Hi guys/girls,
I'm sure this has been posted PLENTY of times but I'm still unsure.
What exactly IS judicial determination?
Is it a form of ADR or is it actual court resolution (taking a civil matter to court)?
I really do need a full explanation of it because there's been so many different responses from so many sources that I have read. There's also an extremely confusing flowchart in my textbook (Key Concepts in VCE Legal Studies) that shows judicial determination being used in criminal disputes, when above it, it clearly states that it can only be used in civil disputes.
I'M SO CONFUSED!
as i understand it, judicial determination is VCAA's way of saying court resolution. It only refers to civil disputes, NOT criminal. My reasons for saying this come from the study design. If you type in judicial determination in the search bar in the study design's pdf, in the unit 2 section it explicitly states that it's for civil disputes only. I think they just assume that people carry on from that to unit 4. Also, the fact that in the dot point on your study design, it says 'dispute resolution methods used by the courts and VCAT'. it wouldn't say 'and VCAT' if it was referring to criminal as well. They seemed to have clumped it all together, which implies theyre talking about the common cases between VCAT and the courts.
It's not a form of ADR, because i believe the study design has discarded that term, but even if it hadn't, judicial determination would be the DR without the A if you get what i mean. conciliation, mediation, arbitration are the alternatives to it..but judicial determination itself is not an alternative, it's the actual thing (sorry if this is unclear)
If you're saying that every resource has something different, i don't think VCAA will include a question on it until the books are amended, so don't stress too much. but just for your own peace of mind, it's only civil, and it's not ADR, it's the main means of dispute resolution through the courts, and can be used in VCAT when it's the president (who is part of the judiciary) who is hearing the case.
hope this helps!