Criminal Law (Legal Representation) Act 2001 (SA)

South Australia Criminal Law (Legal Representation) Act 2001 An Act to ensure that legal representation is available for persons charged with serious offences; and for other purposes.

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 3 Object 4 Interpretation 5 Territorial application of Act Part 2—Entitlement to legal assistance 6 Entitlement to legal assistance 7 Commission to choose legal practitioner by whom legal assistance is to be provided Part 3—Representation procedures 8 Procedures to be followed at directions hearing 9 Representation of certain defendants 10 Certain costs may be awarded against defendant personally Part 4—Modification of common law rights 11 Modification of common law Part 5—Recovery of legal assistance costs Division 1—Investigations and inquiries into assets 12 Commission's powers of investigation Division 2—Recovery from financially associated persons 13 Recovery from financially associated persons Division 3—Power to deal with assets and transactions 14 Power to deal with assets 15 Power to set aside transactions Part 6—Miscellaneous 16 Exercise of jurisdiction 17 Periodic accounts and final accounts 18 Reimbursement of Commission 19 Protection for Commission against orders for costs 20 Service 21 Transitional provision 22 Regulations Legislative history

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows: Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Criminal Law (Legal Representation) Act 2001. 3—Object The objects of this Act are— (a) to ensure that legal representation is available to persons charged with serious offences; and (b) as a consequence of the provision made for legal representation—to limit the application of the rule under which the trial of a person charged with a serious offence may be stayed on the ground that the trial would be unfair for want of legal representation; and (c) to ensure, as far as practicable, that trials are not disrupted by adjournments arising because the defendant lacks legal representation; and (d) to ensure that defendants who obtain legal representation under this Act pay for it to the extent their means allow. 4—Interpretation (1) In this Act— assisted person means a person for whom legal assistance of a kind mandated under section 6(1) or (1a) is, or has been, provided; associated proceedings, in relation to a trial, means proceedings that are preliminary or ancillary to the trial (including proceedings in which the validity of the charge is challenged), but does not include— (a) any such proceedings that commence before the first directions hearing after arraignment; or (b) an appeal; or (c) proceedings under this Act; category 1—see subsection (2); category 2—see subsection (2); Commission means the Legal Services Commission; court means the court before which the defendant is arraigned; date of a relevant offence means the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed; defendant means a person charged with an offence; financially associated—a person is financially associated with an assisted person if— (a) a financial association exists between them under criteria generally applied by the Commission for determining whether a financial association exists; and (b) the Commission has determined that a financial association exists between them; legal assistance means legal assistance under the LSC Act; legal assistance costs, in respect of an assisted person, means all costs of providing legal assistance to the person in relation to the relevant trial (see section 5(2) of the LSC Act) regardless of whether the costs were incurred before or after the person became an assisted person and includes the costs of providing— (a) legal assistance of a kind mandated under section 6(1) and (1a); and (b) all other legal assistance (other than prescribed legal assistance) which the person was eligible for and provided with under the LSC Act for matters related to and preliminary or ancillary to the trial, including (without limitation) committal proceedings under Part 5 Division 3 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1921; LSC Act means the Legal Services Commission Act 1977; prescribed legal assistance means— (a) legal assistance provided to a person for the purposes of an appeal against conviction or sentence; and (b) legal assistance of a kind prescribed by the regulations; relevant offence means the offence with which an assisted person is charged; section 13B witness means a witness who is the alleged victim of an offence to which section 13B of the Evidence Act 1929 applies; serious offence means an indictable offence under the law of the State that is to be tried in the Supreme Court or the District Court, and includes any summary offence that is to be tried together with such an offence in the same proceedings; trial means a trial of a serious offence before the Supreme Court or the District Court. (2) Assisted persons are divided into 2 categories as follows: (a) those who are, apart from this Act, eligible for legal assistance under the LSC Act (category 1); and (b) those who are not (category 2). (3) For the purposes of the definition of associated proceedings, proceedings may be preliminary or ancillary to a trial whether or not the matter actually proceeds to trial. 5—Territorial application of Act (1) This Act applies to— (a) property within or outside the State; and (b) transactions occurring within or outside the State. (2) This Act applies outside the State to the full extent of the extra-territorial legislative capacity of the Parliament.