VIC Review of orders application or complaint?

[Ashe81]

Hello all,

I am currently in a custody battle which was started in 2020. There is long standing and proven family violence, mental health issues, substance abuse and child injuries.

In February this year there was a interim defended hearing and unbeknown to me my legal representation had undergone disciplinary action approx a week before hand for as far as I know, sexual harassment of staff members.
Yes that’s right I am one of the lucky clients of a family law lawyer who allegedly acts as those he fights against!

So as you can imagine things did not go well for myself and children in court that day as my lawyer had not submitted any of my material or response to the court and the barrister briefed was from what she tells me “unable to dispute any of her apponents submissions” or “put forward anything not in an affidavit” and sat silently while the fathers barrister made false submissions and was awarded everything they wanted.
I have submitted several affidavits and supporting documentation throughout the case which have been sealed by the court, they were not used. The child reps recommendations were not brought up nor were they followed.
The multiple intervention orders who have named the children on them, the last order including myself and children was a full exclusion order of any contact from the father, not even via a lawyer.

The fathers barrister submitted her full minute of orders with no amendments despite my barrister very clearly negotiating/agreeing amending the points I did not agree to, she has been deliberately underhanded.
The judge openly stated in court that “he had not read the file” but “it seems like an easy case” and “shouldn’t need to proceed to trial” then made orders removing the supervision requirements recommended by the child rep and what the children had asked for last hearing and also awarded overnight fortnightly access and half of school holidays. He did not include any safety provisions.

I personally think this is an absolutely shocking miss-justice on behalf of any Child/AFM and can’t quite get my head around how a judge could think this okay and be so blatant and nonchalant about not reading a file of any type let a lone one with IVO history, is this not his purpose?

So to my questions:

*Should the court have known my legal rep had been suspended?
*Should they have notified me or ceased his representation via the comm court portal?
*Was the hearing(for lack of a better word) legal given my lawyers suspension as he was listed as acting?
*Did my barrister do the wrong thing in staying silent when she had previous affidavits/evidence at her disposal?
*I begged her to put me on the stand or seek leave to let me speak…. Should she have?

(I know this one is touchy and a lot of you will be reluctant to answer but please I need help in knowing what to do to protect my kids)

*Did the judge do the wrong thing in ruling on a case he had not read any material for?
*Should I be seeking a review/appeal of the orders, submitting a complaint or both?


As always any thoughts and direction are much appreciated, thank you.

 

[Dpj]

If you think there has been misuse of the law then you could always appeal. It's very hard to know without being more invested in what's going on.

 

[Ashe81]

Thanks for the reply Dpj

I suppose that’s exactly what I’m trying to find out.
Has there been a misuse of the law?

I don’t want to waste the courts time by submitting requests due to things that are not seen to be “in the eyes of the law” abnormal or a problem.
I have not come across a judge saying he has not read something before ruling but I know there has been changes and merges in the system that may now allow for such things.
I’m not a lawyer and there is only so much you can find out online.

Thanks though.

 

[Dpj]

Can you seek free legal advice anywhere?

Are you upset with the amount of custody your ex got? If so, is that due to the 'risk of harm to the children? Was there a family report writer involved?

So many fighting parents take out frivolous IVOs including with kids on them. I had it happen to my but got kids removed 2 weeks later in court. So I think judges take IVOs with a grain of salt.has he been charged for breaches? Etc. This could have been a factor, if serious, in a family report. The court orders will overnight the IVO conditions so I'm guessing the 'no contact' order in regards to the kids is now redundant. Is there a no contact order still on you? Sounds strange that there can be no contact even through a lawyer. Again, I had the magistrates court remove the no contact clause, my self or lawyer, on the basis that both parties may be self representing in a family law case. It's pretty hard to go through court with no contact clauses including his lawyers - how would that work?

 

[Ashe81]

The IVO has ended and I am not using the courts or IVO to seek revenge or make false accusations. I haven’t applied for another order as he has not made any current threats.
There was a family report written which recommended supervised access going from the history and also what the children had expressed they wanted. Yes he had been remanded for breaches and stalking more than once when the IVO’s were current.

The judge didn’t bother to read any of this information from what he said in open court which is why I am upset.
My children are coming home aggressive and the school is now getting involved due to the clear pattern of behaviour in such a short time.
I had happy, mostly well adjusted kids that have fallen apart within a few months after many years of therapy and hard work from my side to mitigate the damage done to them.
The entire system feels like a hopeless joke that really couldn’t care less about the damage done to children and in fact is helping cause it.

 

[Dpj]

I didn't mean to sound like I thought you IVO was not legit, I just was advising that I think family judges see it a lot. The fact he was in remand for breaches says a bit. I'm sorry you went through that.

If the judge didn't consider the family report writer's recommendations then that seems unusual. So the report writer (FRW) recommended supervised access. What did he end up with?

I'm not a lawyer and it may be better for someone with more legal background to determine if judge made an error of law in not considering the FRW or whether it was his determination of evidence.

As a first point of call, I would seek the transcript. I did that in two of my trials (magistrates court) and they were useful in getting cops to back down (one judge called the cop hopeless and that his interpretation of the law was wrong). If you can hear the judge saying he didn't read the evidence then surely, you'd think, you can take action on that through an appeal.