Preparing to apply for judicial review

Getting help from a lawyer

To apply for judicial review in the Supreme Court, you will need to put together complex legal documents using a computer and submit them online using the Supreme Court’s website.

For this reason, most people in prison will need a lawyer to represent them if they want to apply for judicial review. It’s also a good idea to get legal advice before applying for judicial review because if you lose, you could be made to pay the government’s legal costs. For more information on getting help from a lawyer, click here.

Information from the Supreme Court to help with representing yourself

If you have access to the internet, there is a guide made by the Supreme Court about how to represent yourself in a judicial review. The guide is called “A guide to representing yourself when Requesting a Judicial Review in the Trial Division of the Supreme Court”.

Here is the web address for the guide: https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-07/requesting_a_judicial_review.pdf

There is also a Self-Represented Litigant Coordinator at the Supreme Court who can answer questions and help people who want to represent themselves. Their contact details are:

Phone: 03 8600 2031
Email: unrepresented@supcourt.vic.gov.au
Hours: Mon-Fri 9.30am-4.00pm, closed on public holidays

Preparing for your application

Before you start your application for judicial review, you should:

• Keep copies of any documents given to you by the prison.
• Keep a written record (like a diary) of everything that’s happened – dates and times of any incidents or decisions, what you’ve done about it, who you spoke to and what the prison has done in response.
• Important: get a copy of the ‘statement of reasons’ from the decision-maker (the person at Corrections Victoria or your prison made the decision you want to review):
  • A ‘statement of reasons’ is a written copy of the reasons why the decision-maker made their decision
  • If you haven’t already been given you a copy, you or your lawyer need to write and ask for one
  • You must request a copy of the statement of reasons within 28 days of being told about the decision
  • The decision-maker then has 28 days to give you the statement of reasons.
• Make an account on RedCrest – the online system the Supreme Court uses for filing documents.

Costs of judicial review

Generally, it costs money to make an application to the Supreme Court. However, people currently in prison are eligible for a fee waiver (permission from the Supreme Court to not have to pay costs).

Important: the fee waiver is not automatic – you still need to apply for a fee waiver using a form when you apply for a judicial review using the ‘Application for Waiver of Court Fees’ form on the Supreme Court website.