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Commercial Court

The Commercial Court hears complex commercial disputes.

Transcript notice

Parties to Commercial Court proceedings are reminded of the requirement to order transcript for all directions hearing, interlocutory hearings, urgent applications and trials for judge-managed proceedings unless otherwise directed by the Court. For more details, please see the transcript section below.

Please note that as of 1 July 2021, Legal Transcripts Pty Ltd will commence as the preferred supplier of transcripts for Commercial Court proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria. Visit the Transcript Services page for further details.

The Commercial Court is a specialist court that delivers intensive judicial case management. It manages a diverse range of complex commercial disputes, including those listed below, and is supported by the Commercial Court Registry:

  • Proceedings arising out of commercial transactions or commercial dealings, including claims in contract law, claims for misleading or deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, claims for breach of fiduciary duties and claims for breach of trust.
  • Proceedings where a remedy is sought under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth). 
  • Proceedings relating to technology, engineering and/or construction.
  • Proceedings of a commercial nature relating to insurance, intellectual property, banking and finance.
  • Proceedings which require the Court’s assistance to support an arbitration, enforce an award or review a decision.
  • Proceedings regarding taxation recovery and Victorian taxation appeals.
  • Proceedings relating to loss or damage to a ship or by a ship, or to goods carried by sea and/or brought under the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth).

Proceedings in the Commercial Court are managed by judges, associate judges and judicial registrars with relevant expertise and experience. 

The Commercial Court aims to resolve matters in a timely way by flexibly allocating judicial resources, in particular by using active case management and fixed trial dates (wherever possible).

Guidance on the procedures to be followed by practitioners and parties conducting litigation in the Commercial Court is provided in Practice Note SC CC 1 Commercial Court (Second revision) issued on 26 February 2024. 

Judges of the Commercial Court

The Commercial Court is made up of 11 judges, 6 associate judges, 3 judicial registrars and reserve judges as required.

The Commercial Court is led by the Honourable Justice Delany as the principal judge. For a list of current Commercial Court judicial officers see the judicial organisational chart.

To contact the chambers of a particular Commercial Court judicial officer, please access the judicial support contacts, noting the guidelines about appropriate communications with chambers contained in Practice Note SC GEN 4 Custom and Protocol.

The Commercial Court's specialised registry provides a range of services to court users in Commercial Court matters, including:

  • Accepting documents for filing in RedCrest, the court’s electronic filing system (please see the Electronic Filing and Case Management page for details on how to file documents in Commercial Court proceedings).
  • Providing general information about the court, its rules, procedures and processes.
  • Assisting to triage and list urgent applications.
  • Providing copies of documents.
  • Collecting court fees.

For more information please contact the Commercial Court Registry - see Contact Details at the bottom of the page.

PLEASE NOTE
Enquiries relating to applications to wind up companies in insolvency under s 459P of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or mortgage recovery matters are managed by the Principal Registry.

The Commercial Court Duty Judge is available to hear urgent applications.  In the case of genuinely urgent matters, the Commercial Court Registry will liaise with practitioners and/or parties to ensure an appropriate and timely hearing.

To obtain an urgent hearing, please follow the processes outlined below.

During business hours

To fix an urgent hearing before the Commercial Court duty judge between the hours of 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday please:

  1. Email the Commercial Court Registry at: pbzzrepvnypbheghetragf@fhcpbheg.ivp.tbi.nhua.vog.civ.truocpus@stnegrutruoclaicremmoc  with the following information and a copy of any documents you have prepared (even if still in draft form).  There is no need to phone the Registry.
  2. The Registry will assess the documents and notify you whether the matter is appropriate for hearing by the duty judge.  If a listing before the duty judge is confirmed, the Court will provide you with details of that listing and instructions on how to file any documents.  
  3. Please file any documents as soon as possible.  If the application is to be on notice please serve the documents as soon as possible.
  4. Once it is confirmed that the Commercial Court has accepted your urgent application and a proceeding number is issued, please fill in this Online Order Form to order a transcript through Legal Transcripts.

For matters already under judge-management refer to Practice Note SC CC 1 Commercial Court (Second revision).


After hours

The Court can arrange hearings outside of business hours for matters which are sufficiently urgent that they require a hearing before the next business day.  

These are exceptional cases and the after hours process detailed below should not be used for queries about filings, requests from self-represented litigants for procedural advice or for any other matters which can be dealt with on the next business day.

To request an urgent after-hours hearing:

  1. Call the duty judge's associate on 0439 153 522.  Please note that the Court will not respond to text messages.  Only if you are unable to reach the duty judge’s associate please call the duty Registrar on 0447 054 310.
  2. The duty judge's associate will advise you of the email address where you should send the following information and a copy of any documents you have prepared (even if still in draft form).
  3. The duty judge’s associate will notify you whether the matter is appropriate for hearing by the duty judge.  If a listing before the duty judge is confirmed, the Court will provide you with details of that listing.  You may be required to provide an undertaking to file documents and pay any relevant fees.
  4. Once a proceeding number is issued, please fill in this Online Order Form to order a transcript through Legal Transcripts.

For any Common Law urgent applications, please refer to Practice Note SC CL 10 Practice Court (Common Law) and the Practice Court (Common Law) information.

The Commercial Court allocates proceedings to commercial or specialist lists, which are managed by judges. In certain circumstances interlocutory applications may be heard, and matters may be managed, by an associate judge or judicial registrar.

General commercial lists

The general commercial lists are each managed by a judge of the Commercial Court. The matters in these lists are general disputes arising out of commercial dealings and are allocated by the Court to lists corresponding to the relevant managing judge.

For more information about the Commercial Court Lists, please refer to Practice Note SC CC 1 Commercial Court (Second revision) and Practice Note SC GEN 2 Structure of the Trial Division.

Specialist lists in the Commercial Court

The specialist lists of the Commercial Court are:

Practitioners can choose to enter a specialist list when initiating a proceeding, and should do so if the proceeding fits within the types of cases usually heard within that list. More information about each of the lists is available in the links above and further information can be obtained by contacting the Commercial Court Registry.

Alternatively, the Court can, under its own motion, choose to move a matter into a particular specialist list, if it appears that the matter would be more appropriately managed and determined there.

 

Refer to Practice Note SC CC 1 Commercial Court (Second revision).

Associate Judge and Judicial Registrar managed lists

The following lists are for matters which are managed by associate judges or judicial registrars:

  • Associate Judge and Judicial Registrar Corporations List
  • Mortgage Recovery List

The associate judges and judicial registrars also manage certain general commercial matters.

Matters filed in a Commercial Court judge managed list

The following is a list of some of the factors that a legal practitioner should consider when deciding whether to initiate in a Commercial Court judge-managed list:

  • What is the subject matter in dispute? Does it accord with one of the specialist lists?
  • How complex are the issues in dispute? Many complex matters would ordinarily be heard by judges of the Commercial Court.
  • Should the matter be issued before an associate judge?
  • What is the quantum in dispute? Is it large? If not, would it be more suitable to issue in another jurisdiction such as the County Court?
  • Is the matter of a truly commercial nature? Is it a matter that, at the heart of the dispute, would be more appropriately issued in the Commercial Court or the Common Law Division?

Matters for management by an Associate Judge or Judicial Registrar

The jurisdiction of associate judges and judicial registrars is set out in rule 77.04-5 and rule 84.02, respectively, of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic). The powers of associate judges and judicial registrars in relation to corporations matters are listed in Schedules 2 and 2A of the Supreme Court (Corporations) Rules 2023 (Vic).

Examples of the types of common Commercial Court matters that associate judges or judicial registrars hear include:

  • Applications to wind-up a company.
  • Appointment of a liquidator, provisional liquidator or administrator.
  • Applications for public examinations, including of directors and officers of a company.
  • Applications to reinstate a company.
  • Orders with respect to voidable transactions.
  • Mortgage default. 
  • Debt recovery and related enforcement proceedings.

Associate judges and judicial registrars also resolve a wide range of interlocutory civil disputes before and after trial and give directions, make orders and make determinations in an intermediate stage of a proceeding. Associate judges and judicial registrars are also responsible for some preparatory work that otherwise would be carried out by a judge.

 

The applications and interlocutory disputes heard by associate judges (and in some cases judicial registrars) include:

  • Applications for substituted service of court process.
  • Disputes concerning the discovery or disclosure of documents.
  • Summary judgment applications.
  • Pleadings disputes.
  • Applications for security for costs.
  • Assessments of damages.
  • Applications to extend the period of validity of Writs and warrants of execution.
  • Garnishee summonses.
  • Examinations of debtors.
  • Registration of foreign judgments.

Interlocutory applications in the Commercial Court are handled differently, depending upon the circumstances of the case. Specifically,

  • Where a new proceeding is entered into a judge-managed list, but has not yet been listed before a managing judge, contact the Commercial Court Registry in the first instance. The Commercial Court Registry will then liaise with chambers to determine an appropriate date for the interlocutory application to be heard and notify the parties of the approved hearing date prior to filing, or request that the application be filed endorsed with a listing date “to be fixed” and provide the parties with written notification when a date is set.
  • If the matter is an existing proceeding in a judge-managed list which is being judge-managed, please contact the chambers of that judge for a return date before filing any applications. Email confirmation of the return date should be provided to the Commercial Court Registry when filing the application.
  • If the matter is a new proceeding which is suitable to be heard by an associate judge or judicial registrar, please contact the Commercial Court Registry.
  • If the matter is an existing proceeding which is already being managed by an Associate Judge or Judicial Registrar, please contact the chambers of that judicial officer for a return date, before filing any applications. Email confirmation of the return date should be provided when filing the application.

Practitioners should note that fees are payable for interlocutory applications.

Please visit the Group Proceedings (Class Actions) page for more information.

Paying fees

The list of prescribed fees applicable to the Commercial Court, as set out in the Supreme Court (Fees) Regulations 2018 can be found within the Prothonotary's Fees. Please also see: Practice Note SC CC 7 Imposition of Fees (First revision).

Fees are ordinarily paid through RedCrest. If you are unable to make a payment via RedCrest, please contact the Commercial Court Registry - see contact details at the bottom of this page.

Fees refund

Please refer to Regulation 15 of the Supreme Court (Fees) Regulations 2018 for information on refund of fees.

 

To make an application for a refund relating to a Commercial Court proceeding, please follow the instructions as found under the Fee Refund banner on the Fees page.

 

Upon approval from the Court, the refund will be made directly to the nominated bank account.

Parties to Commercial Court proceedings are reminded of the requirement to order transcript for all directions hearings, interlocutory hearings, urgent application and trials for judge-managed proceedings unless otherwise directed by the court. Please note that the court generally requires that practitioners order running transcripts for proceedings. Orders for these transcripts must be placed with Legal Transcripts at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled hearing.

Transcript can be ordered from the Commercial Court's transcript provider - Legal Transcripts, using their Online Order Form. Legal Transcripts can be contacted on (03) 9642 0322.

Please refer to SC GEN 7 Transcripts in Civil Proceedings (Second revision) and SC CC 1 Commercial Court (Second revision) for further information.

The Court provides support and information to people who are considering representing themselves in a  proceeding before the Supreme Court. Pursuant to Rule 1.17 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015, it is a requirement for a company that is the subject of a Supreme Court proceeding to act through lawyers.

For more information about representing yourself in the Supreme Court, and to contact the Supreme Court's Self-Represented Litigants Coordinator, view the Representing Yourself section of our website.

Practice notes

View the complete list of Commercial Court Practice Notes.

Other relevant general practice notes are:

Notices

The Commercial Court provides data on the gender of counsel appearing in Judge-managed proceedings.

View the latest Commercial Court data on gender of counsel. 

Supreme Court rules

Acts, Rules and Practice Notes may change from time-to-time. Practitioners and other court users are further to review the Court's website more comprehensively, in conducting litigation in the Commercial Court.

Multilateral memorandum on enforcement of commercial judgments for money

The process for enforcing foreign judgments for money in Victoria and enforcing Supreme Court of Victoria judgments in an overseas jurisdiction can sometimes be technical and challenging to navigate. The Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC) have published a Multilateral Memorandum on Enforcement of Commercial Judgments for Money. 

The Memorandum collates and summarises procedures for the enforcement of commercial judgments of one jurisdiction in the courts of another. Thirty two member jurisdictions, including the Supreme Court of Victoria, have contributed to this important document which will hopefully provide litigants with a useful tool in global enforcement.

The Memorandum provides information for those:

  • Seeking to enforce a monetary judgment of the Supreme Court of Victoria in an overseas jurisdiction.
  • Seeking to enforce a monetary judgment of an overseas Court in the Supreme Court of Victoria.  

For more information, and to read the Memorandum, visit the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC) website.

The Commercial Court Registry provides support to the legal profession by phone between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

Phone: (03) 8600 2002
Email: pbzzrepvnypbheg@fhcpbheg.ivp.tbi.nhua.vog.civ.truocpus@truoclaicremmoc

Address
Ground Floor, 450 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000

Postal Address
Commercial Court Registry
Supreme Court of Victoria
210 William Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000

View Judicial Support Contacts for further contact information.