Table of contents
-
Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
-
3 – Criminal law guidelines
- Guideline 1.1 – ‘not guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.2 – ‘guilty’ plea in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 1.3 – Assessment and Referral Court List matters
- Guidelines 1.4 and 1.5 – social security prosecutions
- Guideline 2 – traffic offence charges in the Magistrates’ Court
- Guideline 3.1 – committal proceedings involving homicide, consent or identification
- Guideline 3.2 – committal proceedings in other cases
- Guideline 4 – trials in the County or Supreme courts
- Guideline 4.1 – County Court and Supreme Court pleas
- Guideline 5.1 – proceedings in the Criminal Division of the Children’s Court
- Guideline 6 – bail applications in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme courts
- Guideline 7.1 – criminal appeals to the County Court
- Guideline 7.2 – interlocutory appeals to the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.3 – appeals to the High Court
- Guideline 7.4 – leave to appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.5 – appeal against sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.6 – leave to appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 7.7 – appeal against conviction/conviction and sentence in the Court of Appeal
- Guideline 8 – stay applications under the Criminal Procedure Act
- Guideline 9 – hearings under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act
- Guideline 10 – Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act
- County Court breach proceedings
- Guideline 11 – two-counsel policy
- 4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- 5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- 6 – State family guidelines
- 7 – State civil law guidelines
- 8 – Standard grants assessment process
- 9 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 10 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 11 – Means test
- 12 – Commonwealth merits test
- 13 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 14 – Special circumstances
- 15 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- 16 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 17 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 18 – Standard terms and conditions
- 19 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 20 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 21 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 22 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- 23 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- 24 – Compliance reviews
- 25 – Privacy protection
- 26 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
- Invoices, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
Guideline 2 – traffic offence charges in the Magistrates’ Court
VLA may make a grant of legal assistance to a person who has been charged with a traffic offence under the Road Safety Act 1986 to be heard in the Magistrates’ Court if the person’s conviction is likely to result in either:
- imprisonment
- a suspended term of imprisonment.
For the purposes of this guideline:
- a sentence served in the community (an intensive corrections order) is a term of imprisonment
- the penalty threshold applies whether the proposed plea is 'guilty' or 'not guilty'.
Meanings
Likely to result in
See Criminal law guideline 1.1 for a definition of 'likely to result in'.
Reasonable prospect of acquittal
See Criminal law guideline 1.1 for discussion of the meaning of ‘reasonable prospect of acquittal’.
Relevance of prior convictions
If a person applying for a grant has any prior convictions, VLA will take them into account when considering the likely result of the conviction on a guilty plea.
If a person has no prior convictions, VLA is more likely to make a grant of legal assistance if either:
- the current offence is extremely serious
- there are many charges.
Documentary requirements
Applications under this guideline are within the simplified grants assessment process or the standard grants assessment process.
Standard grants assessment process
Lawyers or other applicants seeking a grant of legal assistance via the standard grants assessment process should forward all of the following documents for assessment:
- a completed VLA application form
- copies of the charge or charges
- full details of their prior convictions (if any)
and - if the applicant is lodging the application through a lawyer, then their lawyer’s assessment of the likely penalty
- relevant proof of means.
Simplified grants assessment process
Lawyers seeking a grant of legal assistance via the simplified grants assessment process should submit a completed simplified VLA application form and a summary crime checklist only after ensuring that the following documents are retained on file unless they are requested by VLA for assessment:
- a reference to guideline 2
- copies of the charge or charges
- the lawyer’s assessment of the likely penalty having regard to any prior relevant convictions (if any)
- full details of the person’s prior convictions (if any)
and - relevant proof of means.
Lawyers are also encouraged to complete a summary crime worksheet and a proof of means worksheet for their file.