EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules 1985 No. 91
Issued by the Authority of the Judges of the Federal Court of Australia
AMENDMENTS OF THE RULES OF THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Section 59 of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 permits the Judges of the Court (of whom there are twenty-nine (29) including the Chief Judge) or a majority of them, to make Rules of Court not inconsistent with the Act, making provision for or in relation to the practice and procedure to be followed in the Court (including the practice and procedure to be followed in Registries of the Court) and for or in relation to all matters and things incidental to any such practice or procedure, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for the conduct of any business of the Court. Section 59 of the Act also provides that sections 48, 49 and 50 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 apply in relation to these Rules of Court made under that section as if references in those sections of that Act to regulations were references to Rules of Court.
The present Federal Court Rules came into operation on 1 August 1979 (Statutory Rules 1979 No. 140). They have been amended on seven occasions since then, excluding this occasion.
The Rules now made come into operation on 1 July 1985. These Rules provide for:
- a changed practice where a person seeks to file documents which are regarded as an abuse of process of the Court;
- procedural changes in dealing with appeals to the Court;
- procedural changes brought about by the passage of the National Crime Authority Act 1984;
- variations to this costs schedule to allow a greater discretion to taxing officers where claims are made for copying, perusing or scanning documents.