Back in 2011, when iPads were still not a familiar sight in our courtrooms, I did a series of posts on using the iPad in legal practice.Since then, I've presented that information in various formats, and converted it into a PDF ideally suited for use on an iPad, with hyperlinks to recommended apps and websites.I …
Tag: court
Criminal trial funding restored, but Legal Aid still needs help
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision in Chaouk — discussed here — Victoria Legal Aid last week announced that it was restoring funding for solicitors when required in criminal trials.It’s certainly welcome news, and will prevent what looked like an impending logjam in quite a few trials.But it hasn’t really addressed the chronic underfunding by the …
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Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2013: donations again available for undertakings
Parliament introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 last week.Part 6 of the Bill introduces perhaps the most significant amendment. It will overcome the effect of the decision in Brittain v Mansour [2013] VSC 50. That was the case which held charitable donations and the like were not valid as special conditions of adjourned undertakings imposed under …
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Private contractors responsible for contracted State obligations?
R v Applied Language Solutions [2013] EWCA Crim 326 is a recent costs decision from the UK Court of Appeal considered the obligations of a private contractor to provide court interpreters.But more than that, in this age of contracting various functions traditionally performed directly by the government, it suggested that private contractors who willingly assume …
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Blowback: consequences from legal aid cuts
Recent events in Afghanistan and Iraq brought the intelligence communities' phrase 'blowback' to public consciousness.At its most basic, it's about unintended consequences; often ones that the actor actual intended to avoid, and yet by their actions, brought about.Recent legal aid cuts in Victoria might be a case in point.The UK has also recently gone through …