Summary: The Australian Legal System

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The Australian legal system is adversarial. This means that the parties to a case present evidence and argue their position before a judge who makes a decision based on the law and evidence. For this to be fair the parties usually engage a lawyer who can represent them in court. On 17 December 1986, Olaf Dietrich flew into Melbourne Airport from Thailand. The Australian Federal Police arrested Dietrich for importing at least 70 grams of heroin concealed in condoms that he had swallowed. He was charged in the County Court of Victoria on 4 drug-related offences under the Customs Acts 1901 (Cth). His rights were infringed as he was incapable of affording legal representation, thus made to go to trial without counsel. Dietrich had applied to the