legal aid

so if you believe in the right to a fair trial,we have to have access to legal aid lawyers. if you believe in the idea of justice, wehave to have access to legal aid lawyers. if you believe in the idea that liberty shouldbe deprived only as a measure of last resort, we have to have legal aid lawyers. if you believe in the idea that justice depends on how much you earn, then we have to have accessto legal aid lawyers. without vla performing that function on behalfof people who can't represent themselves, can't afford legal assistance and are fightingagainst considerable public opprobrium the rule of law in victoria would simply not be honoured. legal aid. it's about a fair go. it's a vitalpart of the web of support. it's as important as medicare and free education. it's about making sure that the powerful don't take advantage of the weak.

ordinary people have ordinary needs. they need to keep a roof over their head, food in the fridge and they need to keep the lights on. and we need organisations like victorialegal aid to make sure that happens. there are people in our community who suffermore legal problems than others. those groups include the homeless, the poor, the sole parent,the disabled, the chronically ill. those people have many more legal problems than the restof the population. those people have problems which affect their well-being, their income,their housing. having a well-resourced legal aid system enables them to have decisionsmade about their lives which are fair and just. and by giving voice to many of theirissues we are also enhancing our justice system.

hard to imagine how victoria's criminal justicesystem, in particular the victorian county court would operate without a well-functioninglegal aid system. victoria legal aid certainly provides that. publically accessible legal aid is absolutely vital. if people can't enforce their rightsunder the law, the law becomes effectively meaningless. and often free legal help isthe difference between being able to enforce your rights or having no rights at all. we really value the role that victorian legal aid plays in ensuring that people can access justice regardless of their means. the contribution of victoria legal aid toachieving justice with all that concept implies in terms of fairness and transparency is vitaland well recognised. vulnerable litigants need legal aid and justice requires that vulnerablelitigants be appropriately represented.

vla has a very important role in representingthe majority of criminal offenders in victoria. in particular its role in strategic litigationas evidenced in the guideline judgement handed down late last year by the court of appealwhich will change the course of sentencing history in victoria. victoria legal aid is an integral part of the legal profession. together with privatepractitioners and the courts victoria legal aid ensures that everyone has access to justice. if there were no legal aid children's voices would not be heard in the court process. they also provide representation for families in the conciliation conferencing area. that is vital in terms of trying to resolve as many cases as possible to avoid the trauma, expense and time delays associated with defendant hearings. the fact is that withoutan effective legal aid office, the work of this court would grind to a halt.

and without services like vla and the passionate lawyers that you employ our clients wouldn't really get access to fairness and access to justice that they deserve. and that might be helping them out with infringements or other legal issues that they have no understandingof how to navigate the system. so thank you vla.