When a person is charged with a summary criminal offence in Victoria, the matter may be finalised in the Magistrates Court. If the accused pleads guilty, they will be sentenced by a magistrate. If they plead not guilty, the matter will be listed for a contested hearing. A contested hearing is a court event where a magistrate hears evidence and submissions from both parties and then decides whether the charges have been proven. This page deals with contested hearings in Victoria.
Deciding how to plead
Before deciding how to plead to a charge, an accused person should seek legal advice. They should also consider a number of issues including the likely penalty for the offence and the strength of the case against them.
When a person is charged with an offence, they receive a charge sheet setting out the details of the offence as well as a summary of the alleged facts. This is a short statement of what the police say happened.
It is important to carefully review both the charges and the alleged facts before deciding how to plead. If you are going to plead guilty, you should ensure that every element of every charge is made out and can be proven. You should also ensure that you agree with the police summary of facts as you will be sentenced based on this.
If you want to plead guilty but do not agree with everything in the summary of facts, you or your lawyer should speak to the prosecution about amending the summary of facts before you plead guilty.
If you want to plead not guilty, you should obtain the brief of evidence.
Brief of evidence
When a person indicates they will be pleading not guilty to a charge, the prosecution is required to prepare and serve a brief of evidence on the defence. This is an outline of all the material they intend to rely on against the accused. It may include witness statements, CCTV footage, an electronic record of interview, and other evidence.
When the defence receives a brief of evidence, the accused should review this carefully with their lawyer. If the prosecution case appears to be strong, it may be advisable to plead guilty and finalise the matter quickly. If there appears to be a viable defence or the case is not strong, it is likely that the matter should proceed to a contested hearing.
When the defence receives the brief of evidence, this is also an opportunity to assess whether any of the evidence the prosecution is proposing to adduce is challengeable. Evidence is challengeable if there is doubt as to whether or not it should be admitted in court.
Contest mention
If an accused person stills plans to contest a charge after reviewing the brief of evidence, the matter will proceed to a contest mention. This is an administrative hearing where the court requires the parties to provide information to ensure the smooth running of the contested hearing. This information includes how many witnesses are expected to give evidence, whether the accused is legally represented and whether there is a need for interpreters or video link facilities for the hearing.
The matter will then be adjourned until the date of the contested hearing.
Contested hearing procedures
At the contested hearing, the prosecution will be invited to call witnesses. This may include police officers and the alleged victim of the offence. The defence will have the opportunity to cross-examine each of the prosecution witnesses in order to test the strength of their evidence and expose any gaps of inconsistencies in their story. The prosecution will then make submissions and close its case.
The defence will then have the opportunity to call witnesses. The prosecution will then have the opportunity to cross-examine each defence witness. The defence will then make submissions and close its case.
The magistrate will then decide whether the accused has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If the accused is found not guilty, the matter will be dismissed. If the accused is found guilty, the court will proceed to impose a sentence. This may occur on the same occasion, or the matter may be adjourned to a later date for sentencing.
Appealing after a contested hearing
A party can appeal against a magistrate’s decision to the County Court.
The defence may appeal against the verdict and/or against the sentence. The prosecution may appeal against the sentence only.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Taylor Rose.
