Right Infringed

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1 The individual or group that had their rights infringed—who were they?
Olaf Dietrich born in 1952, was an accused career criminal.

2 Which right(s) was infringed? How was the right(s) infringed? Olaf was denied legal representation at his trial after being caught with 70 grams of heroin on a flight from Thailand to Melbourne. Olaf rights had been infringed when he had to go to court without proper legal expertise which resulted in an unfair trial.

3 What role did the individual or group play in taking the case to court? What/who encouraged them? Olaf took it upon himself to first appeal to legal aid for representation but they wouldn't help him unless he pleaded guilty. He then applied to appeal to the supreme court to get a …show more content…
Olaf was charged with four heroin related offences
He was on trial in 1988 for 40 days without legal representation
He was convicted on the first charge which was importing a trafficable quantity of heroin in contravention of the Customs Act 1901 (Cth), and was sentenced to a term of seven years imprisonment.
The second and third charges were alternatives to the first, and so no verdict was required. He was acquitted on the fourth charge, which related to possession of heroin.
Olaf appealed to the supreme court because he thought he had a unfair trial with no legal representation.
He was denied but took the case further to the high court where it was overseen by Chief Justice Mason and Justice McHugh.
In Dietrich’s case, it was found that the trial judge erred in not adjourning the case to enable Dietrich to attempt to attain representation. The trial judge therefore ensured thatDietrich’s trial was not fair.
Dietrich was given leave to appeal and have his case reheard in Victoria. Due to the fact that he had already served his full sentence, however, the retrial never proceeded and he was set …show more content…
How did they impact on the individual/group? That is, what specific laws affected the group/individual and compelled them to start legal action? The law that existed at the time of this case was the crimes act of 1958 which contained a clause regarding legal aid and the fact that they didn't have to represent someone who wouldn't plead not guilty.

7 Which groups/individuals had opposing views on the issues in this case? What were these views?
One opposing view on this case was that Dietrich did not receive a fair trial and didn't get the legal representation he needed in the trial. The Dietrich principle has raised some awareness and implications for the legal aid system.
Its potential to direct legal aid funding to criminal law matters at the expense of civil law matters;
Its impact on the legal aid assessment criteria for determining an applicants means and the merits of his or her case
Its potential to increase the incentive for an accused to defend charges rather than plead guilty
The consequential impacts of these points on legal aid funding
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