County Court (Chapter II Confiscation Amendment) Rules 2025 (Vic)

County Court (Chapter II Confiscation Amendment) Rules 2025

S.R. No. 75/2025

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Rule  Page

1Object

2Authorising provisions

3Commencement

4Principal Rules

5Form of certain applications and notices of application

6Notice of order or declaration

7Form 2–10AC—Application for unexplained wealth restraining order

8New Form 2–10FB inserted

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Endnotes

STATUTORY RULES 2025

S.R. No. 75/2025

County Court Act 1958

County Court (Chapter II Confiscation Amendment) Rules 2025

A majority of the Judges of the County Court makes the following Rules:

1Object

The object of these Rules is to amend Chapter II of the Rules of the County Court to provide for applications under sections 40F(2A) and 40ZAA(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997.

2Authorising provisions

These Rules are made under section 78 of the County Court Act 1958 and all other enabling powers.

3Commencement

These Rules come into operation on 20 August 2025.

4Principal Rules

In these Rules, the County Court Miscellaneous Rules 2019[1] are called the Principal Rules.

5Form of certain applications and notices of application

After Rule 10.09(5) of the Principal Rules insert—

"(5A)An application under section 40ZAA of the Act for an unexplained wealth order shall be in Form 2–10FB.".

6Notice of order or declaration

In Rule 10.13(3) of the Principal Rules, after "unexplained wealth restraining order," insert "unexplained wealth order,".

7Form 2–10AC—Application for unexplained wealth restraining order

In Form 2–10AC of the Principal Rules—

(a)for "on reasonable grounds was not lawfully acquired" substitute "on reasonable grounds was not lawfully acquired/*of a person who a police officer suspects on reasonable grounds has wealth in excess of their lawfully obtained wealth";

(b)for "section *40F(1)/*40F(2)" substitute "section *40F(1)/*40F(2)/*40F(2A)";

(c)at the end of item 1 insert—

"*in accordance with section 40F(2A) of the Confiscation Act having regard to the matters set out in section 40ZAAC of that Act, that—

(a)a person has wealth that exceeds their lawfully acquired wealth; and

(b)the total value of the wealth that is not lawfully acquired is $200 000 or more; and

(c)the person has an interest in the property sought to be restrained.".

8New Form 2–10FB inserted

After Form 2–10FA of the Principal Rules insert—

'Form 2–10FB—Application under section 40ZAA for unexplained wealth order

Rule 10.09(5A)

[heading as in Form 2–10C]

APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 40ZAA FOR UNEXPLAINED WEALTH ORDER

TO: [name and address of the person on whom this application is to be served]

("the Respondent")

[name of the person making the application]

("the Applicant")

APPLIES under section 40ZAA(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997 ("the Confiscation Act") FOR AN UNEXPLAINED WEALTH ORDER

THE ADDRESS FOR SERVICE of the Applicant is: [address]

PARTICULARS OF APPLICATION

1.THE JURISDICTION to make the order sought arises because a police officer suspects on reasonable grounds in accordance with section 40ZAA(1) of the Confiscation Act that—

(a)a person has wealth that exceeds their lawfully acquired wealth; and

(b)the total value of the wealth that is not lawfully acquired is $200 000 or more.

2.THE APPLICANT is—

*     the Director of Public Prosecutions.

* an appropriate officer within the meaning of the Confiscation Act.

3.THE RESPONDENT to this application is the person who is suspected on reasonable grounds of having wealth that exceeds their lawfully acquired wealth.

4.THE GROUNDS on which this application is made are as follows—

[set out in detail the grounds of the application]

5.THE APPLICATION RELATES to the following wealth of the Respondent—

[describe the wealth in detail]

*THE APPLICANT RELIES upon the affidavit(s) made by [name of deponent(s)] filed in support of this application and served with it.

Dated:

[signature of Applicant]

PARTICULARS OF HEARING

This application will be heard by a Judge in the County Court, 250 William Street, Melbourne, on [date] at [time or occasion].

[signature of Registrar]

NOTES FOR THE PERSON ON WHOM THIS APPLICATION IS SERVED

1.You are entitled to appear and to give evidence at the hearing of the application, but your absence on that occasion will not prevent the Court from making an order.

2.If you propose to contest this application, you must give the Applicant written notice of the grounds on which the application is to be contested. The notice is to be in accordance with Form 2–10LA of Chapter II of the Rules of the County Court. This notice is to be given not later than two days before the date shown above fixed for the hearing of the application. Evidence in chief is to be by affidavit, and you must serve on the Applicant a copy of any affidavit(s) on which you intend to rely.

*Delete if not applicable.'.

Dated:6 August 2025

A. J. CHAMBERS, Chief Judge	GREGORY LYON
M. E. SEXTON, Deputy Chief Judge	D. A. TRAPNELL
MARK GAMBLE	M. G. O'CONNELL
MICHAEL H. TINNEY	A. M. RYAN
G. F. MEREDITH	T. E. WRAIGHT
C. M. QUIN	P. R. RIDDELL
MICHAEL CAHILL	ANDREW FRAATZ
ELIZABETH BRIMER	MARIA TSIKARIS
ANNE HASSAN	SIMON MOGLIA
KEVIN DOYLE	PETER ROZEN
F. H. TODD	A. M. MAGEE
JULIE CLAYTON	B. A. MYERS
A. ROBERTSON	D. MANOVA
M. DEMPSEY	ROBYN L. HARPER
S. BURCHELL	MICHAEL WISE
KATE HAWKINS	LIBERTY SANGER
DANIEL P. HOLDING	KRISTA M. J. BRECKWEG
ANGELA ELLIS	P. OVER

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ENDNOTES

[1] Rule 4: S.R. No. 28/2019 as amended by S.R. Nos 90/2022 and 120/2023.