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The definition is consistent with the National Legal Profession legislation, which in Victoria is contained in the Legal Profession Act 2004. This definition (together with the definition of Australian legal practioner) replaces the definition of lawyer contained in the Dictionary of the UEAs. This is consistent with recommendation 14-3 of the 2005 LRCs' Report. The term lawyer is defined in and only used for the purposes of Part 3.10 on Privileges. Australian legal practioner— The definition is consistent with the National Legal Profession legislation, which in Victoria is contained in the Legal Profession Act 2004. Australian or overseas proceeding Australian Parliament Australian practising certificate— The definition is consistent with the National Legal Profession legislation, which in Victoria is contained in the Legal Profession Act 2004. Australian-registered foreign lawyer— The definition is consistent with the National Legal Profession legislation, which in Victoria is contained in the Legal Profession Act 2004. Australian Statistician business case child civil penalty civil proceeding client coincidence evidence coincidence rule Commonwealth owned body corporate Commonwealth record confidential communication confidential document court credibility of a person credibility of a witness credibility evidence— The definition cross-references the definition of credibility evidence in clause 101A. credibility rule— The definition cross-references the meaning of credibility rule in clause 102. criminal proceeding cross-examination cross-examiner de facto partner— The definition cross-references the definition of de facto partner in Part 2 of the Dictionary. document electronic communication— Electronic communication is defined by reference to the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000. This is in accordance with recommendations 6-2 and 6-3 of the 2005 LRCs' Report. examination in chief exercise fax federal court foreign court function government or official gazette Governor of a State Governor-General hearsay rule identification evidence investigating official joint sitting judge law leading question legal counsel Legislative Assembly Member (of the Australian Federal Police) NSW court offence opinion rule overseas-registered foreign lawyer parent picture identification evidence police officer postal article previous representation prior consistent statement prior inconsistent statement probative value prosecutor— A definition of prosecutor is included in the Dictionary due to the omission of a definition of lawyer from the Dictionary (consistent with recommendation 14-3 of the 2005 LRCs' Report). public document re-examination representation seal tendency evidence tendency rule traditional laws and customs— The inclusion of this definition implements recommendation 19-3 of the 2005 LRCs' Report. The 2005 LRCs' Report concluded that "traditional laws and customs" is the most appropriate term to be used and a "broad definition of traditional laws and customs" was desirable. The everyday meaning of a traditional law or traditional custom is one which has been passed from generation to generation of a society, usually by word of mouth and common practice. However, in Members of the Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Community v Victoria (2002) 214 CLR 422, the High Court of the Australia held that for the purpose of the Native Title Act, traditional laws and customs refers specifically to traditional laws and customs whose content originates in the normative system of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies prior to assertion of sovereignty by the British Crown. The 2005 LRCs' Report considered that for the purposes of the UEAs, traditional laws and customs should not be limited to that interpretation. In accordance with the 2005 LRCs' Report, to ensure that the Bill covers the full range of matters within the scope of traditional laws and customs, a broad definition of traditional laws and customs has been used. The definition contains a non-exhaustive list of matters that includes customary laws, traditions, customs, observances, practices, knowledge and beliefs of a group (including a kinship group) of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. This broader definition is intended to enable the court to receive more diverse evidence, which can be used to prove the existence and content of particular traditional laws or customs. Further, the definition refers to "any of the traditions, customary laws, customs" etc. of the group. This is intended to make it clear that the exceptions to the hearsay and opinion rules apply to traditions and customs generally, and not only to those whose content has been shown to originate in traditional laws and customs in force prior to the assertion of sovereignty by the British Crown. It is impractical and inappropriate to require courts to inquire whether the content of any given traditional laws or custom has its origins before sovereignty, in order to decide whether the exceptions may apply. Requiring such an inquiry would be contrary to the purpose of the new exceptions, which is to shift the focus away from technical obstacles to admissibility, to whether the particular evidence is reliable, and what weight it should be accorded. Victorian court visual identification evidence witness