Notorious rapist and killer Adrian Ernest Bayley has had a legal victory that brings him one step closer to being eligible for parole in his 70s instead of his 80s.
But the Victorian government will consider changing legal aid laws after a court granted Bayley a second chance to apply for taxpayer-funded lawyers in his appeal against two rape convictions.
He had launched legal action against a Victorian Legal Aid independent reviewer after his initial bid for legal aid was blocked.
Already serving life for the 2012 rape and murder of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher, Bayley wanted to appeal against additional rape convictions handed down earlier this year.
If successful, an appeal would have reduced his current non-parole period of 43 years to something closer to the 35 years imposed when he was jailed for Ms Meagher's murder.
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The state government in September formally intervened to prevent Bayley, 44, accessing funding for an appeal.
On Friday, Victorian Supreme Court judge Kevin Bell ruled in Bayley's favour and ordered VLA to refer the decision to a different independent reviewer.
Attorney-General Martin Pakula said the government was disappointed in the outcome and would read the decision to see whether any amendment to the Legal Aid Act was necessary.
"We'll examine the judgment, we'll examine the reasons given by the court and we'll assess whether any amendment is necessary," Mr Pakula told reporters on Friday.
In his judgment, Justice Bell said legal assistance cannot be denied because an applicant is notorious, unpopular and has prior convictions.
"All persons are equal before the law and the Legal Aid Act requires consideration of applications to be objective, criterion based and non-arbitrary," Justice Bell said.
During the hearing, Saul Holt SC, acting pro-bono for Bayley, told the Victorian Supreme Court that denying Bayley legal aid is a breach of the charter of human rights.
Weaknesses in the prosecution case against Bayley left open the likelihood that someone else committed the offences, Mr Holt said.
Shadow attorney-general John Pesuttos said Victorians had every reason to be deeply disappointed that Bayley can now continue with the appeals process.
