What can happen from judicial review?

In their final decision (judgment), the Judge could:

• Dismiss your application
• Cancel the original decision made by Corrections Victoria or the prison
• Order Corrections Victoria or the prison to consider the decision again from scratch.

The Judge can also make the following types of legal orders:

• A declaration, which is a statement that the decision made by Corrections Victoria or the prison was unlawful
• An injunction, which is an order that says Corrections Victoria or the prison must either take a certain action, or not take a certain action (for example, stopping the prison from going ahead with an action that breaches your rights)
• Order Corrections Victoria or the prison to perform any mandatory duties correctly
• Order Corrections Victoria or the prison to stop doing anything that is unlawful
• Require Corrections Victoria or the prison to show what legal authority they have to use a certain power.

If you also have a human rights action

If you added a breach of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights onto your application for judicial review, the Court or VCAT will look at:

1. Whether Corrections Victoria or the prison gave proper consideration to your human rights when making their decision and
2. Whether Corrections Victoria or the prison acted compatibly with your human rights.

If the Court decides that your Charter rights have been breached, it will then decide what ‘remedy’ to award you. The kind of remedies available are:

• A declaration that your human rights were breached
• An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison make a decision again, giving proper consideration to you human rights
• An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison act in a certain way (e.g. if your court action was about being given the proper food for your religion, the Court can order the prison to give you that certain type of food)
• An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison stop acting in a certain way (e.g. if your court action was about putting you in solitary confinement, the Court can order that Corrections Victoria release you).

Important: the Court cannot award you money for breach of your Charter rights.

If your application is dismissed

You could be ordered to pay the Defendant’s legal costs, which can be a lot of money.

You can appeal a judicial review decision of the Supreme Court in the Court of Appeal.