Victorian Current Acts

CIVIL PROCEDURE ACT 2010 - SECT 3

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 of c ivil dispute repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 4(2).

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"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).

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S. 3 def. of pre-litigation requirements compliance certification repealed by No. 1/2011 s. 4(2).

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"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 Act   1958 ;

        (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.