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Section 35 Notice

Under section 35 of the Charter, when proceedings in the County Court or the Supreme Court involve a question of law that relates to the Charter, or a question arises relating to the interpretation of a law in accordance with the Charter, notice must be given to the Commission and to the Attorney-General of Victoria.

Section 35 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (the Charter) provides that:

1. A party to a proceeding must give notice in the prescribed form to the Attorney-General and the Commission if—
   1. in the case of a Supreme Court or County Court proceeding, a question of law arises that relates to the application of this Charter or a question arises with respect to the interpretation of a statutory provision in accordance with this Charter; or
   2. in any case, a question is referred to the Supreme Court under section 33.
2. For the purpose of subsection (1), a notice is not required to be given to—
   1. the Attorney-General if the State is a party to the relevant proceeding; or
   2. the Commission if the Commission is a party to the relevant proceeding.

The notification needs to be in a specific format and should comply with Form 1 prescribed in the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities (General) Regulations 2007 and in the Supreme Court of Victoria Practice Note No.3 of 2008.

To assist in preparing your notification the Commission has prepared a Word version of the Notice which you can download:

• Notice To The Attorney-General/The Victorian Equal Opportunity And Human Rights Commission

Practitioners are expected to file the section 35 notice and serve it on all other parties to the proceeding on the same day as it is served on the Commission and the Victorian Attorney-General. Parties should be aware that the Commission will use its best endeavours to respond to the notice within 14 days of being served. The Commission will be assisted if practitioners provide copies of the relevant court documents together with the notice.

The Commission has a new fax and email address for the purpose of notification:

Fax: (03) 9281 7185
Email: charter.notification@veohrc.vic.gov.au

To notify the Attorney-General of Victoria, a notice should be served on Catherine Dixon, Managing Principal Solicitor at the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office, by fax or email:

Fax: (03) 8684 0449
Email: catherine.dixon@vgso.vic.gov.au