199Referral to Supreme Court

199 Referral to Supreme Court (1) If a person fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement made by the Chief Municipal Inspector, the Chief Municipal Inspector may certify the failure in writing to the Supreme Court. (2) The Supreme Court may inquire into the failure and may— (a) make an order requiring the person to comply with the requirement made by the Chief Municipal Inspector within the period fixed by the Supreme Court; or (b) instead of, or in addition to, an order under paragraph (a), if the Supreme Court is satisfied that the person failed, without a reasonable excuse, to comply with the requirement of the Chief Municipal Inspector, punish the person as if the person had been guilty of contempt of court. S. 199AA inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 21. 199AA Chief Municipal Inspector may report to Parliament (1) The Chief Municipal Inspector may cause to be transmitted to each House of the Parliament a report on the examination or investigation of— (a) any matter relating to a Council's operations or to Council elections or electoral matters; or (b) any possible breach of this Act. (2) If the Chief Municipal Inspector proposes to include in a report under subsection (1) a comment or opinion that is adverse to any person, the Chief Municipal Inspector must— (a) provide the person with a reasonable opportunity to respond to the adverse comment or opinion; and (b) fairly set out each element of the response in the report. (3) The Chief Municipal Inspector must not include in a report under subsection (1) any information that— (a) would prejudice a criminal proceeding or any other proceeding; or (b) would prejudice an investigation by the IBAC, the Ombudsman or the Victorian Inspectorate; or (c) would identify a person who is not the subject of an adverse comment or opinion of the Chief Municipal Inspector, unless the Chief Municipal Inspector considers that it is in the public interest to do so; or (d) is likely to lead to the identification of a person who has made an assessable disclosure. (4) If the Chief Municipal Inspector proposes to transmit a report under subsection (1), the Chief Municipal Inspector must ensure that, at least one business day before the report is so transmitted, each of the following persons receives an advance copy of the report— (a) the Secretary; (b) the Minister; (c) any other Minister with responsibilities that relate to the subject matter of the report. S. 199AAB inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 21. 199AAB Tabling of report to Parliament (1) If the Chief Municipal Inspector proposes transmission of a report under section 199AA when neither House of the Parliament is sitting, the Chief Municipal Inspector must— (a) provide at least one business day's notice of the proposal to the clerk of each House; and (b) provide the report to the clerk of each House on the day specified in the notice. (2) The clerk of each House of the Parliament must— (a) on the same day that the clerk receives a notice under subsection (1)(a), notify each member of the House of that notice; and (b) as soon as practicable after the clerk receives a report under subsection (1)(b), make copies of the report available for each member of the House; and (c) cause the report to be tabled in the House on the next sitting day of the House. (3) A report provided to the clerk of a House under subsection (1)(b) is taken to have been published by order, or under the authority, of the Parliament. (4) The publication of a report under this section is absolutely privileged and the provisions of sections 73 and 74 of the **Constitution Act 1975** and any other enactment or rule of law relating to the publication of the proceedings of Parliament apply to and in relation to that publication as if— (a) it were a document to which those sections applied; and (b) it had been published by the Government Printer under the authority of the Parliament. S. 199AAC inserted by No. 23/2024 s. 21. 199AAC Infringements (1) The Chief Municipal Inspector may serve an infringement notice on any person whom the Chief Municipal Inspector reasonably believes has committed an offence against this Act or the regulations that is prescribed for the purposes of this subsection. (2) An offence referred to in subsection (1) for which an infringement notice may be served is an infringement offence within the meaning of the **Infringements Act 2006**. (3) The infringement penalty for an offence referred to in subsection (1) is the prescribed infringement penalty. S. 199A inserted by No. 11/2021 s. 154.