VIC Where to Obtain Court Case Information?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Shadz

Well-Known Member
6 September 2016
28
0
121
Hi,

I would just like to find out how to obtain the information/details of a court case that had a (2nd) hearing today (23/12/2016) in a Victorian court (Melbourne I believe, as the local court was closed but I'm not sure and I have no Idea on which type/level of court/Jurisdiction). It doesn't show up on EFAS/daily court lists when I search for their last name. I believe the defendant (a Victorian police officer) has requested it not be made public.

It appears to be for a DVO against him, though I found out he was arrested and had to post bail in regards to it ( I tried ringing local station, got the run around, transferred a lot and then whomever I was speaking to didn't seem to realise I wasn't an officer/lawyer initially and gave out that bit of information). He is the live in boyfriend of my ex-wife at the moment and my children are due to spend 3 weeks with them starting next week.

Both the ex-wife and the boyfriend have made countless threats/ abuse/ intimidation against me and I was already fearful of the children's safety around him before finding out about him being arrested for what I believe is domestic violence against his ex-wife and their 2 daughters.

If anyone can tell me who to call, especially given it's Christmas Eve etc. that would be appreciated. I'm hesitant to call the Victorian Police as he's a VIC police officer but if that's the best course of action then I'll just make sure it's not his local station I call.

Extra questions:

Would my ex-wife be required to advise me of this court case as part of the Duty of Disclosure that forms part of a Custody Order, especially if it is a DVO involving children?

If the court finds him guilty and he has a restraining order stopping him from seeing his own children (or at least unsupervised), do I have grounds to not send my children to stay with their mother in a house with him for 3 weeks and/or at least only send them on the grounds that he is not to be present/around them at any time.

More information:

(I live in QLD) I contacted the Victorian Law firm that has represented me in defending several DVO's from my ex-wife (whom lives and files them in VIC). I intended to file a DVO against the ex-wife as her abuse and threats have gotten worse since she lost a second custody battle (i have 100% custody) and the 2 DVOs she made against me after that both got thrown out. She withdrew the 2nd custody application/falsified notice of risk after I raised my concerns of his alcoholism and the threats/abuse he made against me during the family report.

I started talks with the lawyer who represented me for the other matters, (no conflict of interest was checked) however after we discussed the ex-wife's boyfriend as I wanted to ensure the DVO would affect him as well I was told I would need to speak with another of the Lawyers in the firm.

I was assured there was no conflict of interest with the boyfriend but I was advised that the firm is unable to represent me at this point in time due to another matter they are handling in relation to him (but not representing him).

The only explanation I could get was something about there being an application for a ban on information sharing or something along those lines so I can only assume they are representing his ex-wife against him and it wouldn't be smart/ethical to represent me in a matter involving him as well. I would assume the ban is to stop me finding out about it.

Unfortunately, due to the time of the year, every other law firm in the area is closed for 2 weeks so any help on what to do if there is a DVO/conviction against him would be appreciated.
 
S

Sophea

Guest
Generally court files and legal proceedings are not public information and if a proceeding has been purposely kept from public knowledge then you will have difficultly obtaining information about it through legitimate means. You might consider issuing a Notice to Produce requiring the production of any orders made by the VIC court.

However if you issue a notice to produce and the party receiving the notice produces the documents requested, you lose the ability to introduce secondary evidence in relation to the contents of the document itself or any evidence to the contrary.

If the court finds him guilty and he has a restraining order stopping him from seeing his own children (or at least unsupervised), do I have grounds to not send my children to stay with their mother in a house with him for 3 weeks and/or at least only send them on the grounds that he is not to be present/around them at any time.

Generally a restraining or protection order will only apply to individuals in whose favour it is granted - not children or family members generally. However it may be something to raise with regard to character in future court cases in which custody or visitation is decided.
 

Shadz

Well-Known Member
6 September 2016
28
0
121
Generally court files and legal proceedings are not public information and if a proceeding has been purposely kept from public knowledge then you will have difficultly obtaining information about it through legitimate means. You might consider issuing a Notice to Produce requiring the production of any orders made by the VIC court. However if you issue a notice to produce and the party receiving the notice produces the documents requested, you lose the ability to introduce secondary evidence in relation to the contents of the document itself or any evidence to the contrary.



Generally a restraining or protection order will only apply to individuals in whose favour it is granted - not children or family members generally. However it may be something to raise with regard to character in future court cases in which custody or visitation is decided.

Thank you for the response and information.
 

Weigela

Active Member
11 February 2017
10
4
34
Hello,

I can help a little. In Victoria, a DVO is called a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO). These listings do not appear on the Magistrates court case lists, either in Civil nor Criminal searches.

If there is any problem with his behaviour, I would be calling Victoria Police Ethical standards who will investigate his conduct.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sophea