We provide legal advice and representation if you have to go to court or are charged with a criminal offence.

The type of criminal law work VALS does is:

• Summary and indictable offences.

VALS’ criminal lawyers travel to the regions within Victoria. They are allocated a region to ensure continuity of service provision in each region and share the court work in Metropolitan Melbourne.

Custody notification

Victoria Police are required to notify VALS within an hour when a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent is taken into custody. Victoria Police notifications are known as E* Justice Notifications

The requirements of Victoria Police are outlined in the Victoria Police Manual – VPM Instruction, section 1.9 – Taking a person into custody, Paragraph 4.3.5 ‘Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders’.