The concept of " Legal Aid " was designed to bring fairness into the legal system. When a person is arrested and charged by the police, an entire network of government lawyers swings into action within the " Department of Prosecutions " (DPP) to ensure that the prosecution case is skillfully presented in court.
If the prisoner charged has no money and can not afford a lawyer to represent the case, Legal Aid is supposed to bridge that gap by providing a qualified counsel to help in providing a defence. Usually, this defender is a young lawyer just starting his or her career and because of lack of court experience, one of the most lowly paid in the legal system.
Many people describe it as a " David and Goliath " contest. A struggling young acolyte just out of law school doing battle with seasoned lawyers who have cut their teeth with years of successful prosecutions in the public domain.
Legal Aid is always short of funds - and in many cases appeals for representation are denied because scarce facilities must be reserved for the more important criminal cases.
It is therefore amazing to find that Legal Aid has been funding the appeals of criminals who have been represented in court, convicted - and sentenced to a long period in prison. Surely, this must be well outside the scope of priorities envisaged when this scheme was introduced.
Legal Aid funds were used in the appeal by Jill Meagher's killer, Adrian Bayley - who finally confessed to police and led them to where he had buried her body. He was convicted in court and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison - and this appeal was thrown out after just ten minutes perusal by a judge.
Legal Aid also funded an appeal by gangster Tony Mokbel, convicted of murder charges and sentenced to twenty-two years in gaol. Amazingly, Legal Aid took on his appeal because Mokbel's assets had been seized under the " Proceeds of Crime " laws - and it was concluded that as a result he could not afford a lawyer.
Legal Aid is a multi-million dollar expense on the public purse. It seems that the all too familiar " bracket creep " has allowed it to stray into areas where it was not intended to go - and any sort of appeal was outside of those guidelines.
The original intention was to see a person charged with a crime receiving free legal instruction. All too often, legal ignorance led to the innocent being convicted and Legal Aid was a defence against the well oiled machinery of the DPP.
It is time for a review of the basic rules that apply. Spending big sums on costly appeals is depriving many first offenders of their right to be represented in court by a person qualified to present their case in the best light - and perhaps earn them a reprieve.
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