New law to strengthen courts’ independence

The Victorian Coalition Government has today introduced legislation into Parliament to establish a new independent body to provide administrative services and support for all Victorian courts and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Attorney-General Robert Clark said the legislation would establish a new statutory entity, Court Services Victoria, free of departmental or political control and accountable directly to Parliament.

“Today’s legislation will give the courts and VCAT far greater freedom to manage their own operations and to introduce improvements and innovations,” Mr Clark said.

“It has the unanimous support of Victoria’s heads of jurisdiction and delivers on a key election commitment.

“Members of the judiciary for many years have been putting the case for reforms such as these, and now those reforms are about to become a reality.

“Independent administration is a key step forward in the history of Victoria’s courts. Victoria’s courts will now join the High Court, Federal Court, Family Court and the South Australian courts in having responsibility for their own administration.”

Court Services Victoria will be governed by a Courts Council consisting of Victoria’s six heads of jurisdiction and up to two co-opted non-judicial members.

It will facilitate heads of jurisdiction and their senior executives developing and implementing whole-of-system approaches to and innovations in court administration.

The courts and VCAT themselves will remain as separate entities and their internal governance arrangements and rule-making responsibilities will remain unchanged.

The legislation builds on administrative reforms in 2012 that established a separate Courts and Tribunals Service within the Department of Justice with an Advisory Council comprising the heads of jurisdiction and chaired by the Chief Justice.

Subject to passage of the legislation, Court Services Victoria is expected to come into full operation from 1 July next year.