Contributor

Benjamin Lindner

Barrister

Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic)

Overview of the Criminal Procedure Act

The Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) (‘CP Act’) commenced on 1 January 2010. The CP Act locates in the one Act the criminal procedures that apply in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts of Victoria.

The Judicial College of Victoria (JCV) has prepared the Victorian Criminal Proceedings Manual, which explains in detail the law of criminal procedure as it applies to criminal proceedings under the CP Act. This is available on the JCV website at www.judicialcollege.vic.edu.au.

Summary offences

The procedure for summary offences can be found in chapter 3 of the CP Act. Under the CP Act (s 27), summary offences will continue to be heard in the Magistrates’ Court. The CP Act also amends the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) to introduce a six-month time limit for the filing of charges for summary offences in the Children’s Court.

Indictable offences

The procedures for indictable matters are dealt with in chapter 5 of the CP Act. They will continue to be heard by a judge and jury. Indictable offences that may be heard in the Magistrates’ Court (if the defendant consents) are:

  • those listed in schedule 2;
  • any offence punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment or less; or
  • those where the offence is punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment or less, or a maximum fine not exceeding 120 penalty units (pu) (see ‘A note about penalty units’ at the start of this book).

Committals

The procedure for dealing with committals is dealt with in Parts 4.6 to 4.8 of the CP Act.

Mention, summary case conference and contest mention hearings

Under the CP Act, the mention hearing process remains the same.

The summary case conference procedure is described in section 54. It is a conference between the prosecution and the accused for the purpose of managing the progression of a case. The procedure includes the prosecution providing the accused with all the information and documents that may assist the accused to understand the evidence relied upon in the case. It also includes identifying any issues in dispute and identifying steps to be taken to advance the case. The Magistrates’ Court directs the parties to attend a case conference if it is satisfied the conference is appropriate.

The contest mention hearing is described in section 55. At that hearing the magistrate may require the prosecution and defence to:

  • give an estimate of the time the contested case will take;
  • advise regarding the estimated number and availability of witnesses;
  • identify the issues in dispute;
  • advise whether there is any problem with legal representation or the funding of a case;
  • advise whether interpreters will be required or other facilities will be needed for witnesses (e.g. video link requirements if a witness is interstate);
  • order a party to file and serve written or oral material required by the court;
  • amend any documents that have been filed; and
  • do anything else for the management of the case.

These requirements are all directed towards the efficient management of the case. The defendant must attend all contest mention hearings.

Trials

Trials in the County Court and the Supreme Court are governed by chapter 5 of the CP Act. A trial is heard by a judge and a jury of 12 people.

However, chapter 9 of the CP Act provides for temporary arrangements where a trial can be heard by a judge alone on an order made or applied for while a pandemic declaration (made pursuant to the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic)) is in force. A judge alone trial may be ordered only if each accused person consents and the court is satisfied that each accused has obtained legal advice on whether to give that consent;  the court must also consider it to be in the interests of justice for the trial to be heard by a judge alone (s 420E CP Act).

Appeals

Appeals from the Magistrates’ Court to the County Court are dealt with in Part 6.1. Appeals on questions of law from the Magistrates’ Court to the Supreme Court are dealt with in Part 6.2.

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