Being a low income earner (only casually employed) I am eligible to apply for legal aid. When I applied for legal aid for my gun offences last year I was knocked back and had to defend myself in court.
When I lost my court cases in the magistrates court I appealed against the legality of the gun laws. Again I applied for legal aid and this time it was granted as of November.
I recently received a letter from Queensland Legal aid (dated 4 March but received 10 March) revoking my grant of Legal aid. I understand that they had "made a mistake in November" in granting me legal aid. Apparently they didn't understand at the time what the aid was required for. Strange I thought I put the reason on the application form.
Strange to give legal aid when you don't understand only to have to remove it later. This has mucked me and my (ex) solicitor about and cost me money for no result.
Of course if I had been a real criminal and had shot some-one with those air rifles (Kingaroy) or .22 with no barrel (Brisbane) I would get legal aid. If I had been a politically correct activist I might still have aid
The problem is I am just a silly honest person and am not fighting for trees or the right to be a deviant. I just feel that the gun laws the government has brought in are illegal laws and am prepared to fight. Of course guns are not popular with civil libertarians so why did I expect anything- silly of me wasn't it
I have received many replies from the Attorney-Generals of the Australian States to my 78B notice. These are uniformly negative saying that they (the Attorney-General) will not intervene in this case despite a conflict between Federal and state law existing.
Well at least they are replying.
5 August 98
LEGAL AID QUEENSLAND contacted me and I was permitted to talk to a reviewing officer about my appeal for Legal Aid. Legal aid was rejected but I was told that I could request legal aid again for an appeal.
28/6/98
LEGAL AID OFFICE
RE- LEGAL AID APPLICATION
You ref- INB9805500/JBD of 19/6/98
I would like to appeal the dis-allowance of Legal Aid.
The prosecution of myself for illegal possession of weapons is not one of my personal criminality but rather one of the criminality of possibly millions of Australians who have refused to accept the New Gun Laws and have failed to hand in all their guns.
Many of us believe that under the Bill of Rights (1689) we have a right to have weapons and as such we are not criminals.
I may have had the money to defend myself in a normal matter but as this is a case of the validity of the law and not whether the facts prove I did what is stated in the charge sheet I cannot afford to defend myself in this case.
That the trial is being held in a magistrates court is because the offence is not regarded as extremely serious in its consequences as I probably will not be imprisoned. However it is severe in its consequences to the society in that an innocent person can be penalised by a possibly illegal law.
I request that before you use technicalities to dis-approve my application that you consider the consequences of more people being prosecuted under a dubious law. The Judgements made without this law being tested in the courts may all end up being proved unsound or totally wrong. The compensation consequences at a later date may be enormous.
© 1997 marsiegen@burcom.com.au
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