A trial judge must inform an unrepresented accused of the right to apply under s 360A of the Crimes Act 1958 and of the evidence required for such an order, and must not assume the accused would refuse to provide financial information to the court merely because the accused refused to provide it to Victoria Legal Aid. However, the failure to consider s 360A does not of itself constitute a miscarriage of justice — the accused must demonstrate that the lack of representation resulted in an unfair trial. The stalking offence under s 21A(3) requires only an objective mental element: that the accused ought to have understood the likely effect of the conduct. No unanimity direction is required as to the particular acts constituting the 'course of conduct'.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 7 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.