criminal law 1b (1st term) Flashcards
lesson ten
what is VLA
- victorian legal aid in an independent, government funded agency that provides free legal information to the comm. & legal advice & representation to ppl who X afford to pay for a lawyer.
lesson ten
what are the purposes of VLA?
- provide community w/ incr. access to the justice system
- ensure that individuals recieve fair & equal opportunities to utilise the justice system
lesson ten
what are the four tiers of assistance provided for the accused by VLA?
- free legal information
- free legal advice (help before court services)
- duty lawyer
- grants of legal assistance
lesson ten
what is the tier one level of assistance available to the accused by VLA?
- free legal information is available for all accused.
- there is X required access for free legal information about the law, court processes, your rights
- available via websites & booklets ect.
- provides opportunity to speak w/ VLA officer on the phone / online using Legal Help Chat function
lesson ten
what accused are available to the free legal advice (T2) from VLA
- avail. based upon inc. test & the leg matter
- X avail. for indict matters (unless heard summ)
lesson ten
what is the free legal advice that VLA provides to accused?
- VLA offers leg adv. in person / via video conf / over phone
- advice = off acc = charged w/ / their rights / court processes / sanctions
- VLA’s help before court service = acc charged w/ crim off in mc or childc
- if court date = +6 days –> VLA may arrange advice from lawyer to assist accused prep
- arr for duty lawyer to give evidence on day
lesson ten
which accused is a duty lawyer available to provided by the VLA (T3)?
- only avail. to acc who appear in mc/child
- only avail. to acc who satisfy inc. test
- X inc test is needed for ppl in custody
- leg rep @ hearing = only given to acc who satisfy inc. test & face sig charges such as stalking & threat to kill or belong to a priority group by VLA
- X committals
- if court date = 6+ days away VLA may arrange d.l to help prep
lesson ten
who is included in the VLA’s priority group for a duty lawyer?
- in custody
- indiv. w. disability
- indiv. w/ mental health issues
- ppl exp homelessness
- pp who X speak / write eng
- FNP
lesson ten
for which accused can gain grants of legal assistance (t4) from VLA?
- X avail. to all acc. –> VLA = strict guidelines about who can recieve grants of leg assist. - all grants capped
- acc = meet means & merits test
lesson ten
what grants for legal assistance does the VLA provide to accused?
- prep legal documentation
- prov rep to the accused in court
- assist. given by a VLA lawyer or priv. lawyer who is on the VLA panel
- = free leg / fully funded leg assist. for a long period of time
lesson ten
define a duty lawyer
- a VLA lawyer who is at court (on duty) on a particular day to help pp who come to court for a hearing
- gen no prior communication w/ acc
lesson ten
define income test?
- a financial threshold applied by VLA to det. whether a duty lawyer can rep an acc
- threshold = met when acc can show they have lim income
- e.g. main source income through welfare provided by govt
lesson ten
define means test
- a fin. threshold that VLA applies when indiv. are seeking grants of leg assit.
- diff. to an inc. test in that it considers a person’s income & assets (housing / cars / savings)
- if a person receives more than $360 a week in income after living expenses are deducted –> X eligible under means test
lesson ten
define merits test
- applies to receiving frants of leg assist.
- based upon the lag matter & seriousness of the offence
- e.g. VLA needs to consider is it in the interest of justice to fund the case - the extent of benefit or detriment to the acc. or pub in granting leg assist
lesson eleven
define community legal centres
- indep, govt funded org that aim to provide free legal services for indiv incl providing leg information, advice & ongoing assist & rep
