2016-06-23
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — The Greens will support the Justice Legislation (Evidence and Other Acts) Amendment Bill 2016, which is a fairly simple bill that does two things mainly. First it amends the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) 1958 to further provide for the use of audiovisual links in order to facilitate efficient court hearings and to avoid the transport of prisoners unless it is in the interest of justice for them to appear in person. The bill also amends the Legal Aid Act 1978 to increase the number of directors on the Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) board from three to five, though the additional members are not required to be experts in any field.
The Greens support the amendments to provide for the further use of audiovisual links, since they make practical sense and will increase the efficiency within the justice system, but we support that only so long as they are kept solely for the administrative, minor procedural matters of court and are never used at the expense of the important right of the accused to a fair hearing.
While we support the amendments to the Legal Aid Act, we say they do not go far enough. The increase in the number of directors on the board with persons who are not required to be experts in any area is a lost opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the board and its oversight of legal aid to ensure the organisation meets its statutory objectives and fulfils its duties. It is our view that the VLA board should be modelled more closely on the Legal Aid New South Wales board, which includes representatives from the Law Society of New South Wales and the New South Wales Bar Association and also a representative from the community legal sector. These are issues that I raised with the Attorney-General back in December, when I asked him whether he would consider using that model.
We say that the two additional board members could at least be nominated by the Law Institute of Victoria and the Victorian Bar in order to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.
I think that is a wasted opportunity, not having that. There was particular expertise of those particular organisations with regard to the operation of the court system and the operation of legal aid in particular. That would at least provide the expertise that is needed and would add to the operations of the board and functions of the board and VLA itself.
Back again to the amendments with regard to audiovisual links, currently under the act prisoners only appear by video link in exceptional circumstances. In fact that technology is operational in the Magistrates Courts in Melbourne, Bendigo, Broadmeadows, Dandenong, Frankston, Geelong, Ringwood, Sunshine and Werribee and in the Melbourne Children's Court. Now this bill will expand that to be statewide. There is a sum of some $14.7 million to be attached to this to upgrade the videoconferencing technology that is to be installed in the state's 53 Magistrates Courts. It will be rolled out to allow legal practitioners to book conferences with clients and link to them via iPhones and tablets, so there is definitely modernisation of the courts.
Some courts will also provide a separate room where a practitioner can link to a prisoner via audiovisual facilities. The court may also adjourn briefly during a hearing so that a practitioner and a prisoner can use the courtroom audiovisual link for a confidential conference. The use of these facilities will provide more comfort to victims who attend court knowing that a hearing is more likely to proceed because of the use of the technology, so these are good improvements in the court system. But we support these, as I said, so long as their use does not jeopardise the right to a fair hearing.
Amongst the safeguards that are introduced in the bill is that it does not permit appearance via audiovisual link where it would not be in the interests of justice to do so or where it is not practicable for the accused to appear via video link. Unless safeguards apply to a particular case, the amendments require that an adult accused who is held in custody must appear via video link in the Magistrates Court unless the proceeding involves an inquiry into their fitness to plead to the charge, the hearing of the charge if they have pleaded not guilty or a committal hearing.
We are happy — or satisfied — with those safeguards — —
Mr Herbert — You can say 'happy', come on! Go all the way. It's the last day.
Ms PENNICUIK — We are happy and satisfied that those safeguards do not jeopardise the right to a fair hearing.
There are also amendments to include the requirement that an adult accused who is in custody and who is required to be brought before a bail justice or the Magistrates Court within a reasonable time must be brought physically before the court unless they consent to appear via the audiovisual link. It is interesting to note that a couple of weeks ago it was reported in the media that the government had been fined some $110 000 for failing to deliver prisoners on time this year, and $113 000 last year. A lot of that is due to overflowing in the remand court, but notwithstanding all of that — we have talked about overcrowding in the courts before, so I will not expand on that particular issue — over and above that particular issue, I think it is a good use of technology to make the courts more efficient in the less serious cases.
Just briefly on the board of Victoria Legal Aid, which at the moment consists of the chairperson, the managing director and three directors, they have backgrounds predominantly in finance, banking, government and legal, which reflects the current Legal Aid Act 1978, which requires that at least one director must have financial management experience and one must have business or government experience. This bill will expand the board to provide for two additional members, but they will not be required to be experts in any field.
The Attorney-General acknowledges that the VLA plays an essential role in the criminal justice system in this state, which it does, and we have always called for more funding for Victoria Legal Aid. We think it is important that it receive appropriate guidance, support and direction from its board of directors and that increasing the diversity of experience of the board will help it better deal with the current and future challenges. You would think that the government would take this opportunity to legislate to ensure that the additional board members have relevant legal experience and expertise to bring to the board to provide that appropriate guidance, support and direction. It is imperative that the members of the board have the experience and expertise necessary so that VLA meets its statutory objectives and carries out its functions, which include using its best endeavours to make legal aid available throughout the state, determining the priorities for the provision of legal aid and controlling and administering the legal aid fund.
As I said, the Greens are of the view that there is a lost opportunity to at least have nominees from the primary organisations representing the legal profession. However, we still support the bill, having pointed out where it could be improved.
Motion agreed to.