COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Transcription

1 PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VIDEO-LINK APPLICATIONS IN THE Preliminary Arrangements 1. Contact the Video-Link Co-ordinator (03) and ascertain an available date and time for proposed video-link connection. This tentative date will be penciled in (not confirmed) pending payment of fees & charges and orders from the Court. The Coordinator will send (by fax if requested); Notice of Application for Video-Link Form. Information sheets, pamphlets etc. Audio Visual Link or Audio Link Call Setup Form. These forms are also available on the website. 2. Bear in mind the Time Differences between states and countries when making bookings and be able to provide that information if required to the coordinator (and the Court) when making a booking for the Audio Visual Link at the Court. (i) Arrange for the booking of a facility at the remote location from where the evidence is to be taken. If necessary, contact Integrated Vision to make a booking.( ) (ii) Complete the Audio Visual Link Or Audio Link Call Setup Form (see Call Setup Requirements information outlined below at para.14). Lodging of application form, The call setup forms and Payment of fees 3. Ensure that the Notice of Application has been completed and filed with the Coordinator named below. 4. The Notice of Application shall be filed at least 14 days before the person the subject of the application is due to appear before, or give evidence or make a submission to the Court [Order 41A.03] 5. File the Audio Visual Link Or Audio Link Call Setup Form (see para.14). NOTE: This form must be filed at the same time that the Notice of Application is filed. 6. Pay the booking fee and appropriate line fee to the Video-Link Coordinator (see Fees & Charges paras. 8, 10, 11& 13) 7. Unless the fees are paid, the video-link line testing arrangements will not be implemented and the video-link will not be able to proceed William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

2 Fees and Charges subsequent to hearing 8. Where the connection exceeds the times mentioned above, additional line fees will be charged on an hourly basis (within Australia) or quarter-hourly basis (International connections). The party or organisation requesting the video-link will receive an invoice for additional line charges which must be paid within 7 days. 9. The party or organisation requesting the video-link may be liable for additional charges relating to overtime for registry staff being required to attend to line testing for overseas video-links. 10. The requesting party or organisation is required to pay booking and line charges on the filing of an Application for Audio Visual Link or Audio Link by the Court. 11. Both internal and external users will be charged a fixed, non-refundable charge at the time of filing the application. 12. The charge will comprise a fixed booking fee and a nominal line tariff charge (at a per hour rate for intrastate, interstate and local calls and per 15 minutes for international connections). Booking Charges 13. Internal (Vic. Govt. users) $16.50 External (All parties or bodies outside Victorian Government, including parties to civil proceedings. $82.50 Line Tariff Charges: Within Australia: Local (Metropolitan) Intrastate (Country Victoria) Interstate (Outside Victoria but within Australia) Outside Australia International $8.80 per hour $89.10 per hour $ per hour $ per 15 minutes Further information and responsibilities of party requesting video conference 14. Where the Court directs on its own motion or on application by a party during the proceedings of a hearing that it is necessary to take the evidence etc. of a person by video-link, that party or organisation seeking to call that witness shall lodge the Call Setup Form and requisite fees with the video-link Co-ordinator in the Court Registry William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

3 15. The Court will dial in to the remote location when it is ready to take the evidence etc. The line charges will therefore be incurred by the Court and those costs will be passed on to the party requesting the video-link. 16. All parties involved in the conference at the remote location are to be in the video conference room at that location at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the conference. 17. The party or organisation requesting the video conference is required to notify all conference participants of details of the conference such as venue, commencement time, duration and other relevant requirements or duties. 18. The party or organisation requesting the video conference is to ensure that a bible is available at the remote video conference centre for the swearing-in of witnesses and interpreters (where the conference relates to the taking of evidence in a court hearing/trial) 19. The party or organisation requesting the video-link must advise the County Court Coordinator of the video link at the County Court if the matter settles or of any other changes (Rule 41A.05). This party should also notify all conference participants if the link is cancelled. 20. The party or organisation requesting the video-link is responsible for the payment of any charges required to be paid by the operators or agents at the remote location. 21. Information pamphlets are available from the Department of Justice, the County Court or the Magistrates Court entitled Video Conferencing in Courts. Specific pamphlets are available for Legal Practitioners, Prosecuting Agencies, Court users and Witnesses. Video-link call setup requirements 22. As the Audio Visual Link or Audio Link will be from the Court Point to the remote facility, the party requesting the Audio Visual Link or Audio Link is responsible for arranging the link at the remote facility and must provide the information required in the attached form entitled AUDIO VISUAL LINK OR AUDIO LINK CALL SETUP and file this form at the same time as the lodging of the Notice of Application for Audio Visual Link or Audio Link. This form is only required if the party requesting the link has not used Integrated Vision to facilitate the link to the remote facility. Section 42E(2) of the Evidence Act provides; William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

4 A court must not make a direction under sub-section (1) unless it is satisfied that the technical requirements specified in section 42G are met, or can reasonably be met, in the case of the particular link. 23. Most of the information required is self explanatory: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Company name (name of organisation where video link is to be made), Country & City, Date, Time, Name of Contact at remote location along with phone number (including mobile phone), fax number (nearest to or actually in video conference room) & room phone number (i.e. the room where video link is to be held at remote site). The Codec manufacturer etc. details are required to ascertain compatibility of the systems (obtainable from the remote site). The ISDN Dial in Numbers are required to enable the Court to dial the remote video-conferencing unit (obtainable from the remote site). The total of the numbers may vary between 2 and 6 depending on the number of communication lines going in to the remote unit (you will note for example that the County Court system has 6 numbers). If a booking has been made with Integrated Vision, they will provide the relevant information as required in para. 23 (i)-(iii) to the video coordinator at the county court 24. You should also be aware and advise the receiving location that the County Court system operates up to a Band Width Of 384 Kb. Connection can be made by the County Court to lower bands (and has been done so in the past) but the Picture Quality and Sound Quality will reduce accordingly but may still be adequate. 5 August William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

5 Audio Visual Link or Audio Link Call Set-up Form Remote Location Details Name of Company (or organisation) receiving call. Country & City (Receiving Location) Call Setup Date (Melbourne) Call Setup Time (Melbourne) Name of Contact Person (at Receiving Location) Phone Number (of Contact Person) Fax Number (at Receiving Location) Video Link Room Phone No. (at Receiving Location) Remote Location Specifications Codec Manufacturer Codec Model Transmission/s Rates ISDN Terminal Adaptor Type Remote Location Dial-in Numbers: ISDN Dial in Numbers Note: The Court will dial in to the receiving location Audio Visual Link or Audio Link Call Set-up Form William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

6 Audio Visual Link or Audio Link Call Set-up Form Contact and Technical Information Contact Michelle Limb Phone Number (03) Fax Number (03) Codec Manufacturer Tandberg Codec Model Tandberg 2500 Transmission Rate/s K Transmission Standards H.320 (ISDN) and H.323 Algorithm (TCP/IP) Technology Support Technology Support - V.G.R.S. to County Court Level 1, 565 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, Vic. Australia 3000 Tel: (03) or (03) or (03) Fax: (03) William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000