In Brief Issue #1029

The Governor in Council has appointed five new Magistrates, including three members of our Bar, His Honour Magistrate Lawrence, Her Honour Magistrate Hollingworth and Her Honour Magistrate Lynch.

His Honour Magistrate Rohan Lawrence

Her Honour Magistrate Cecily Hollingworth

Her Honour Magistrate Cynthia Lynch

The appointments were effective from Tuesday, 21 September 2021. Details of the welcome ceremonies will be advised when they become known.

Today the Information and Technology Committee launches the Reverse Mentoring Scheme. The scheme involves pairing barristers under five years’ call (the mentors) with more senior barristers who wish to develop their technological and digital skills (the mentees).

The scheme will facilitate meaningful professional connections between junior and senior barristers and enable senior barristers to gain valuable insight into how juniors take advantage of the technological and digital opportunities of online and remote practice.

The scheme will run for at least three months. The pairs will meet at least three times, but the number of meetings and how often they meet is up to each pair.

In addition to specific goals set by the pairs, all mentees will have developed or improved the following skills as part of their interaction with their mentor:

1. Managing matters and briefs by email.
2. Accepting electronic briefs.
3. Using digital documents in court hearings.
4. Editing PDF documents: mark ups, highlights, tabs/bookmarks etc.
5. Formatting Word documents: headings, tables of contents, bullets and numbering etc.
6. Using all main video conferencing platforms relevant to the practice area.
7. Planning for cybersecurity and digital document security.
8. Risk management planning: including working from home, internet outages, damage to devices and losing files.
9. Establishing which devices, tools and software may be relevant and useful to the practice area.

The Information and Technology Committee, which is administering this scheme, will make the matches and will aim to match mentors and mentees in the same practice areas if possible.

If you are interested in joining the first intake of this scheme as a mentor or mentee, please submit this application form here. The deadline for initial applications is Friday 8 October 2021.

The Bar Council is seeking nominations for one (1) appointment to the LCA Business and Human Rights Committee (BHRC).

The Law Council’s Business and Human Rights Committee was established by the Executive in September 2014. It was formed to develop a policy focus in the emerging field of business and human rights law, consider how the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the Guiding Principles) can be implemented by Australian law firms, and raise awareness about the Guiding Principles for the legal profession.

Items on the Business and Human Rights Committee agenda include:

• developing networks with government, industry associations and key stakeholders to understand their work on business and human rights;
• providing feedback to government on the role of the legal profession in the implementation of the Guiding Principles;
• organising events on the Guiding Principles and their applicability to the legal profession;
• liaising with the Law Council’s Constituent Bodies on their engagement with business and human rights issues;
• supporting the development of a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for Australia;
• utilising the Law Council’s Special Consultative Status to attend and participate in relevant UN business and human rights events; and
• looking at how business and human rights training can be incorporated into legal education.

The Committee typically meets 3 – 4 times per year, with one face to face meeting, and the others by telephone conference. Additionally, the Committee shares information regularly by email.

The Bar’s protocol for nomination and appointment of Vic Bar members to external bodies can be viewed here. You are encouraged to provide a detailed expression of interest, which should identify any relevant areas of experience or expertise. This will assist the Bar Council to select the best candidate for the position.

Please forward your expression of interest to Miranda Tulloch at miranda.tulloch@vicbar.com.au. The closing date for EOIs is 4:00pm, Monday, 4 October, 2021.

Members working on pro bono matters can once again seek assistance from selected Monash University law students through the Open Justice Project. Students can assist with legal and paralegal tasks, such as legal research, simple drafting, and preparing chronologies or summaries of evidence. The Project is now in its second intake; during the first intake, barristers reported that they received very high-quality assistance on a wide range of matters. Barristers seeking the assistance of a student for a pro bono matter should complete the request form on the Open Justice Project webpage.

The Open Justice Project is a collaboration between the Victorian Bar and the Monash Faculty of Law. It establishes a panel of later year undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Faculty who provide pro bono legal assistance (such as research and paralegal assistance) to barristers in pro bono matters. The Patron of the Project is the Honourable Chris Maxwell AC, President of the Court of Appeal. For further information about the Project, members can see the Open Justice Project webpage here.

The Law Council of Australia (LCA) has invited the Victorian Bar to nominate a person for the 2021 Law Council’s President’s Award.

Members are invited to put forward their suggestions on whom the Bar Council should nominate for the Award. The eligibility criteria for the Award are available to read here.

Please email Miranda.Tulloch@vicbar.com.au with your suggestions and include a CV and a statement about the nominee’s achievements and how he or she fits the eligibility criteria by COB Friday, 24 September 2021. This will enable the Bar Council sufficient time to meet and consider all suggestions and submit a nomination to the LCA in early October.

Background

Each year, five of the Law Council’s most recent Past Presidents participate in a judging panel for the President’s Award. This is a prestigious annual award conferred in recognition of an Australian lawyer’s outstanding contribution to the public or other service. The Award is presented at the Law Council’s Gala Dinner. The judging panel will convene to consider the nominations following the close of nominations. The Law Council Gala Dinner is scheduled for Thursday, 25 November 2021, held at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Previous recipients of the President’s Award are (2007) Mr Lex Lasry QC, (2008) The Hon Ted Mullighan QC, (2009) Mr Bret Walker SC, (2010) Mr Colin McDonald QC, (2011) Ms Debbie Mortimer SC, (2012) Mr Mark Woods, (2013) Ms Elizabeth Heenan, (2014) Mr Geoffrey Eames AM QC and Ms Raelene Webb QC, (2015) Mr Ian Kennedy AM, (2016) Mr Julian McMahon, (2017) Mr David Neal SC, (2018) Mr Phillip Boulten SC, (2019) Ms Haley Allan and Mr Bill Mitchell and, (2020) Mr Stephen Keim SC.

Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Regulations 2021

The new Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme Regulations 2021 were passed on Tuesday, 24 August 2021 and are effective from Wednesday, 28 July 2021 to Saturday, 15 January 2022.

Click here to view the COVID-19 BCL Rent Relief Scheme with details on eligibility, criteria and application form.

BCL’s ability to continue to provide this relief and support to those most in need depends on the support of those Bar members who can continue to pay rent.

If you have any questions, please contact BCL by email at bclrentrelief@vicbar.com.au.

COVIDSafe

Please refer to Staying COVIDSafe at BCL for all information, communications, helpful links to COVID safe plans and restrictions as they happen and what we all need to do.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: MIDWEEK MAT MOVES // Svenson Barristers x Grounded Movement. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

A movement session combining mat Pilates and clinical exercise. An opportunity for the Barristers and friends of List S to finish your work day with some quality movement in the comfort and safety of your own home. Register here. Hosted by Charissa Fermelis, Physiotherapist and Pilates Practitioner, and founder/director of Grounded Movement

Victorian Bar members are encouraged to use the Member Benefits online portal, where you can access a wide variety of discounts, special offers, and member-only deals as part of your Bar membership.

The exclusive benefits are available Australia-wide and are not generally open to the public.

To activate your account and access the benefits, please click here. You must log in using your vicbar.com.au login details.

For up-to-date information about the Courts’ responses, please visit their websites:

• Federal Court of Australia – see here.
• Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia – see here.
• Supreme Court of Victoria – see here.
• County Court of Victoria – see here.
• Magistrates’ Court of Victoria – see here.

County Court of Victoria

The Court has reviewed our operational settings and the following will apply until further notice.

Circuit

Consistent with the easing of restrictions in certain parts of regional Victoria, the Court resumed circuits at the following locations from 20 September 2021:

• Latrobe Valley
• Mildura
• Warrnambool
• Wodonga

The Court did not resume circuit at Geelong, from 20 September 2021, as anticipated due to the lockdown which commenced from 11.59pm 19 September 2021. The Court will resume circuit at Geelong after restrictions are lifted and in accordance with the prevailing Health Directions.

Consistent with the easing of restrictions in Ballarat from 11.59pm 22 September 2021, the Court will resume circuits there from 27 September 2021.

The Court aims to resume sitting at Shepparton from 18 October 2021.

The modified jury trial procedures to meet density quotient and physical distancing requirements will continue to apply as no exemption was provided in the latest Health Directions.

The Circuits criminal jury trials where physical distancing required – guide for the profession and court users sets out the necessary modified procedures.

Melbourne criminal jury trials

As there have been no significant changes to restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne, jury trials in Melbourne remain suspended.

Melbourne – onsite attendance by practitioners and other court users

The operational court settings that have been in place since 18 August 2021 will remain.

This means only matters of urgency or priority can be conducted by the Court onsite and only where there is no reasonable alternative. The restrictions explicitly limit the attendance of court users (practitioners, parties and others) to the extent necessary to support the functioning of the court.

Onsite attendance by any practitioner or court user will be very much by exception and will require approval of the Chief Judge, coordinated through the chambers of the presiding judge.

Parties with matters listed during the lockdown period should contact the chambers of the presiding judge in the event of any uncertainty.

Melbourne and circuit - mask wearing

Mask setting 1 applies to criminal jury trials on circuit. This means, all trial participants (including the judge and counsel) must wear a mask.

Mask setting 2 applies to non-jury matters at Melbourne and on circuit provided the overall number of court users in the courtroom are at a minimum. This means, those in a speaking role (including the judge and counsel) are not required to wear a mask, but all other participants and other court users must wear a mask. In circumstances where in-person attendance of a large number of court users may be necessary, mask wearing by all court participants (including those in a speaking role such as the judge and counsel) will be required.

Melbourne and circuit - Letters of authority

The profession should obtain any letter of authority or work permit to attend onsite at court from their respective organisations, should this be required. 

An accused’s bail papers will suffice to attend onsite at court.

Conclusion

The Court’s approach will continue to be reviewed as matters progress.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has new rules relating to court file searches and affidavits, which will come into effect soon.

As of Friday, 1 October 2021, evidentiary documents filed in a proceeding, including affidavits, exhibits to affidavits, witness statements, expert reports, written submissions, outlines of argument and chronologies, may not be inspected by any non-party until the document has been read or relied on in open court or for an application determined without a hearing. 

Prior to a hearing or determination, parties to proceedings will be required to provide details to the Court of any evidentiary documents they intend to rely on. 

There is no change to the process for submitting a file search request. However, there will be some changes to how documents will be made available upon a search.  Further information on those changes will be published soon. 

The way affidavits and exhibits are filed with the Court will also change. From Friday 1 October 2021, they will be required to be filed as a single paginated document with a maximum of one exhibit or bundle exhibit if more than one document is referred to in the affidavit. Multiple exhibits or separate affidavits and exhibits will no longer be accepted. These requirements will not extend to affidavits filed with the Registrar of Probates, which will remain unchanged.

Practice Note SC Gen 20 Inspection of Civil Court Files by Non-Parties and Notice to the Profession (Changes to File Inspections and Affidavits) have been published on the Court’s website, providing further details of the changes and how they apply in the Common Law Division and Commercial Court.

Further information on these changes can be found in the Supreme Court news story.

The Sentencing Advisory Council has released a report on Sentencing Older Offenders in Victoria.

The report studies 30,033 offenders sentenced when aged 60 and over in the ten years from 2010 to 2019 in Victoria, finding that:

• between 2010 and 2019, the number of older offenders sentenced each year increased substantially, well beyond the growth of people aged 60 and above in the Victorian population.
• the increase in older offenders in the higher courts was mainly due to an increasing number of historical sex offence cases. Almost one in five sex offence cases involving older offenders was sentenced 40 years or more after the offending.
• the increase in older offenders sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court was mainly caused by an almost doubling of traffic/vehicle offences cases involving older offenders. The number of older offenders sentenced for assault and justice offences also more than doubled.
• the number of older offenders sentenced to imprisonment each year more than doubled between 2010 and 2019, partly explaining Victoria’s aging prison population.

The report is available on the Council’s website here.

Kids in grade 5 can be charged, convicted and sentenced with crimes under Victorian law.

In Victoria, children are deemed to be criminally responsible at the age of ten. In contrast, many other countries have set the minimum age at 14 years – the age recommended by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Earlier this year, 31 countries called on Australia to raise the age of criminal responsibility. It has also been the subject of recent consideration by all Australian Attorneys-General and the Commonwealth Government. Nothing has happened.

What is the law that applies to very young offenders in Victoria? How does it work in practice? How ‘responsible’ can pre- and early teens be? And why do so many think the law needs urgent change?

Join us as we explore these questions at The Law and You Forum – Age of innocence? Revisiting the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria.

When:
Tuesday 12 October 2021
5:30pm – 6:45pm

Where:
Online - We will email you a link before the event

Speakers:
Panellists will be announced soon! Stay tuned for updates

Cost:
Free - Registration required

Click here to register.

ACICA & CIArb International Arbitration Conference 2021

CIArb Australia Annual Lecture 2021

CIArb Australia will be hosting the Annual Lecture 2021 during Australian Arbitration Week on Tuesday, 19 October 2021 between 5:00–6:00pm AEDT. The speaker for this year's lecture is Mr Bret Walker AO SC and the lecture topic is Privacy or Secrecy? Open Justice Values as a Challenge to Arbitral Procedure.

Click here to view the flyer for more information and to register.

UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee for Australia invite you to join us for an online lecture on the Singapore Convention on Mediation. The live, interactive webinar will occur across two consecutive afternoons from 5:00pm (AWST) on Wednesday, 20 October 2021 and from 5:00pm (AEST) on Thursday, 21 October 2021.

The lecture will include a keynote address from Khory McCormick, a past Australian delegation member for UNCITRAL Working Group II, which produced the Singapore Convention. Laura Keily, Founder and Managing Director of Immediation, an online dispute resolution platform, will join the discussion.

For more details, including registration (free of charge) and about the speakers, see the flyer here.

The flyer available here is for a free event held by the Australian Academy of Law, most likely streamed online.

The annual Address was inaugurated in 2012, given by the Academy of Law’s then Patron, the Hon Robert French AC, then Chief Justice of Australia.  In 2020 it was given by Her Excellency The Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC; in 2019 by the Academy of Law’s present Patron, the Hon Susan Kiefel AC, Chief Justice of Australia; and in 2018 by the then Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias GNZM PC.

The Australian Academy of Law is grateful to The Hon James Allsop AO, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, for agreeing to deliver this, our tenth, Patron’s address. The topic of this year’s address – "Thinking about Law: the importance of how we attend to the problem at hand and of context”.

Last year, the IBA held a one-of-a-kind virtual event, the IBA 2020 – Virtually Together Conference, which took place during November. It was a resounding success with over 13,000 registrations! We are grateful to you, members and non-members, for supporting the conference.

This year the IBA invites you to join us for yet another first-of-its-kind event, the IBA Global Showcase taking place 25-29 October 2021. The IBA Global Showcase will be a virtual event, and registration will be FREE to both members and non-members of the IBA.

The IBA Global Showcase will highlight the wide range of important work undertaken, the huge expertise, and the experience the IBA membership has to offer and provide an important platform to share that knowledge with the widest possible global audience.

Throughout the week, there shall be a series of high-profile sessions, which will discuss some of the biggest issues and challenges facing the legal profession globally.

Furthermore, there shall be extensive networking opportunities for all who attend. The IBA Global Showcase will bring together the IBA’s membership and provide the opportunity of meeting once again, as well as the opportunity of making new friends and contacts through the networking sessions.

Whilst we are hopeful for a brighter tomorrow, we urge all our members to continue to take care and to engage with the IBA and the global legal community so that we can continue to support each other and protect the rule of law, human rights and core values of our profession.

We look forward to having you join us. Let us make this yet another memorable IBA event!

Click here to register.