Copyright Act 2021/Part 10

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PART 10
COPYRIGHT TRIBUNALS
Division 1—Preliminary

Interpretation of this Part

477. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—

“case”, in relation to a Tribunal, means a proceeding other than an inquiry;

“inquiry” means an inquiry under section 262(2);

“member”, in relation to a Tribunal, means the members of the Tribunal as constituted under section 486, or reconstituted under section 487, and includes the presiding member;

“officer”, in relation to the Tribunals, includes the secretary;

“order” includes an interim order;

“panel” means the panel constituted by section 480;

“party” includes a person making a representation to a Tribunal in an inquiry;

“president” means the president of the Tribunals appointed under section 480(1)(a);

“presiding member”, in relation to a Tribunal, means the presiding member of the Tribunal as constituted under section 486 or reconstituted under section 487;

“proceeding”, in relation to a Tribunal, includes an inquiry;

“secretary” means the secretary of the Tribunals appointed under section 481(a).

Agreements or awards not affected

478. This Part does not affect the operation of any agreement or of any award made by an arbitrator (whether the agreement or award is made before, on or after, the appointed day).

Division 2—Establishment of Tribunals

Establishment of Tribunals

479. There is to be one or more Copyright Tribunals for the purposes of this Act.

Appointment of president, deputy presidents and panel

480.—(1) The Minister is to appoint—

(a) a president of the Tribunals;

(b) not more than 2 deputy presidents of the Tribunals; and

(c) not more than 15 persons to be members of a panel.

(2) The president must be a person who is, or is qualified to be appointed as, a District Judge.

(3) A deputy president must be a person who has been for 5 or more years a qualified person as defined by section 2(1) of the Legal Profession Act.

(4) A person appointed under subsection (1)—

(a) is to hold office for a term specified by the Minister when making the appointment;

(b) may, if the appointment expires while he or she is hearing a case, continue to hear and decide the case (and is deemed to continue to hold the appointment for this purpose);

(c) may resign his or her office at any time by writing to the Minister; and

(d) is eligible for reappointment.

(5) The Minister may revoke the appointment of a person under subsection (1) on the grounds of the person’s unfitness to continue in office or incapacity to perform the functions of his or her office.

(6) An appointment under this section must be notified in the Gazette.

Appointment of secretary and other officers

481. The Minister may appoint—

(a) a secretary to the Tribunals; and

(b) other officers of the Tribunals.

Remuneration, allowances and expenses

482.—(1) The Minister may determine that a person (other than a public officer) who sits as a member of a Tribunal is to be paid a remuneration (whether by way of salary or fees) and allowances.

(2) The remuneration and allowances in subsection (1), and the expenses of the Tribunals as determined by the Minister, are to be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.

(3) The remuneration of the secretary and other officers of the Tribunals are to be paid out of the funds of IPOS.

Protection of members

483. A member of a Tribunal has, in the performance of his or her duty as a member, the same protection that a District Judge has under the State Courts Act.

Members and officers deemed to be public servants

484. Every member of a Tribunal and every officer of the Tribunals are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code.

Division 3—Functions, procedure and evidence

Functions of Tribunals

485. It is the function of the Copyright Tribunals to, in accordance with this Act—

(a) decide the amount of equitable remuneration payable under the provisions of this Act;

(b) hear and determine an application for a suspension order under section 199;

(c) hold inquiries under section 262;

(d) decide the terms of doing any public act under section 286;

(e) exercise the powers relating to tariff schemes in Division 3 of Part 9; and

(f) perform any other function conferred on the Copyright Tribunals by this Act.

Constitution of Tribunal

486. Subject to this Act, a Tribunal is constituted by—

(a) the president, or a deputy president designated by the president, who is to be the presiding member; and

(b) 2 other members selected by the president from the panel.

Reconstitution of Tribunal if member unable to continue

487.—(1) This section applies where any member of a Tribunal (called in this section the former member) is unable to continue taking part in a proceeding because of illness, absence or any other cause.

(2) If the former member is the president, the Tribunal is to be reconstituted with a new president appointed by the Minister.

(3) If the former member is a deputy president, the president is to reconstitute the Tribunal by—

(a) sitting as the presiding member; or

(b) designating another deputy president to sit as the presiding member.

(4) If the former member is a member of the panel, the president is to reconstitute the Tribunal by selecting another member of the panel to sit on the Tribunal.

(5) The Tribunal as reconstituted under subsection (2), (3) or (4)—

(a) may continue to dispose of the proceeding, and for this purpose may consider everything that has been said or done earlier in the proceeding; but

(b) if the proceeding is a case, the Tribunal must hear the case afresh if all the parties so request.

Sittings

488. A Tribunal is to sit at the times and places decided by the presiding member.

Proceedings to be in public

489.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the proceedings of a Tribunal are to be held in public.

(2) If a Tribunal considers that there is sufficient reason to do so, the Tribunal may—

(a) direct that—

(i) a proceeding before the Tribunal is to be held in private;

(ii) only specified individuals may be admitted to a proceeding before the Tribunal; or

(iii) specified individuals are excluded from a proceeding before the Tribunal; and

(b) prohibit or restrict the publication of—

(i) any evidence given (whether in public or private, or orally or in writing) before the Tribunal; or

(ii) any information relating to a proceeding before the Tribunal.

(3) In subsection (2), “proceeding” includes part of a proceeding.

Decisions how made

490.—(1) A decision of a Tribunal is to be made in accordance with the opinion of the majority of its members.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any matter that the presiding member may decide alone.

Evidence

491.—(1) A Tribunal is not bound by the Evidence Act or any other rule of evidence.

(2) A Tribunal may—

(a) take evidence on oath and for that purpose administer an oath;

(b) take evidence orally or in writing;

(c) allow or appoint expert witnesses to assist the Tribunal; or

(d) summon a person to appear before the Tribunal to—

(i) give evidence; or

(ii) produce any document or thing that is in the possession, custody or control of the person.

(3) A witness before a Tribunal has the same privileges and immunities, and is subject to the same civil and criminal liabilities (in addition to those under this Act), as if he or she were a witness before a District Court.

Provisions on inquiries

492.—(1) After a Tribunal completes an inquiry, it must submit a report to the Minister setting out—

(a) the findings and recommendations required by its terms of reference; and

(b) any other matter that the Tribunal considers to be relevant to its terms of reference.

(2) A Tribunal may submit an interim report before submitting its final report.

(3) The Minister may (but need not) cause a report or an interim report of a Tribunal to be made public.

(4) In this section, “Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for trade and industry.

Orders of Tribunal

493.—(1) A Tribunal may make an interim order in a case before making its final decision on the case.

(2) After a Tribunal makes an order, it may—

(a) at any time, correct any clerical error in the order; and

(b) within 7 working days after the order is delivered, correct any other error in the order.

(3) In any proceedings, a document purporting to be certified by the secretary as a true copy of an order of the Tribunal is evidence of the order.

(4) To avoid doubt, subsection (3) does not prevent an order of a Tribunal from being proved in any other way.

(5) Where a Tribunal orders a person (X) to pay a sum to another person (Y) (whether as equitable remuneration, costs or otherwise), that sum is recoverable from X as a debt due to Y.

Reference on question of law arising in case to General Division of High Court

494.—(1) A Tribunal may, in accordance with this section, refer a question of law arising in any case before the Tribunal for the opinion of the General Division of the High Court.

(2) A reference is to be made by way of a case stated.

(3) A reference—

(a) may be made by the Tribunal on its own motion (whether or not it has decided the case);

(b) may be made by the Tribunal on the request of a party, which request may only be made—

(i) before the Tribunal decides the case; or

(ii) within 14 days after the date on which the Tribunal decides the case; and

(c) must be made by the Tribunal if it is so directed by the General Division of the High Court in an application, which application may only be made—

(i) by a party who made a request under paragraph (b) that was refused by the Tribunal; and

(ii) within 14 days after the date of the refusal.

(4) Every party to the case is entitled to be heard in a reference under subsection (1) or an application under subsection (3)(c).

(5) Where a reference is made—

(a) the General Division of the High Court is to give its opinion on the referred question of law and remit the case to the Tribunal; and

(b) the Tribunal must then give effect to the opinion of the General Division of the High Court and for this purpose may—

(i) reconsider or rehear any matter in the case;

(ii) modify or revoke any order previously made by the Tribunal; and

(iii) make a fresh order.

(6) The decision of the General Division of the High Court on a reference is final.

(7) In this section, “question of law” does not include a question whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a finding of fact by a Tribunal.

Representation

495. In any proceeding before a Tribunal—

(a) any party may be represented by an advocate;

(b) an individual who is a party may appear in person; and

(c) a party that is not an individual may be represented by a prescribed person, but only if permission is granted by the Tribunal.

Costs

496. A Tribunal may make any order as to, or relating to, the costs of any proceeding.

Regulations on procedure

497. Regulations may prescribe the practice and procedure to be followed in the Tribunals, including—

(a) the persons who may bring proceedings before a Tribunal;

(b) the manner in which, and the time within which, a proceeding is to be brought;

(c) the parties to a proceeding before a Tribunal (including persons who may be joined as parties);

(d) any notice or publicity to be given of a proceeding or an intended proceeding before a Tribunal;

(e) any notice or publicity to be given of an order or an intended order of a Tribunal;

(f) the manner in which a summons of a Tribunal is to be made or served;

(g) the scale of costs, fees and expenses to be paid to any party or witness;

(h) the costs and fees payable in proceedings before a Tribunal;

(i) the manner in which an order or a report of a Tribunal is to be made;

(j) the procedure to be followed in a Tribunal in relation to making a reference under section 494;

(k) circumstances in which a Tribunal must or may suspend an order made by it and, in relation to a suspended order, modifications to any provisions of this Act relating to the effect of an order; and

(l) matters that are to be or may be regulated by practice directions issued for the time being by the president.

Other provisions on procedure

498.—(1) A Tribunal is to conduct proceedings with as little formality, and with as much expedition, as the requirements of this Act and a proper consideration of the matters before the Tribunal permit.

(2) Subject to this Act, a Tribunal may regulate its own procedure.