Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005

i Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 TABLE OF PROVISIONS Section Page PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1 1. Purposes 1 2. Commencement 2 PART 2—AMENDMENT OF LEGAL AID ACT 1978 3 3. Definitions 3 4. Arrangements and guidelines for allocation of legal aid work 3 5. New Part VIB inserted 3 PART VIB—ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION 3 40I. Alternative dispute resolution programs 3 40J. Confidentiality 4 40K. Freedom of Information Act 1982 6 40L. Admissibility of evidence 6 40M. Immunity for conference chairpersons 7 PART 3—STANDARD TIME IN VICTORIA 9 6. Amendment of Summer Time Act 1972 9 7. Amendment of Supreme Court Act 1986 9 8. New section 141 inserted in Supreme Court Act 1986 10 141. Transitional provision—Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 10 PART 4—AMENDMENT OF VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION ACT 2000 11 9. New section 21A inserted 11 21A. Reports to Parliament when Parliament is in recess 11 ═══════════════ ENDNOTES 13 -- 1 of 14 -- 1 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 † [Assented to 24 May 2005] The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows: PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1. Purposes The purposes of this Act are to— (a) amend the Legal Aid Act 1978 to— (i) facilitate the provision of alternative dispute resolution programs by VLA; Victoria No. 17 of 2005 -- 2 of 14 -- Part 1—Preliminary Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 2 (ii) provide for the confidentiality of information compiled for, or arising out of, alternative dispute resolution programs; (iii) ensure that evidence arising out of an alternative dispute resolution program is not admissible in any court or legal proceeding except in limited circumstances; (iv) provide alternative dispute resolution conference chairpersons with limited immunity; (b) amend the Summer Time Act 1972 and the Supreme Court Act 1986 to change standard time in Victoria from Greenwich Mean Time to Co-ordinated Universal Time; (c) amend the Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 to provide for Victorian Law Reform Commission interim and final reports to be sent to Parliament when Parliament is out of session. 2. Commencement (1) This Act, except Part 3, comes into operation on the day after the day on which it receives the Royal Assent. (2) Part 3 comes into operation on 1 September 2005. __________________ s. 2 -- 3 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 3 PART 2—AMENDMENT OF LEGAL AID ACT 1978 3. Definitions In section 2(1) of the Legal Aid Act 1978— (a) insert the following definitions— ' "alternative dispute resolution program" means a program for the resolution of disputes out of court and includes conferencing; "conferencing" means a structured negotiation process in which a conference chairperson assists the parties to a dispute to settle the dispute; "conference chairperson" means a person to whom a matter has been referred for conferencing;'; (b) in the definition of "legal aid", after "includes" insert "alternative dispute resolution programs,". 4. Arrangements and guidelines for allocation of legal aid work In section 8(1)(b) of the Legal Aid Act 1978, before "to be made available" insert "or other persons". 5. New Part VIB inserted After Part VIA of the Legal Aid Act 1978 insert— 'PART VIB—ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION 40I. Alternative dispute resolution programs (1) VLA may provide an alternative dispute resolution program to the following— See: Act No. 9245. Reprint No. 4 as at 1 January 1999 and amending Act Nos 61/1984, 76/2001, 108/2004. LawToday: www.dms. dpc.vic. gov.au s. 3 -- 4 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 4 (a) persons who have applied to VLA for legal assistance, whether or not the application for legal assistance is successful; or (b) persons who have not applied to VLA for legal assistance but have been referred to VLA to engage in an alternative dispute resolution program. (2) An alternative dispute resolution program may be provided— (a) by officers or employees of VLA; or (b) by persons or bodies with expertise in the area of alternative dispute resolution that are engaged by VLA specifically to conduct an alternative dispute resolution program. 40J. Confidentiality (1) In this section— "relevant person" means— (a) an officer or employee of VLA; (b) a conference chairperson or other person or body employed or engaged in the conduct of an alternative dispute resolution program. (2) A party, or a person representing a party, to an alternative dispute resolution program must not, except in accordance with sub- section (4) and section 40L(2), give to any other person or body, including a court, information acquired in the course of, or otherwise in connection with, the conduct of an alternative dispute resolution program. Penalty: 60 penalty units. s. 5 -- 5 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 5 (3) A relevant person must not, except in accordance with sub-section (4) or (5), give to any other person or body, including a court, information acquired in the course of, or otherwise in connection with, the conduct of an alternative dispute resolution program. Penalty: 60 penalty units. (4) Sub-sections (2) and (3) do not apply where a party, or a person representing a party, or a relevant person gives, whether voluntarily or at the request of VLA, the information to VLA to fulfil its functions and duties, and for the administration of VLA generally. (5) Sub-section (3) does not apply where VLA has given its consent to a relevant person, and the relevant person gives the information to another person or body in the following circumstances— (a) the person from whom the information was originally obtained has consented to giving it; or (b) there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary to prevent or minimise the danger of injury to a person or damage to property; or (c) for statistical purposes without revealing, or being likely to reveal, the identity of a person about whom the information relates; or (d) if the information is required for referring a party to any person, agency, organisation or other body, and the disclosure is made with the consent of the party, for aiding in the resolution of s. 5 -- 6 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 6 a dispute or assisting the party in any other matter; or (e) the information is connected with a proceeding founded on fraud alleged to be connected with, or to have happened during, an alternative dispute resolution program. (6) Nothing in this section limits or affects the operation of section 43. 40K. Freedom of Information Act 1982 (1) A document which contains information acquired in the course of, or otherwise in connection with, the conduct of an alternative dispute resolution program under this Act is an exempt document within the meaning of section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. (2) Sub-section (1) does not limit the operation of section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. 40L. Admissibility of evidence (1) The following is not admissible in evidence in any court or legal proceeding— (a) anything said at or during the course of; (b) any admission or agreement made at or during the course of; (c) any document prepared for the purposes of, or in the course of, or as a result of— an alternative dispute resolution program. s. 5 -- 7 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 7 (2) Sub-section (1) does not apply in the following circumstances— (a) if all the parties to an alternative dispute resolution program and VLA consent to the admission of the evidence or document; (b) if the parties to an alternative dispute resolution program have created any— (i) note; or (ii) record; or (iii) minute of orders— signed by the parties for the express purpose of submitting it to a court, for admission in evidence; (c) if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the admission of the evidence or document is necessary to prevent or minimise the danger of injury to a person or damage to property. 40M. Immunity for conference chairpersons (1) A conference chairperson is not personally liable for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith— (a) in the capacity of conference chairperson under this Act; or (b) in the reasonable belief that the thing was done or omitted to be done in the capacity of conference chairperson under this Act. s. 5 -- 8 of 14 -- Part 2—Amendment of Legal Aid Act 1978 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 8 (2) Any liability that would, but for sub-section (1), attach to a conference chairperson, attaches instead to VLA.'. __________________ s. 5 -- 9 of 14 -- Part 3—Standard Time in Victoria Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 9 PART 3—STANDARD TIME IN VICTORIA 6. Amendment of Summer Time Act 1972 In section 2 of the Summer Time Act 1972, for the definition of "standard time" substitute— ' "standard time" means the time that is 10 hours in advance of Co-ordinated Universal Time; Note: Under section 8AA of the National Measurement Act 1960 of the Commonwealth the Chief Metrologist is required to maintain Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.'. 7. Amendment of Supreme Court Act 1986 (1) Insert the following heading to section 43 of the Supreme Court Act 1986— "Standard time in Victoria". (2) For section 43(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1986 substitute— "(1) Standard time throughout Victoria is the time that is 10 hours in advance of Co-ordinated Universal Time. Note: Under section 8AA of the National Measurement Act 1960 of the Commonwealth the Chief Metrologist is required to maintain Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) as determined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.". See: Act No. 8297. Reprint No. 1 as at 17 April 1997. LawToday: www.dms. dpc.vic. gov.au s. 6 See: Act No. 110/1986. Reprint No. 5 as at 1 July 2004 and amending Act No. 108/2004. LawToday: www.dms. dpc.vic. gov.au -- 10 of 14 -- Part 3—Standard Time in Victoria Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 10 8. New section 141 inserted in Supreme Court Act 1986 After section 140 of the Supreme Court Act 1986 insert— "141. Transitional provision—Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 The amendment of section 43 of this Act made by section 7(2) of the Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 applies to an instrument or anything done or not done, irrespective of when the instrument was made or the thing was done or not done.". __________________ s. 8 -- 11 of 14 -- Part 4—Amendment of Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 11 PART 4—AMENDMENT OF VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION ACT 2000 9. New section 21A inserted After section 21 of the Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 insert— "21A. Reports to Parliament when Parliament is in recess (1) If the Attorney-General proposes to cause an interim or final report submitted to him or her under section 21 to be laid before Parliament at a time when Parliament is in recess, the Attorney-General must— (a) give one business day's notice of his or her intention to do so to the clerk of each House of the Parliament; and (b) give the report to the clerk of each House on the day indicated in the notice. (2) The clerk of each House must— (a) notify each member of the House of the receipt of a notice under sub-section (1)(a) on the same day that the clerk receives that notice; and (b) give a copy of the report to each member of the House as soon as practicable after the report is received under sub-section (1)(b); and (c) cause the report to be laid before the House on the next sitting day of the House. See: Act No. 44/2000 and amending Act Nos 110/2003 and 108/2004. LawToday: www.dms. dpc.vic. gov.au s. 9 -- 12 of 14 -- Part 4—Amendment of Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 12 (3) An interim or final report that is given to the clerks under sub-section (1)(b) is taken to have been published by order, or under the authority, of the Houses of the Parliament. (4) For the purposes of this section, Parliament is in recess when each House stands adjourned to a date to be fixed by the presiding officer of that House.". ═══════════════ s. 9 -- 13 of 14 -- Justice Legislation (Amendment) Act 2005 Act No. 17/2005 13 ENDNOTES † Minister's second reading speech— Legislative Assembly: 24 March 2005 Legislative Council: 3 May 2005 The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Legal Aid Act 1978 to facilitate the provision of alternative dispute resolution programs by VLA, to amend the Summer Time Act 1972 and the Supreme Court Act 1986 to change standard time in Victoria from Greenwich Mean Time to Co-ordinated Universal Time, to amend the Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 and for other purposes." Endnotes -- 14 of 14 --