Ongoing issues with VCAT’s jurisdiction and the length of VCAT’s lists – part 2

Further to my post from yesterday, my colleague Lionel Wirth has written an interesting article on this issue here: Ongoing issues with VCAT’s jurisdiction and the length of VCAT’s lists

One of Lionel’s point is that transfer to a judicial member of VCAT exercising both VCAT and state court jurisdiction might not work because VCAT cannot hear a Federal matter and a state Court cannot hear a retail leasing dispute, leading a a kind of jurisdictional deadlock.

If that is right, then parties are left with the choice of:

1. going to the Federal Court exercising accrued state jurisdiction; or
2. using the new procedures in the VCAT Act that allows VCAT disputes that raise a Federal matter to be heard by the Magistrates Court and, in the right case, be elevated to the County or Supreme Court. That procedure might also be useful if a Statute of Limitations issue arises, as the Court has the power to extend a limitation period in the right circumstances.

I will do my best to keep readers abreast of developments in this area as they emerge.