When questions are referred to the Trial Division for a reference determination under s 319A of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic), the referral judge may be asked to determine factual questions that bear on whether conduct deprived an accused of independent representation or materially affected the course of a trial, without impermissibly traversing the legal questions reserved for the Court of Appeal. The words 'about the applicant' in a referred question are of wide import and intended to allow the referral judge to consider all relevant information that is the subject of factual dispute.
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