Page 4438 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 1993
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SUPREME COURT (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 3) 1993
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.09): Madam Speaker, I present the Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) of 1993.
Title read by Clerk.
MR CONNOLLY: I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
Madam Speaker, the Supreme Court (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) of 1993 will replace the fees and charges regime presently provided for in the Supreme Court Act with a regime which allows for fees and charges to be set by determination, rather than prescribed by regulation, and which allows for a wide range of fees and charges to be so determined. The Bill repeals and replaces the present section 37 and inserts sections 37A, 37B, 37C and 37D. Amendment of the Supreme Court Act in this way is part of a larger legislative exercise to introduce, as far as is appropriate, substantially similar fees and charges provisions into the legislation of all the courts, which we have heard this morning, and that relating to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The present section 37 of the Supreme Court Act provides that the Executive may make regulations in relation to fees. This Bill will replace this section with a new section 37 which will allow the Attorney-General to determine fees and charges by notice published in the Gazette. This will bring the fee setting mechanisms into line with the general approach taken in other ACT legislation.
The fees and charges provisions are modelled on those proposed for the Magistrates Court Act. They include a similar wide head of power to determine fees and charges and have the same provisions for determining exemptions from payment and for the remission, refund and deferral of liability for and waiver of payment of fees and charges by the registrar. Similarly to the earlier Bills, there also will be a right to apply for review by the master or a judge of an unfavourable decision of the registrar. So again, there is an appeal right, and once again, Madam Speaker, determinations will be disallowable instruments brought before this Assembly.
While the determination may provide for some exemptions, section 37B will also set out circumstances in which fees and charges are not payable. The exemptions from payment set out in section 37B are similar to those exemptions currently provided for by the Supreme Court (Fees) Regulations. However, whereas, under the regulations, some exemptions are only from payment of filing fees, this Bill provides that those exemptions will also be from payment of service and execution of process fees.
Section 37C will introduce an obligation that filing fees or fees for the service or execution of process not paid by a successful party in civil proceedings because of an exemption applying under a determination or due to legal assistance having been provided or because the fees and charges were refunded, remitted, or their payment waived, should, in effect, be paid to the registrar by the other party where costs have been awarded against that other party. I commend the Bill to the Assembly and I present the explanatory memorandum.
Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries) adjourned.
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