currently published fee-unit value (Explanatory details).

• R depends on s 51 notices in the Government Gazette (reg 5(1)-(2)): The R amount is the remuneration fixed by notice in the Government Gazette under s 51. That means the juror remuneration schedule, which is external to the Regulations, is an essential input. If a registry or practitioner fails to consult the appropriate Government Gazette notice for the relevant period, they will miscompute the R component.

• Rounding rule: The explanatory details permit rounding “to the nearest 10 cents” for calculated fees. Practitioners should note that rounding is allowed rather than mandatory; registries must adopt consistent rounding practice to avoid disputes. When converting fee units to dollars the outcome should be rounded following the explanatory details.

• Administrative expense conversion and rounding (reg 6; Explanatory details): The administrative expense for refunds is 4.6 fee units (reg 6). Using the 2022-23 fee unit value of $15.29, that equals $70.334, which the explanatory details allow to be rounded to the nearest 10 cents (i.e. $70.30). Registries must account for rounding when applying the deducible administrative expense.

• Scope limitations: The Regulations expressly apply to civil juries in the Supreme Court and the County Court (reg 1(a)). They do not purport to apply to criminal juries, Magistrates Court matters, or non-jury matters. Users must not assume broader applicability.

• No penalties in the instrument: The Regulations do not set penalties or collection methods; they are silent on enforcement and on the procedural mechanics of payment and refund. Implementation therefore requires reference to the Juries Act 2000 and court practice directions.

• Sunset date: The Regulations will automatically sunset on 13 September 2032 unless re-made. Systems should flag this expiry for administrative review several months in advance if the fee structure is to be retained or changed (Endnotes).

• Revocation of prior rules: The old Juries (Fees) Regulations 2012 are revoked (reg 4). Financial and accounting systems migrated from the 2012 schedule will require updating to align with the 2022 formulae and the Treasurer’s fee-unit notices.

• Potential for disputes: Given the truncated formula, ambiguous exclusions and dependence on external Gazette notices, there is practical potential for disputes over amounts demanded or refunded until registries publish procedural guidance or the instrument is corrected.

Those are the concrete items that flow from the text supplied; institutions should address each by internal procedure updates, liaison with the agency responsible for jury administration, or seeking an amending or clarifying instrument where necessary.

Below are practical, source-grounded steps that parties, counsel, court registries and finance officers should follow to comply with the Regulations and to calculate fees and refunds reliably. Each step references the relevant provision(s) of the Regulations or the Explanatory details.

1. Confirm the scope and triggering event (reg 1):

   • Verify that the matter is a civil case in the Supreme Court or the County Court and that a party is requiring the matter to be tried by a jury. The Regulations apply only in that circumstance (reg 1).

2. Identify whether the fee is for the first day or subsequent days (reg 5(1)-(2)):

   • For the first day, apply the formula 40F + 25R as printed (reg 5(1)).
   • For the second and each subsequent day, note that the published text in reg 5(2) is incomplete (it shows “4F +” and then definitions). Do not attempt to infer the missing arithmetic from external memory; instead proceed as in step 3 below.

3. Resolve the reg 5(2) omission before charging for subsequent days (reg 5(2)):

   • Because the operative formula for subsequent days is truncated in the published regulation text, registries and payors should seek authoritative clarification from the responsible agency (for example, the court’s fees office or the Attorney-General’s Department) before assessing or collecting the prescribed fee for second and subsequent days. Do not rely on an assumed formula. The text as printed does not contain the complete rule (reg 5(2)).

4. Obtain the relevant juror remuneration (R) from Government Gazette notices (reg 5(1)-(2)):

   • The R term in both reg 5(1) and reg 5(2) is the amount of remuneration payable under s 51 of the Juries Act 2000, as determined by the relevant rate fixed by notice published in the Government Gazette. Locate and use the applicable Government Gazette notice for the period of attendance to determine R for the first day and for subsequent days (reg 5(1), reg 5(2)).

5. Apply the exclusions to R (reg 5(1)-(2)):

   • Exclude any amount paid for a juror in respect of service of more than 8 hours on the final day of the trial and exclude travel or other allowances when computing R for the purpose of the fee formulae (reg 5(1)(a)-(b); reg 5(2)(a)-(b)).

6. Convert fee units (F) to dollars using the Treasurer’s fee-unit value (Explanatory details):

   • Multiply the number of fee units by the value of a fee unit for the relevant financial year as fixed under the Monetary Units Act 2004. For the 2022-23 financial year the explanatory details provide a fee unit value of $15.29. Ensure your systems apply the fee-unit value fixed and published by the Treasurer for the financial year in which the trial occurs (Explanatory details).

7. Apply rounding (Explanatory details):

   • After calculating the dollar amount, you may round to the nearest 10 cents. The Explanatory details permit rounding of calculated fees to the nearest 10 cents; registries should adopt consistent rounding practice and document that practice (Explanatory details).

8. Calculate the administrative expense for refunds (reg 6; Explanatory details):

   • Where a refund of a fee is made under s 24(7) of the Juries Act 2000, the prescribed administrative expense is 4.6 fee units (reg 6). Convert that to dollars using the current fee-unit value and round to the nearest 10 cents. For 2022-23: 4.6 × $15.29 = $70.334, rounded to $70.30 under the rounding rule.

9. Keep records and cross-references:

   • Maintain records of the Government Gazette notices used to determine R and the Treasurer’s Gazette notice used to determine the fee-unit value, the arithmetic used, and the application of any rounding. These materials form the evidentiary basis for the computation.

10. Address the reg 5(2) ambiguity operationally:

    • Until a corrected or clarifying instrument is issued, courts and registries should publish practice guidance indicating how they will proceed for second and subsequent days (for example, by suspending collection for those days pending clarification, by seeking directions from the Attorney-General’s Department, or by applying a temporary internal policy that is publicly communicated). Given the printed omission, taking a transparent administrative step reduces dispute risk.

11. Update systems and budgets:

    • Lawyers, costs draftsmen and litigants should update trial budgets and cost estimates to include the first-day component 40F (in dollars, for 2022-23 40 × $15.29 = $611.60 before adding 25R), and the 4F component for subsequent days (4 × $15.29 = $61.16, which may be rounded to $61.20) alongside the R component to be obtained from Gazette notices (reg 5(1); reg 5(2); Explanatory details).

12. Monitor legislative and administrative changes:

    • Because fee-unit values are set annually by the Treasurer and because the Regulations will sunset in 2032, ensure fee schedules and collection rules are reviewed annually and ahead of the sunset date (Explanatory details; Endnotes).

13. Seek legal advice for disputes:

    • If a party contests an assessed fee or a refund computation (in particular given reg 5(2)’s incompleteness), obtain legal advice and consider applying for directions from the relevant court or seeking clarification from the issuing authority.

These steps follow directly from the text of the Regulations and the Explanatory details appended to them. They focus on documentary inputs (Government Gazette notices; Treasurer notices), arithmetic steps using fee-unit conversion and rounding, and the operational need to resolve the missing portion of reg 5(2) before definitive enforcement for subsequent days.