In this Act—
"appropriate dispute resolution" means a process attended, or participated in, by a person involved in a civil dispute or a party for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of the civil dispute or the civil proceeding or resolving or narrowing the issues in dispute, including, but not limited to—
(a) mediation, whether or not referred to a mediator in accordance with rules of court;
(b) early neutral evaluation;
(c) judicial resolution conference;
(d) settlement conference;
(e) reference of a question, a civil proceeding or part of a civil proceeding to a special referee;
(f) expert determination;
(g) conciliation;
(h) arbitration;
"civil dispute" means a dispute which may result in the commencement of a civil proceeding;
"civil proceeding" means any proceeding in a court other than a criminal proceeding or quasi- criminal proceeding;
"court" means the following courts—
(a) the Supreme Court;
(b) the County Court;
(c) the Magistrates' Court;
"criminal proceeding" means a proceeding to which the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 applies and includes—
(a) committal proceedings;
(b) proceedings relating to bail;
(c) proceedings relating to the sentencing of an accused;
"expert witness", in relation to a civil proceeding, means a person who has specialised knowledge based on the person's training, study or experience;
"head of jurisdiction" means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice;
(b) in relation to the County Court, the Chief Judge;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, the Chief Magistrate;
"judicial officer" means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a Judge of the Court, an Associate Judge or a judicial registrar;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a judge of the court, an associate judge or a judicial registrar;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a magistrate or a judicial registrar;
"judicial registrar" means—
(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Supreme Court Act 1986 ;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the County Court Act 1958 ;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a judicial registrar within the meaning of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989 ;
"judicial resolution conference" means—
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(a) in relation to the Supreme Court, a resolution process presided over by a Judge of the Court, an Associate Judge or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
(b) in relation to the County Court, a resolution process presided over by a judge, an associate judge or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
(c) in relation to the Magistrates' Court, a resolution process presided over by a magistrate or, in accordance with the rules of court, a judicial registrar for the purposes of negotiating a settlement of a dispute including, but not limited to—
(i) mediation, whether or not referred to that person in accordance with the rules of court;
(ii) early neutral evaluation;
(iii) settlement conference;
(iv) conciliation;
"law practice" has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Profession Act 2004 ;
"legal practitioner" means an Australian legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 2004 ;
overarching purpose has the meaning given in section 7 ;
"overarching obligations" means the obligations set out in sections 16 to 26;
"overarching obligations certification" means the certification required under section 41;
"paramount duty" means the duty set out in section 16;
"party" means party to a civil proceeding;
"penalty interest rate" means the rate for the time being fixed under section 2 of the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983 ;
"person" includes an unincorporated association, a firm and a partnership;
"pre-litigation requirements "means the requirements set out in section 34;
"pre-litigation requirements compliance certification" means the certification required under section 43;
"proper basis certification" means the certification required under section 42;
"substantive document" means—
(a) an originating motion;
(b) a writ that includes—
(i) a statement of claim; or
(ii) a statement sufficient to give, with reasonable particularity, notice of the nature of the claim, its cause and the relief or remedy sought;
(c) a complaint;
(d) a defence or a notice of defence;
(e) a reply;
(f) a counterclaim;
(g) an answer to a counterclaim;
(h) a response to an answer to a counterclaim;
(i) a claim by third party notice;
(j) a claim by fourth or subsequent party notice;
(k) an application brought in accordance with section 93(4)(d) of the Transport Accident Act 1986 ;
but does not include—
(l) a summons or an application initiating an interlocutory proceeding;
(m) an affidavit.