CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for Special Issue on the 10th Anniversary of the Victorian Civil Procedure Act 2010

The Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) was enacted 10 years ago and commenced operation on 1 January 2011.  It was an Act aimed at reforming and modernising the laws, practice, procedure and culture for the resolution of civil disputes in Victoria. The Editors invite submissions on the ground-breaking reforms encapsulated in the State of Victoria’s Civil Procedure Act.  Submissions on the following topics would be welcome:

  • The overarching purpose, including how the courts have given effect to the need to “facilitate the just, efficient, timely and cost-effective resolution of the real issues in dispute”, and how litigation practice has changed since its enactment;
  • The overarching obligations, including the obligations to only take steps necessary to resolve or determine a dispute, to cooperate, to not mislead and to minimise delay.
  • Appropriate Dispute Resolution including the power to refer a civil proceeding to appropriate dispute resolution without the parties’ consent, judicial resolution conferences and the overarching obligation to use reasonable endeavours to resolve disputes;
  • Disclosure and Discovery;
  • Summary Judgment, including the operation and effect of the “no real prospect of success” test;
  • Expert evidence, including the use and effectiveness of concurrent evidence, single joint experts and court appointed experts;
  • Cost orders and sanctions, including the obligation to ensure costs are reasonable and proportionate, and the power to require legal practitioners to prepare estimates of costs;
  • the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s Civil Justice Review Report that provided many of the recommendations that led to the Civil Procedure Act;
  • Historical analyses of changes in Victorian procedure and suggestions for further reform or adaptations to practice; and
  • Comparative articles examining the Victorian experience by reference to other Australian or overseas jurisdictions.

What is the Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice?

The Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice is a high quality, peer-reviewed journal which uniquely brings together analysis and discussion of many issues in in practice, procedure and litigation development and provides a forum to address fundamental change in those areas. The journal has broad scope, addressing topics such as: civil procedure and practice; civil and regulatory litigation; class actions; and the development of civil litigation law in Australia, UK, USA, New Zealand, and Canada.

Distinguished General Editors

The Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice benefits from the oversight of Roderick (Rod) Joyce QSO QC and Professor Michael Legg, General Editors.

Roderick (Rod) Joyce QSO QC commenced practice as a barrister sole in 1975 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1985. He served as Judge of the District Courts of New Zealand from 1993 to 2014, and was a member of the New Zealand Rules Committee between 2002 and 2011. Rod is currently a Delegate of the Legal Complaints Review Office of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice, an Academic Fellow at the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland, and a Continuing Legal Education instructor at the New Zealand Law Society. He is also General Editor of Thomson Reuters New Zealand product: Civil Procedure: District Courts and Tribunals. In 2013, he was made a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for services to the judiciary.

Michael Legg is a Professor at UNSW Law. He specialises in complex civil litigation, including regulatory litigation and class actions. He has written extensively on civil procedure and class actions. He holds law degrees from UNSW, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Melbourne, and is admitted to practice in Australia (NSW) and the United States (New York Bar). Michael is a member of the Law Council of Australia’s Class Actions Committee.

Special Issue Guest Editor

The General Editors are joined by Associate Professor Genevieve Grant, Monash University for the special issue. Associate Professor Genevieve Grant is Director of the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation in the Law Faculty at Monash University.  Genevieve’s research uses empirical methods to evaluate justice system performance, including the design and operation of dispute resolution, civil justice and injury compensation systems. This work cuts across the fields of dispute resolution, legal technology, injury compensation, legal ethics and health law.  Genevieve has an extensive track record of interdisciplinary research partnerships with government agencies, courts, compensation schemes, regulators and dispute resolution organisations. Genevieve has a PhD in public health and law from The University of Melbourne.

Call for Submissions

The Editors invite submissions of articles for Parts 3 and 4 of Volume 9 of the Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice, to be published in December 2020 and February 2021 on Civil Procedure Act 2005 (Vic).  Submissions may be for articles, letters, comments, reviews or case notes. The Journal welcomes submissions from judges, practitioners and academics as well as law students. The Journal issues quarterly and complies with the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) Specifications for peer review.

Submissions are due 30 October 2020.

If you would like to become a contributor, please email your contribution or comments to the [Production Editor], Journal of Civil Litigation and Practice, at [email protected], for forwarding to the Editors.

For article submission requirements, please go to www.thomsonreuters.com.au/support/as_contributors.asp.