No3–August2012|MarkPedley,Judicial
Registrar
Retirements of Justice
Hansen and Justice Mandie
Justice Hansen retiredon31July2012and Justice Mandiewillretireon31August2012. Attached isalinktoaspeechbytheChief Justiceontheoccasion oftheretirement of JusticeHansen.
+justice+hartley+hansen+final+appearance
Statistics update and end of financial year review
The excellentprogress in reducing the backlogofcriminalappealscontinuedduring the2011/12 financialyear.Thegraphbelow highlights thedramaticdeclineinpending appealssince28February 2011,thedatethe criminalappealreformscommenced.
On28February 2011,therewereover500 pending appeals. By 1 July 2011 this had beenreduced to404andby30June2012 furtherreducedto214. AttheendofJuly
2012thependingfigurehasremainedat214
cases.
Thenumber ofoldercaseshasreduced significantly. InJuly2011,161ofthepending appeals(40%)hadbeeninitiated12months agoorlonger. BytheendofJune2012,this hadbeenreducedto45(25%).
Ifthenumberofpendingappealsremainsat thelevelof200-250, itisexpected thatall sentence appeals will be able to be listed within 6-8 months of initiation and all conviction appealswillbeabletobelisted within8-10monthsofinitiation.
During2011/12, 523criminalappealswere finalised and329wereinitiated.Thisresulted inasubstantial reductioninthenumberof pendingappeals.
Intermsofleaveapplications overthelast financialyear:
•233applicationsforleavetoappealwere determinedbyasinglejudge.
•48% of leave applications had an oral hearingand52%weredetermined"onthe papers."
•55% of applicants for leave had their applicationsgrantedinfullorinpartand
45%(106)wererefused.
•Ofthoseapplicantswhowerenotgranted leaveto appeal by a single judge,
50electedtohavetheirapplication determined by a bench of 3 judges.
39wererefused,8weregrantedand
3partiallygranted.
Budgetreport
TherecentStateGovernment budgetmade provision foron-going fundingtotheCourtof Appealtoenablethecriminalappealreforms to continue. This is very welcome and will allowtheon-goingemployment ofRegistry staff,includinglawyers,recruitedtosupport thecriminalappealreforms.
Practice and Procedure updates
UpdatedPracticeDirection
ThePracticeDirection whichsetsoutthenew criminal appealregime hasbeenrevisedin consultationwith the agencies and professionalbodies.Theproceduressetout in therevisedPracticeDirection havebeenin operation since2July2012.Therevisions reflectfine-tuningin light of the experience overthefirst18months ofthereforms and currentCourtofAppealRegistrypractices.
The Revised Practice Direction is on the
Court’swebsiteatthefollowingaddress:
+2011+-+coa+notes
Themainchangesare:
GroundsofAppeal/WrittenCase
(Section4)
The written case for a sentence appeal, should record the sentences imposed in tabularformatassetoutinAnnexure 1tothe PracticeDirection:s4(5)(b).
If a plea proceeded on the basis of a statement of agreed facts, that document mustbeattached tothewrittencaseandthe facts not summarised in the written case: s4(5)(c).
Acomplaint abouttheweightgiventoafactor insentencing shouldbeexpressed asa particular ofmanifestexcessinlinewithDPP (Vic)vTerrick (2009) 24VR457; PesavThe Queen[2012]VSCA109:s4(5)(d)(iii).
Alistofauthoritiesandalistofmaterialthe party intends to rely on, as set out in Annexure 2,istobeattachedtothewritten case,s4(5)(e)and(f).AuthoritiesinPartAof thelist–those tobereadfrom–mustbe providedtotheRegistryelectronicallywiththe writtencasewhenfiledand,ifreported, that versionisrequired.
Thenameofthecounsel/solicitorwhosigned
thewrittencasemustappear belowthe signatureonthewrittencase,s4(7).
RevisionofWrittenCase(Section7)
Therevisionreflectstheestablishedpractice thatgroundsofappealinanapplication for leavetoappealagainstconviction maybe revised without leaveduringtherevision period. Therevision periodissetbythe Registrar inwritingtotheapplicant, andin accordwiththePracticeDirection, the Registrarusuallyallows21daysforrevisionof thewrittencase.
Foranapplication forleavetoappealagainst sentence, revisionofgroundsisnotordinarily invitedorpermitted. TherevisedPractice Directionsetsoutaprocedure wherebyan applicantmaybeinvited orpermittedtorevise theirgroundsinasentence appealonrequest totheRegistrar.
Aftertherevisionperiod,inanapplication for leavetoappealaconviction, theleaveofthe Courtisrequiredtoamendoraddanyground. Inanapplicationforleavetoappealsentence, ifrevisionisnotinvitedorpermitted bythe Registrar, theleaveoftheCourtisrequiredto amendgrounds.
CrownResponsetoWrittenCase
(Section8)
The time fortheCrown’sresponsetoawritten caseisnow28days,ratherthan21days: s8(5).ThisreflectscurrentRegistrypractice toallow28daysfor aresponse.Thisisinline withthetimetheapplicant hasfromsentence inwhichtofileanapplication.
TheCrownneednotsummarisethefactsin itswritten caseifitagrees withtheapplicant’s summary.Thisalsoreflectscurrentpractice: s8(6).
ReferralbyRegistrar(Section9)
Thissection dealswiththereferralofleave applications totheCourtbytheRegistrarand reflectstheestablishedpracticeofassessing eachcaseto determineiftheleaveapplication shouldbelistedbeforeasinglejudgeortwo ormorejudges(where, ineffect, aseparate leavestageisbypassedandtheleaveand
any appeal – if leave is granted – is determinedatthesamehearing).
Elections againstRefusalsofApplications forExtensions ofTimewithinwhichtofile NoticeofAppeal/Application(Section14)
Thisisanewsection whichdealswith elections by applicants to have their application foranextensionoftimetofilean application, earlierrefusedbytheRegistrar, heardbytheCourt.Againthisreflects current practice.
Abandonment of Appeals and Appeal
Grounds(Section20)
Thissectionhasbeenamended tostatethat thepropertimeforabandonmentofgroundsis duringtherevision period.Italsosetsoutthe expectationthatcounselbriefedtoappearis expected to review the grounds well in advance of the listed date and advise the CourtofAppealRegistryassoonaspossible ifanyground inthewritten case willnotbe maintained.
Twojudgeleaveapplicationstobe trialled
TheCourthasdecidedtotrialtheapproachof havingtwojudgesconsiderapplications for leaveagainstsentence. Whereleaveis granted thiswillallowtheCourttohearthe appealagainstsentence atthesamehearing. Thetrialwilltakeplaceonthefollowingdates:
31August,10September and26September. Eachpartyinthecasesincludedinthetrial hasbeenadvised ofthesearrangements. Following thetrialtheviewsoftheagencies andprofessionalbodieswillbesoughtasto theefficacyofthisapproach.
UpcomingCircuit
ThenextCourtofAppealcircuitwill takeplace at Shepparton on 24 to 26 of September
2012. Fourcriminal appeals andonecivil appealarescheduled tobeheardonthe circuit.