Table of contents
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Table of contents
- 1 – Introduction
- 2 – Types of matters that may be assisted
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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
- 4 – Commonwealth family law and child support guidelines
- 5 – Commonwealth civil law guidelines
- 6 – State family guidelines
- 7 – State civil law guidelines
- 8 – Public interest and strategic litigation
- 9 – Standard grants assessment process
- 10 – Simplified grants assessment process
- 11 – Referral and practitioner panels
- 12 – Means test
- 13 – Commonwealth merits test
- 14 – State reasonableness test and interests of justice test
- 15 – Special circumstances
- 16 – Applying for a grant of legal assistance
- 17 – Decision to grant or refuse assistance
- 18 – Reconsideration and review of decisions
- 19 – Standard terms and conditions
- 20 – Contributions and overdue payments
- 21 – Abandoning legal assistance
- 22 – Finalising grants of legal assistance
- 23 – Allocation of work to lawyers and law firms
- 24 – Payments to lawyers and service providers
- 25 – Compliance reviews
- 26 – Privacy protection
- 27 – Complaints and feedback
- Topic index
- Invoice, worksheets and forms
- Contact us
Guideline 2 – traffic offence charges in the Magistrates’ Court
Victoria Legal Aid (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 has a psychiatric or intellectual disability or an acquired brain injury and the person’s conviction is likely to result in either:
- imprisonment
- a suspended term of imprisonment.
For the purposes of this guideline the penalty threshold applies whether the proposed plea is 'guilty' or 'not guilty'.
Psychiatric or intellectual disability
For the purposes of a grant under this guideline, a person suffering a psychiatric or intellectual disability or an acquired brain injury means a person who is receiving services from an approved mental health service under the Mental Health Act 1986 or is an eligible person registered under the Disability Act 2006.
The State's special circumstances guideline does not apply to traffic matters.
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 seeking a grant of legal assistance via the standard grants assessment process should submit an application via ATLAS for assessment, including all of the following documents:
- copies of the charge or charges
- full details of the person's prior convictions (if any)
- the 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 an application via ATLAS, 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
- full details of the person’s prior convictions (if any)
- the lawyer’s assessment of the likely penalty having regard to any prior relevant convictions (if any)
- relevant proof of means.
Lawyers are also encouraged to complete a summary crime worksheet and a proof of means worksheet for their file.