Victoria Legal Aid Handbook for Lawyers

Guideline 3.2 – committal proceedings in other cases

In any matters other than those detailed in criminal law guideline 3.1, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) may make a grant of legal assistance to a person for representation at committal proceedings if, from the available material including the prosecution evidence and the accused person’s instructions VLA is satisfied that there is a 'strong likelihood' that a benefit will result from representation of the person.

Examples of the ‘benefit’ that may result from representation at a committal hearing include that:

  • the charge which the accused person faces will be dealt with summarily
  • a committal hearing is likely to result in an early plea
  • a committal hearing will lead to a significant reduction in the length of any later trial or plea
  • the person will be discharged at the committal.

More information

For more information and guidance on interpreting and applying this guideline see these resources:

Also see VLA’s website for information on the Major Criminal Cases FrameworkExternal Link .

Reviewed 04 April 2023

In this section