EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 168

Judiciary Act 1903

High Court of Australia (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

Section 88 of the Judiciary Act 1903 (the Act) provides, in part, that the Governor‑General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to the Act, including prescribing certain fees in respect of proceedings in the High Court.

 

The High Court of Australia (Fees) Regulations 2004 (the Principal Regulations) prescribe certain fees in relation to court proceedings and make provisions in relation to the payment of those fees.

 

The purpose of the Regulations is to increase the fees listed in Schedule 1 of the Principal Regulations.  These changes are part of a suite of measures the government is implementing as part of its access to justice framework in the 2010-11 budget.  The framework is based on principles of accessibility, appropriateness, equity, efficiency and effectiveness.  The access to justice measures in the 2010-11 budget are focussed on directing people away from high-cost litigation to early intervention services, which help people resolve disputes before they escalate to larger problems.

 

The new fee amounts in Schedule 1 of the Regulations also incorporate biennial increases in fees. These biennial increases occur on each biennial anniversary of 1 July 1996, as required by Regulation 14 of the Principal Regulations. The biennial increases are calculated in accordance with the formula specified in Schedule 2 of the Principal Regulations. The next increase is to take place on 1 July 2010.

 

The fee amounts listed in the Principal Regulations are not up-to-date, due to the effect of past biennial increases that have not been recorded in the Principal Regulations. The fee amounts listed in the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette, No. GN 21, 28 May 2008 are the actual fees in force until 1 July 2010. The fee increases have therefore been applied to the gazetted fees, rather than the fees in the Principal Regulations.

 

The Act does not specify any conditions that need to be met before the power to make the proposed Regulations may be exercised.

 

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

The Regulations will commence on 1 July 2010.

 

The High Court has been consulted in relation to these amendments.