New practice direction for sexual violence case management
The District Court of Queensland Practice Direction Number 3 or 2024 – Sexual violence case management has introduced new requirements for proceedings involving sexual violence offences. Where appropriate it requires practitioners to attend:
- a case review hearing
- a mediated case conference
- a trial readiness hearing.
Practitioners are also required to complete an online form for the court prior to the case review hearing and also prior to the trial readiness hearing.
Once the committal has been completed and prior to the indictment being presented in the District Court of Queensland, practitioners should submit their request for funding for District Court proceedings. Where the client has not provided instructions to plead guilty, practitioners should apply for the District Court examine depositions grant. This grant of aid covers initial preparation, group conferences, negotiation with the ODPP and mentions.
It is expected practitioners will take instructions from the defendant in sexual violence matters at the earliest opportunity in line with the practice direction. Where the client provides signed instructions to proceed to trial, the practitioner should lodge an extension of aid for a District Court trial as soon as possible.
In response to the practice direction, Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ) has created an additional grant of aid to remunerate practitioners for the additional case management requirements. The additional grant of aid applies to all sexual violence offence proceedings in the District Court which are part of the Sexual Violence Case Management Pilot in Brisbane or Ipswich.
Case Review Hearing
Once matters are ordered to be included on the Sexual Violence Case Management List, practitioners should submit an extension of aid for a the pilot grant. Practitioners are required to complete the Case Review Form at least 5 business days prior to the Case Review Hearing. A copy of this form must be kept on the legal file for audit purposes. The new grant of aid captures all the additional work required by the practitioner under this direction including the completion of this form.
LAQ can appear as agent where the case review hearing is listed as an extension of the usual mentions or call over list (already serviced by one of our duty lawyers) and where there are no anticipated outstanding issues that would require personal knowledge of the case. In matters where parties are likely to be called upon to address issues, solicitors with carriage should attend the Case Review Hearing. This has been contemplated within the SVDC grant of aid.
Where practitioners seek LAQ to appear as an agent, the applicable District Court call over request form must be completed.
All requests for an agent must be forwarded at least 1 business day before the Case Review Hearing. For requests to appear in the Brisbane District Court, LAQ can appear Monday to Friday. For Ipswich District Court attendances, please contact the Ipswich office for availability.
The legal practitioner will need to be explicit in their instructions to LAQ and provide a copy of the completed court form. This will allow LAQ to speak to:
- any intermediary applications required
- any pre-trial issues (including protected counselling communication applications)
- confirming readiness to proceed with any pre-recording of special witnesses
- trial readiness
- estimated trial length
- availability for further court events.
If LAQ are unable to appear at the Case Review Hearing, our team will let you know.
Mediated case conference
The requirement for practitioners to attend a mediated case conference is included in the new grant of aid and includes counsel.
The preparation required for the mediated case conference falls within the scope of the standard matter, and as such, it is covered by the substantive grant of aid.
Trial Readiness Hearing
Practitioners are required to complete the Trial Readiness Form at least 5 business days prior to the Trial Readiness Hearing. A copy of this form must be kept on the legal file for audit purposes. The new grant of aid captures all the additional work required by the practitioner under this direction including the completion of this form however the appearance itself should be claimed as a mention under standard District Court grants.
LAQ can appear as agent where there are no anticipated outstanding issues that would require personal knowledge of the case. In matters where parties are likely to be called upon to address issues, solicitors with carriage should attend.
Where practitioners seek LAQ to appear as an agent, the applicable District Court call over request form must be completed.
All requests must be forwarded at least 1 business day before the Trial Readiness Hearing and a copy of the form completed should be attached. Please provide detailed instructions to allow for LAQ to appear at this hearing.
Trial review
The trial review is claimable as a mention under the substantive District Court grant of aid.
Trial
Attendance at trial is claimable under substantive District Court grants of aid. The District Court trial grant of aid provides for day one of trial. If additional trial days are required, please submit an extension of aid for additional trial days.
Extraordinary/expensive case grants
At any stage of the District Court proceedings, a practitioner may submit a request for expensive or extraordinary funding, having regard to the relevant criteria.
Where an extraordinary case grant has been issued, the substantive District Court trial grants and the new pilot grant will remain active and can be claimed by the practitioner in addition to the extraordinary fee.
Where an expensive case grant has been issued, the substantive District Court trial grants and the new pilot grant will be cancelled. Any additional work as a result of this practice direction can be time recorded against the file for payment under the expensive case fee.
New grant of aid
The new grant of aid for the pilot is SVDC. This grant will only be issued once per file unless a transfer of solicitor is required.
If you have any questions about District Court funding, please contact your Grants team.