In 2007, the Magistrates’ Court introduced a pilot programme to refer defended civil cases up to $40,000 for mediation, at no cost to the parties. It began at Broadmeadows, and has since been expanded to a number of other courts. Under a new practice direction, that programme will be extended to Heidelberg from 1 August 2014. The mediatior will be provided by the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria. Section 108 of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1989 (Vic) gives the court the power to refer civil cases for confidential mediation in the hope that they will reach an agreed settlement or at least narrow the issues in dispute.
Koori Court expands to Melbourne
Victoria’s culturally-appropriate Indigenous sentencing system expanded again last week, with the launch of a Koori Court division at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court—the busiest court in the State. Attorney-General Robert Clark said, “The Koori Courts initiative has helped improve justice outcomes for the Koori community for the benefit of all Victorians. Not only have Koori Courts provided more successful outcomes in individual cases, they have improved the engagement of Koori communities with the justice system and have helped build capacity within Koori communities.” Prior to the last election, Denis Napthine described such specialist courts as “apartheid of the justice system in Australia”, but following an Ombudsman’s report indicating early success, the Government decided to keep the system in place.
Victoria’s biggest civil trial settles for $500m
The Supreme Court has announced that “[a]fter more than 200 court sitting days, testimony from 100 expert and lay witnesses and in excess of 10,000 case documents admitted to evidence, Victoria’s biggest civil trial—the Kilmore East-Kinglake Black Saturday bushfire class action—has reached a settlement.” The settlement of $500 million will need to be approved by the court to ensure a fair process for dividing up the funds between more than 10,000 members of the class action group. The plaintiffs argued that the negligence of power companies and the State government exacerbated the impact of the bushfire. Despite the settlement, the defendants deny responsibility.
Deaf jurors in mock trial experiment
Researchers at the University of NSW will conduct a mock trial this week to investigate the practicality of allowing deaf people to serve as jurors with the assistance of Auslan interpreters in the court and during deliberations. Professor Sandra Hale noted that “other countries already have them”, and said the trial would “find out what impact having a deaf juror in the deliberation room and the trial will have on the rest of the participants”. The Australian deaf community has been lobbying and running test cases for the right to participate in jury service. In 2006, the NSW Law Reform Commission recommended that “people who are blind or deaf should be qualified to serve on juries, and not be prevented from doing so on the basis of that physical disability alone”; instead, a decision should be made on a case-by-case basis. The Victorian Law Reform Commission is currently conducting an inquiry into jury empanelment, but it observed that “Issues associated with the eligibility of [deaf] persons to serve on juries are beyond the scope of the Commission’s terms of reference.”
Huge volume of unpaid fines prompts enforcement rethink
A report by the Sentencing Advisory Council on the enforcement of fines and infringement notices says Victoria is losing over $400 million in unpaid fines per year. It calls for a distinction to be drawn between those who can’t afford to pay and those who simply refuse, and recommends enforcement methods that target refusers, such as flagging their passports: “Restrictions on international travel are an appropriate means of targeting persons who are likely to have the capacity to pay a court fine or infringement penalty (in light of the cost of international travel) but instead wilfully default.” On the other hand, it says those with less capacity to pay should have their fines reduced. The report identifies “high volume tolling offenders” as a specific problem—illustrated yesterday when a warrant was issued by the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court for the arrest of a woman who owes nearly $300,000 in infringement penalties for more than 1000 unpaid tolls.
Castan Centre launches Human Rights Report
Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights has launched its first Human Rights Report: “We have decided to publish this report to improve the public’s understanding of our world-renowned academic research. Each piece is written in plain English and designed to inform the public about human rights law and policy issues in key areas”. It features articles by legal experts on a range of topics including freedom of speech, corporations, foreign aid, spies, prisons and detention centres, asylum seekers, gender, reproductive rights, LGBTI rights, and Indigenous rights.
Everyday-Law explains law for everyday people
The Victoria Law Foundation has launched a new Everyday-Law website, to provide “all the best material together in one place; jargon-free material for the public written by a range of trustworthy organisations.” As well as providing multi-lingual information about people’s rights and how to access the legal system, Everyday-Law will “go behind the 24-hour news cycle and fill in the gaps on hot-button legal issues”.
Detention without legal representation in NT
A Northern Territory scheme has been criticised for jailing people without due process. Under the Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (NT), a person who police say has been drunk in public three times can be detained in a secure facility for up to three months, without going before a court or receiving legal advice or representation. The president of the Criminal Lawyers Association of the NT, Russell Goldflam, says, “The Act provides that a person can engage a legal representative … but in practice it’s a completely empty right because there aren’t arrangements made for lawyers to be made available.” Observers say that police are applying alcohol laws in a discriminatory way, and “since the law came into effect in July last year, every single person detained under it has been Aboriginal.” Julie Edwards says the NT scheme is extreme compared with other jurisdictions: “In Victoria, secure treatment can only be used where a person has severe health problems and lacks the capacity to make decisions for himself/herself. Under the [Severe Substance Dependence Treatment Act 2010 (Vic)], secure treatment can only be ordered for 14 days and this order must be made by a court.”
No funding for Indigenous Law Centre
The Abbott Government will cut all funding from the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of NSW. Established in 1981, the ILC conducts research and publishes journals about Indigenous issues. Its director, Professor Megan Davis, says: “The legal issues affecting Indigenous communities are increasingly complex and part of our role is to explain the complexities of these laws in a way the community can easily understand.” The ILC has been an important contributor to the campaign for Constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, which the government officially supports.
Trial proceeds as 1 of 50 plaintiffs refuses settlement
A class action involving fifty plaintiffs will go ahead, after one plaintiff refused to accept a settlement offer. The case is against a drug-addicted anaesthetist and the organisations involved in his employment and registration, after he infected the women with hepatitis C through shared needles. The settlement offer was made “contingent on the woman not trying to go it alone” because the “defendants did not want to pay out all the women in the class action and then have to take part in a trial involving one victim.” Justice Beech said he could not force the woman to accept the settlement, but he ordered that she “be prevented from benefiting from the legal work done on behalf of the other victims” when the trial begins on Monday. The class action process is designed to save costs by allowing one trial to determine the outcome of a group of similar claims.