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Duty Solicitors - Local & Children's Courts Duty Solicitor Procedure - General Guidelines On rostered duty days the Duty Solicitor can arrive at court from 8.30 am. This allows sufficient time for the interviewing of clients who are in custody or on bail. Solicitors who are unable to attend court on their rostered duty day must arrange for another duty solicitor to attend in their place. This solicitor must be on the current roster and hold a delegation, as the delegations are personal(ie. to the solicitor and not the firm). The replacement can be another solicitor from your firm, only if delegated. The Duty Solicitor must take a full written Application for Legal Aid from ALL persons requesting legal aid representation. This includes all juvenile applicants. The Application for Legal Aid must be FULLY completed and the applicant must sign and date the application where appropriate. Changes to Procedures for Granting Aid Solicitors are not required to submit applications for legal aid to the Commission for duty solicitor appearances, but should retain them in their office. Duty solicitors no longer determine grants of legal aid for defended hearings, committals and plea matters requiring a disbursment under the Duty Solicitor Scheme. Grants of legal aid for these matters require completed duty applications, with documented verification of income and assets, to be submitted to the Commission for determination. Legal aid should only be granted to adult applicants who qualify under the means test in matters that are within policy guidelines. The means test does not apply to adults in custody for first appearance bail applications and children appearing in the Children's Court. The income and assets of the adult applicant's spouse or defacto spouse must also be taken into account. See Legal Aid Policies and Means Test Guidelines for further information. |
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