VICTIMS OF CRIME (CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION REGULATIONS) AMENDMENT BILL 2003

Part 2—Amendment of Victims of Crime Act 2001

3—Amendment of Schedule 1—Repeal and transitional provisions

(1) Schedule 1, clause 2(1)—delete "subclause (2)" and substitute:

this Schedule

(2) Schedule 1—after clause 2 insert:

3—Modification of Criminal Injuries Compensation Regulations 2002

(1) For the purpose of applying the repealed Act to an application for compensation, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Regulations 2002 (Gazette 29.8.2002 p3313) are modified as set out in the following subclauses.

(2) Regulation 4—after the definition of Act insert:

hospital report, in relation to a victim, includes a report on the victim written by a member of the hospital's medical personnel, the whole of the victim's record from the hospital, or the written summary given to the victim on the victim's discharge from the hospital;

limited claim—a claim for compensation is a limited claim if it is limited to a claim for compensation for one or both of the following:

(a) for grief suffered in consequence of the death of a person killed by homicide (see section 7(2a) of the Act);

(b) for funeral expenses where a victim dies in consequence of an offence (see section 7(2b) of the Act);

related claim—a claim for compensation is a related claim for compensation if—

(a) in proceedings under the Act, the same legal practitioner represents more than one victim of an offence claiming compensation in respect of injury arising from the offence; or

(b) in proceedings under the Act, the same legal practitioner represents more than one victim of a series of offences claiming compensation in respect of injury arising from the series of offences;

series of offences means offences committed consecutively by one offender, or offences committed simultaneously or consecutively by offenders acting in concert (see section 9 of the Act).

(3) Regulation 5—delete "For the purposes of section 7(3) of the Act, the following are the prescribed particulars" and substitute:

Subject to this regulation, a person must include in a notice under section 7(3) of the Act the following prescribed particulars of the proposed application for compensation

(4) Regulation 5(i)—delete paragraph (i) and substitute:

(i) if the offender(s) were convicted of the offence—

(i) brief details of the conviction; and

(ii) details of any appeal lodged against the conviction by the offender(s);

(5) Regulation 5(p)—delete paragraph (p) and substitute:

(p) a copy of either (or both) of the following:

(i) if the victim was treated for the injury in a hospital—the hospital report (up to 20 pages) relating to the victim; or

(ii) a report from a general medical practitioner or dentist summarising—

(A) the history taken from the victim; and

(B) the nature and extent of the injury; and

(D) whether there is a need for any future treatment and, if so, the nature of the future treatment; and

(E) the prognosis; and

(F) the nature and extent of any permanent disability as a result of the injury;

(pa) copies of any other medical reports in the claimant's possession;

(6) Regulation 5—after the current contents of the regulation as amended by this clause (now to be designated as subregulation (1)) insert:

(2) A person who is proposing only to make an application for a limited claim for compensation is not required to provide the prescribed particulars contained in paragraphs (l) to (pa) of subregulation (1).

(3) The prescribed particulars must be verified by statutory declaration.

(7) Regulation 6—delete the regulation and substitute:

6—Applicable scale of costs

(1) For the purposes of section 10 of the Act—

(a) if the Crown Solicitor was notified of a proposed application for compensation before 19 December 2002, the prescribed scale of costs to be applied in respect of proceedings under the Act is the scale set out in the Schedule as in force immediately before 19 December 2002;

(b) if neither the Crown Solicitor is notified of a proposed application for compensation nor an application for compensation is lodged with the court until after 19 December 2002, the prescribed scale of costs to be applied in respect of proceedings under the Act is the scale set out in the Schedule as in force immediately after the commencement of Part 2 of the Victims of Crime (Criminal Injuries Compensation Regulations) Amendment Act 2003 (whether any disbursement in respect of the application has been incurred prior to 19 December 2002 or not).

(2) However, a disbursement reasonably incurred in accordance with the scale of costs in force at the time it was incurred will be recoverable in accordance with that scale of costs.

(3) No fee is payable in respect of proceedings under the Act except as set out in the scale of costs in the applicable Schedule.

(4) However subregulation (3) does not prevent the Crown from recovering its costs in respect of proceedings under the Act.

(8) Schedule—delete the Schedule and substitute:

Schedule—Prescribed scale of costs

1—Solicitors fee

A solicitor may charge a fee for a claim for compensation as follows:

(a) a fee of $500 for a limited claim where the identity of the offender is known and compensation is agreed;

Note—

A solicitor is not entitled to a fee in respect of a limited claim for compensation where the identity of the offender is unknown and the Crown Solicitor agrees to settle the claim. Such a claim should be dealt with by writing to the Crown Solicitor and providing the Crown Solicitor with details of the claim.

(b) a fee of $1 000 for any other claim that is not a related claim;

(c) if the claim is a related claim—a fee of $1 000 for the first claim and, for each of the other related claims, a fee of $800.

2—Counsels fee

(1) Counsel may charge a fee of not more than $750 for all work preparatory to an application to the court for compensation (including, advice on evidence and any other legal advice on the application, conferences and proofing witnesses) and for the first 5 hours of the hearing of the application.

(2) Counsel may charge an additional fee of 1/5 of the preliminary fee actually charged for each hour or part of an hour after the first 5 hours of the hearing of the application.

(3) Subject to subclause (4), counsel may charge a fee of $500 for an opinion as to the compromise of a minor's claim for compensation.

(4) Counsel may charge a fee of $350 for each opinion as to the compromise of a minor's related claim for compensation.

3—Fee for an appeal

The fee that may be charged for an appeal is $500.

4—Disbursements

(1) Subject to this clause, if—

(a) an application for an order for compensation is made to the court, a legal practitioner may recover all disbursements reasonably incurred under the Act as allowed by certificate of the court;

(b) a claim for compensation is settled without an application for an order for compensation being made to the court, a legal practitioner may recover all disbursements reasonably incurred as certified by the Crown Solicitor.

(2) A legal practitioner may recover the reasonable cost of obtaining the following reports relating to a victim:

(a) a hospital report (up to 20 pages);

(b) the report of a general medical practitioner or dentist.

(3) A legal practitioner may not recover the cost of obtaining a report relating to a victim—

(a) in the case of a hospital report that is longer than 20 pages, unless—

(i) the Crown Solicitor has given prior agreement; or

(ii) the court is satisfied that the whole of the victim's record from the hospital is, in the circumstances, necessary for the determination of the matter;

(b) in the case of a report from more than one expert in the same specialty, unless the Crown Solicitor has given prior agreement;

(i) the Crown Solicitor has given prior agreement; or

(ii) the court is satisfied that the report of a medical practitioner or dentist would not provide the court with the evidence necessary for the determination of the matter;

(d) in the case of any other report—

(i) unless the legal practitioner served notice in writing containing the prescribed particulars of the proposed application on the Crown Solicitor in accordance with section 7(3) of the Act but no acceptable settlement offer was made within the period of 3 months after notice was served; or

(ii) the Crown Solicitor has given prior agreement that the additional report is necessary, having regard to—

(A) the nature of the victim's injury; and

(B) whether the proposed specialist has treated the victim for the injury; and

(C) whether a report from a general medical practitioner or dentist would provide the evidence necessary for the determination of the matter.

5—Legal practitioner not negligent if relies on certain reports

A legal practitioner who relies on—

(a) a copy of the victim's hospital report; or

(b) the report of the victim's general medical practitioner or dentist,

in the course of, or in connection with, giving advice about a claim for compensation in respect of the victim will be taken not to have acted negligently in so doing.

South Australian Bills

VICTIMS OF CRIME (CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION REGULATIONS) AMENDMENT BILL 2003