Transitional information - reforms to the civil justice system

The Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Act 2010 contains the first stage of reforms in response to the report Review of the civil and criminal justice system by the Honourable Martin Moynihan AO QC.

The Act includes amendments to increase the monetary limits for civil proceedings in the District Court and Magistrates Courts. The new monetary amount for the District Court from 1 November 2010 is $750,000 (increased from $250,000) and the new limit for the Magistrates Courts is $150,000 (increased from $50,000). Other amendments are also be made to the scale of costs applying to Magistrates Courts under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999. For more information about the amendments please refer the information page on Reforms to the civil justice system.

Frequently asked questions

How do the amendments affect proceedings?

The new monetary limits and other amendments affecting the civil justice system in the Act only apply to proceedings that are started in the District Court and Magistrates Courts after commencement of the amendments on 1 November 2010.

Will proceedings which have already been started be able to be remitted to a different court because of the changes?

The amendments take immediate effect from commencement on 1 November 2010. This means that on 1 November 2010 all claims must be filed in the appropriate court having regard to the new monetary limits.

The amendments do not affect proceedings that have already been started in the court before 1 November 2010. Proceedings which have already been started cannot be remitted to a lower court because of the changes to the monetary limits (see amended sections 77 and 78 of the District Court of Queensland Act 1967).

This will apply whether or not a hearing has commenced in the matter and whether there has been any involvement or action taken by the court at the time of commencement. The amendments do not however affect provisions for the transfer of existing proceedings to a higher court in appropriate circumstances, such as for example where an important question of law or fact is likely to arise pursuant to sections 80 and 83 of the District Court of Queensland Act 1967.

The following examples show how the amendments work:

Example 1: A plaintiff commenced proceedings on 1 March 2010 in the District Court to recover a liquidated sum of $120,000 from the defendant.

The amendments to the civil monetary jurisdictional limits in the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Act 2010 commence on 1 November 2010.

This plaintiff’s proceeding will continue to fall within the jurisdictional limit of the District Court despite the increase in the Magistrates Courts’ jurisdictional limit to $150,000.

The District Court scale of costs under Schedule 2 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 will also continue to apply to this case.

Example 2: The amendments to the civil monetary jurisdictional limits commence on 1 November 2010.

A plaintiff wishes to commence proceedings on 2 November 2010 to recover a liquidated sum of $60,000 from the defendant. This claim falls under the new jurisdictional limit for Magistrates Courts of $150,000.

The cost scale in the new part 3, schedule 3 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 will also apply to such a case.