U3 AOS 1 - The victorian criminal justice system

What is the burden of proof in criminal cases?

The burden of proof lies with the prosecution, meaning they have the responsibility to prove the facts of the case.

What standard of proof is required in a criminal case?

The standard of proof is ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, meaning no other logical conclusion can be reached other than that the accused is guilty.

Define the presumption of innocence

The presumption of innocence refers to the idea that the accused is treated as innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

What are summary offences and where are they heard?

Minor criminal offences generally heard in the Magistrates' Court without a jury or trial right, e.g., traffic offences, indecent behaviour.

What are indictable offences?

Serious criminal offences heard in the County or Supreme Court by a judge and jury

Serious criminal offences heard in the County or Supreme Court by a judge and jury if pleading not guilty, e.g., murder, rape.

Rights of an accused

• Right to be tried without unreasonable delay

• Right to trial by jury

• Right to silence

What special considerations applies to accused children in trials?

Children (under 18) must be brought to trial as quickly as possible, placing greater urgency on the prosecution.

What is the right to silence?

The accused does not have to say or do anything, and cannot be forced to testify or present evidence.

Who can be considered a victim in a criminal case?

Primary victims are victims who suffered injury as a direct result of the offence and secondary victims can be family members of the primary victim

What rights are recognised under the Victims Charter?

• Being informed of the likely release date of the offender

• Be informed about the proceedings

• Giving evidence via alternative arrangements

What alternative arrangements are available to victims?

• having a support person

• physical screen to avoid sight of the accused

• closed court sessions during testimony

Define ‘access’

• All people should be able to engage with the justice system and its processes on an informed basis

Define ‘fairness’

• All people can participate in the justice system and its processes should be impartial and open.

Define ‘equality’

• All people engaging with the legal system and its processes should be treated in the same way; if the same treatment causes disparity or disadvantage, adequate measures should be implemented to allow all to engage with the justice system without disparity of disadvantage.

What is the role of VLA

To provide free legal advice and representation to those who cannot afford a lawyer.

• prioritises the most vulnerable

Strengths of VLA

• Free info in up to 30 different languages (and they can organise an interpreter)

• Free legal information is provided by VLA through online chat and website to everyone, regardless of income

• Free legal advice & assistance, such as through duty lawyers and grants of legal assistance given to those most in need e.g those in custody and First Nations Peoples.

Weaknesses of VLA

• The information provided by VLA is general and limited so may not address all needs, such as those charged with an indictable offence.

• VLA’s resources are limited and reserved for the most vulnerable. (other individuals who cannot afford legal rep may not be eligible for legal aid)

• VLA relies on funding to meet the demand for legal services. Fewer people will be able to access legal aid if funding is cut further.

What are CLC’s and their types?

Indepedent legal centres provide legal assistance and advice during a criminal case.

Generalist CLCs: provide legal info to people in a broad geographical location, e.g St Kilda legal service

Specialist CLCs: focus on a particular group of people or area of law, e.g youth law

strengths of CLCs

• Free legal information is available to everyone on many CLC websites

• CLCs provide programs to educate the community about legal processes and their rights

weaknesses of CLCs

• Insufficient funding - people seeking assistance may be turned away

• Most CLCs do not assist people who have been charged with an indictable offence

What is a plea negotiation?

Pre trial discussions between the prosecution and the accused to resolve a case by agreeing on a guilty plea/pleas to less/fewer charges

Purposes of plea negotiations

• To ensure the certainty of the outcome of a criminal case, as the risk of an acquittal (a non guilty verdict) is eliminated.

• To save costs, time and resources for both the court & the prosecution, as if an accused pleads guilty a trial will not take place.

• To achieve a prompt resolution to a criminal case without the stress and inconvenience of a trial/hearing. This can benefit victims, witnesses and the community.

• This can benefit the accused, entering into plea negotiations is likely to result in a reduced sentence as they are pleading guilty to less/less serious charges.

Factors affecting the appropriateness of plea negotiations?

• strength of the prosecutions case

• accused readiness to plead guilty

• views of victims

strengths of plea negotiations

• If not for plea negotiations, the criminal justice system would not cope with the number of trials

• Victims and their families & witnesses are spared the stress, time and inconvenience associated with a trial.

• Plea negotiations provide certainty of an outcome eliminating the chance of an acquittal.

weaknesses of plea negotiations

• An accused who is not represented may feel pressure to accept the offer, even though the prosecutions case may not have been strong enough to meet the standard of proof.

• Victims, whilst consulted do not have the final say on whether the plea negotiations should be accepted or not.

• The negotiation process undermines the burden of proof (carried by the prosecution) that is, to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.

Reasons for a court hierarchy

specialisation:

• The courts are ranked in order of importance

• The most serious indictable offences are heard at the higher courts e.g the Supreme court, whilst more minor, summary offences such as traffic offences are heard in the lower court, the magistrates court.

• Courts specialise in hearing specific types of disputes as they develop expertise in the resolution of the disputes, as they deal with similar matters on a daily basis.

appeals:

• If there are grounds for appeal, a party who is dissatisfied with a decision in a criminal case can request for a higher court to review the decision.

• The system of appeals upholds fairness and allows for any mistakes in the original decision to be corrected. If there were no higher courts, there would be no system of appeals.

What are the ground for appeal in criminal cases?

• Point of law - where some law has not been followed, e.g the court heard inadmissible evidence

• Conviction - severity of a sanction, the prosecution will appeal on leniency and the offender will appear due to the severity.

Role of the judge/magistrate

1. Act impartially

2. Manage the trail/hearing

3. Decide/oversee the outcome of the case

4. Sentence an offender

Roles of the prosecution

1. Present the entire case to the Jury (or Magistrate/Judge) and let them decide the guilt of the accused

2. Disclose information to the accused

3. Participate in the hearing trial

4. Make submissions about sentencing

Roles of the accused

1. Participate in the hearing or trial

2. Make submissions about sentencing

Legal practitioners- why are they needed?

1. Self represented parties lack the skills and experience to navigate the system and test evidence

2. Self represented parties do not have objectivity which allows them to make the night decisions

3. It avoids the accused directly questioning witnesses (e.g victims) which can risk the victim being re-traumatised

4. The court & judges can somewhat assist self-represented parties to understand the processes but cannot advocate on their behalf.