17 September 2014
Section 29A panels training – Youth crime subset
Pre-requisite assignment questions
After reading the materials provided, please answer each question in no more than 150 words.
Point form is allowable.
Question 1
Thirteen-year-old Alice rings you from the police station where she is about to be interviewed about
an alleged theft of a box of condoms from her local supermarket. English is her second language
but is not strong. Her nineteen-year-old brother Patrick is present as her independent person and it
is proposed that he translate for her. She has not previously come to the attention of the police.
What do you need to do before advising Alice about her options?
Question 2
What issues do you need to consider before advising Alice about her options?
Question 3
What advice do you give Alice about her options?
Question 4
Alice tells you that she took the condoms so she could have sex with her seventeen-year-old
boyfriend, Sonny. They have been together for two years and the relationship has been building up
to this point over the past six months. While talking to her you think that there is something not quite
right in the way that she is talking and you wonder if she might be low functioning, but perhaps that
is just the language barrier.
Does this affect the advice you give to Alice about her options?
Question 5
After Alice is charged with theft and receives her charge sheet she makes an appointment to see
you to talk about her case. She plans to bring in Patrick to assist with interpretation.
What to you advise Alice in terms of preparation for the interview?
Question 6
When Alice arrives for the interview she has both Patrick and Sonny with her. She wants them both
present while you talk to her.
What do you say/do?
Question 7
You speak with Alice using a level 3 interpreter. Even with the qualified interpreter your concerns
about Alice being low functioning remain. She confirms that the condoms were for her and Sonny to
have sex, and adds that even without the condoms they have now actually started a sexual
relationship, but she doesn’t want you to give that information to anyone else. She says that she
doesn’t understand what the big deal was about her taking the condoms because at school they
were told that if you were going to have sex you should use condoms, so that’s what she was
doing. At school they were told that there were lots of places you could go to get them for free. She
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Victoria Legal Aid Youth Crime Subset pre-requisite assignment questions
didn’t know where those places were, but she couldn’t see why if they are free in one place they
wouldn’t be free in another.
What advice do you give to Alice about her options? What do you do to prepare before the first
mention date?
Question 8
What do you do about Alice’s disclosure about her sexual relationship?
Question 9
How would you conduct the case from this point?
Question 10
What do you expect that the outcome of this case would or should be? Include references to
possible dispositions, reports and sentencing principles.
Please submit your answers by email to panels@vla.vic.gov.au by 5pm Friday 17 October 2014.
Enquiries:
Andrew Morse, Panels Coordinator, VLA
e: panels@vla.vic.gov.au
t: (03) 9269 0644
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