Removal of cost limit for second and subsequent appeals and introduction of interim fees

On 24 January 2020, we introduced a limit of $55,000 on fees payable for second and subsequent appeals under Part 6.4 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009.

The introduction of this limit followed the enactment of amendments to the Act in December 2019 to allow a second or subsequent appeal against conviction only (not sentence) in the Court of Appeal.

Those amendments were introduced, in part, due to possible appeals likely to arise from the findings of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants (RCMPI) after the commission handed down its final report in November 2020.

We reviewed the cost limit after two years in operation and decided to revoke it given the anticipated process for appeals to the Court of Appeal relating to the RCMPI which applies to both first and second or subsequent appeals.

Removal of this limit avoids an inequity in the level of funding provided to recipients of grants of legal assistance irrespective of whether their matter is a first appeal or a second/subsequent appeal.

We have also introduced new interim fees for appeals to the Court of Appeal relating to the RCMPI to align with the court’s anticipated process for managing these appeals.

These fees are subject to review within 12 months.

More information

For queries about the interim fees, please email grants@vla.vic.gov.au