Magistrates' Court Civil Procedure for Recovery of Debts, Damages and Other Civil Claims FAQs

Q1. What is the civil jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court of Victoria?

A. The Magistrates' Court of Victoria has a $100,000.00 civil claim jurisdiction. It is advisable that if you believe you have a claim against a party for the  recovery a debt, or damages, or costs of any nature, that you first speak with a qualified legal practitioner who will be in a position to assess your matter and it's strengths before you issue any proceeding.

Q2. How do I sue someone in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria?

A. To commence a proceeding in the Magistrates' Court, the Plaintiff (party seeking the Orders from the Court) must file a Complaint with the Magistrates' Court. The Complaint must set out the basis of your claim and what you are claiming.

Q3. I have received notification from the Court that my claim has been issued. What do I do now?

A. Once you have received notice from the Court that your Complaint has been issued, you will need to serve each party that you are claiming against (called a Defendant) with a copy of the Complaint.

Q4. How long does the Defendant have to file a Defence?

A. If the Defendant believes that they are not liable to pay you the amount of your claim, or any amount at all and wishes to defend your claim, they have 21 days from the date of service to file a Defence with the Court and serve you with a copy.

Q5. What happens if the Defendant has not contacted me or filed with the Court a Defence to my claim?

A. If the Defendant fails to file and serve a Defence within the 21 day period, you can apply to the Court for an Order to be made in your favour for the full amount of your claim, plus interest, plus costs.

Q6. What happens if a Defendant files a Defence with the Court within the 21 day period?

A. Once a Defendant files a Defence to a claim, for claims above $10,000.00 the Court will call upon the parties to attend a Pre-hearing Conference with a Court Registrar. At the Pre-hearing Conference the parties will explore whether the matter can be resolved by the parties coming to a mutually acceptable settlement. If the parties cannot reach an agreement as to how the matter should be resolved, the matter will be set down for a hearing before a Magistrate, at a later date.

Q7. Why do Court matters take so long to finish?

A. The time that it takes for a matter to be determined by a Court depends on a number of things, some of which include:

• whether the matter can be settled or resolved between the parties without the need for a contested hearing of the matter;
• the extent of the evidence and number of witnesses that will have to be heard by the Court and the number of days that it would take to hear the matter in the Court. The Court will need to find an available time block for the number of days that it would take to have your matter heard;
• whether any other procedural steps will need to be completed, before your matter is ready to be heard by the Court and final orders made. It may be required, for example, that the parties discover documents, comply with any necessary request for further and better particulars of claim or defence, seek further clarification of any allegation by way of  interrogatories, attend mediation or make any other urgent interim application to the Court where necessary to force the other party to the proceeding to comply with any orders or procedural request.

Intervention Orders

Q8. What is an Intervention Order?

A. An Intervention Order is an Order made by either the Magistrates' Court (or the Children's Court on occasion) which prohibits the Defendant in that matter from acting in a particular way in relation to or towards the aggrieved person. Usually an Intervention Order will, amongst other things, prohibit a Defendant from stalking, assaulting, harassing, intimidating, approaching, contacting the aggrieved person, destroying or damaging the aggrieved person's property or causing any other person to engage in any of the prohibited behaviour against the aggrieved person. An Intervention Order can also restrict a Defendant from being at a particular location.

Q9. What can I do if someone is applying for an Intervention Order against me?

A. There are three main ways that an Intervention Order complaint can be dealt with:

• the aggrieved person may agree to withdraw the complaint against you upon you giving an undertaking to the Court that you will not engage in certain conduct against the aggrieved person; or
• you may consent to the Order being made without admissions; or
• you may wish to contest the allegations with a full hearing of the matter before a Magistrate.

Q10. Is an Intervention Order a criminal matter?

A. No. An Intervention Order is a civil matter between the parties and any Order made will not be recorded on your criminal record.

If an Intervention Order is made against you however and you fail to comply with the conditions of that Order, you may be charged by the Police for a 'breach of an Intervention Order", which is a criminal offence.

A breach of an Intervention Order is a serious matter and carries heavy penalties (including imprisonment) if you are found guilty of such an offence.

Q11. Who can apply for an Intervention Order?

A. Intervention Orders are usually made between 'family members' (as defined by the Crimes ( Family Violence) Act 1987) however, any person can apply for an Intervention Order against another person to stop or prevent stalking behaviour.

Q12. Where can I apply for an Intervention Order?

A. You can apply for an Intervention Order at any Magistrates' Court of Victoria.

Q13.  How long does an Intervention Order usually last for?

A. When the Intervention Order is made, the Magistrate will specify the period for which the Intervention Order will remain in force for. It is fairly common however for the majority of Intervention Orders to be made for a year.

Q14. My domestic partner has an Intervention Order against me but we want to reconcile. What should I do?

A. It is important that you make an application to the Magistrates' Court of Victoria to vary or revoke your Intervention Order immediately. If, for what ever reason the reconciliation does not eventuate, you do not want to risk being charged with a breach of Intervention Order.