Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002

i Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 S.R. No. 96/2002 TABLE OF PROVISIONS Regulation Page 1. Objective 1 2. Authorising provision 1 3. Commencement 1 4. New Part 6A inserted 2 PART 6A—PRE-HEARING DISCLOSURE 2 650. Pre-hearing disclosure by electronic transmission 2 5. New regulation 801 inserted 2 801. Issue of summons—prescribed persons and prescribed summary offences 2 6. New regulation 1302A inserted 4 1302A. Notice concerning outline of evidence and clause 6 of Schedule 2 of the Act 4 7. Amendments to Schedule 5 5 ═══════════════ ENDNOTES 8 -- 1 of 9 -- 1 STATUTORY RULES 2002 S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court Act 1989 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 The Governor in Council makes the following Regulations: Dated: 22 October 2002 Responsible Minister: ROB HULLS Attorney-General HELEN DOYE Clerk of the Executive Council 1. Objective The objective of these Regulations is to make miscellaneous amendments to the Magistrates' Court General Regulations 2000 consequent to the Criminal Justice Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2002. 2. Authorising provision These Regulations are made under section 140 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1989. 3. Commencement These Regulations come into operation on 28 October 2002. -- 2 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 2 4. New Part 6A inserted After regulation 603 of the Magistrates' Court General Regulations 20001 insert— "PART 6A—PRE-HEARING DISCLOSURE 650. Pre-hearing disclosure by electronic transmission (1) For the purposes of clause 1A(2A) of Schedule 2 of the Act, a prescribed agency is— the Public Correctional Enterprise in the Department of Justice. (2) For the purposes of clause 1A(2A) of Schedule 2 of the Act, the prescribed database to which documents may be electronically transmitted or electronically accessed is— E*Justice Database.". 5. New regulation 801 inserted For regulations 801 and 802 of the Magistrates' Court General Regulations 2000 substitute— "801. Issue of summons—prescribed persons and prescribed summary offences (1) For the purposes of section 30(1)(b) of the Act, a summary offence set out in column 1 of the Table is a prescribed summary offence. (2) For the purposes of section 30(1)(b) of the Act, a person listed in column 2 of the Table is a prescribed person for the summary offence applicable to the person as set out in column 1 of the Table. r. 4 -- 3 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 3 TABLE Column 1 Summary offences Column 2 Prescribed persons Section 18W(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Members of staff employed in the Office of Public Prosecutions as legal practitioners or as legal executives; Members of staff employed in CORE— the Public Correctional Enterprise in the Department of Justice— as Senior Prosecutions Officers; Community Corrections Officers. Section 26(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Members of staff employed in the Office of Public Prosecutions as legal practitioners or as legal executives; Members of staff employed in CORE— the Public Correctional Enterprise in the Department of Justice— as Senior Prosecutions Officers; Community Corrections Officers. Section 31(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Members of staff employed in the Office of Public Prosecutions as legal practitioners or as legal executives. r. 5 -- 4 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 4 Column 1 Summary offences Column 2 Prescribed persons Section 47(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Members of staff employed in the Office of Public Prosecutions as legal practitioners or as legal executives; Members of staff employed in CORE—the Public Correctional Enterprise in the Department of Justice—as Senior Prosecutions Officers; Community Corrections Officers. Section 79(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Members of staff employed in the Office of Public Prosecutions as legal practitioners or as legal executives. ". 6. New regulation 1302A inserted After regulation 1302 of the Magistrates' Court General Regulations 2000 insert— "1302A. Notice concerning outline of evidence and clause 6 of Schedule 2 of the Act For the purposes of section 37A(1) of the Act, the prescribed form is Form 10A of Schedule 5.". r. 6 -- 5 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 5 7. Amendments to Schedule 5 In Schedule 5 to the Magistrates' Court General Regulations 2000— (a) in Form 7 for— "Registrar Magistrate Prescribed Person" substitute— "Registrar Magistrate Member of the police force Prescribed person"; (b) after Form 10 insert— "FORM 10A NOTICE ACCOMPANYING AN OUTLINE OF EVIDENCE IMPORTANT: DO NOT IGNORE THIS DOCUMENT If you do not understand this notice, you should immediately have it interpreted and explained to you. (Information to the effect of the above advice to be printed in the English, Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese languages.) You have been charged with an offence against the law. The charge sheet, which is a separate document, will tell you what the charges against you are. The charge sheet should either have already been served on you or be served with this notice. This notice should have an outline of evidence with it. r. 7 -- 6 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 6 WHAT IS AN OUTLINE OF EVIDENCE? The outline of evidence is a statement made by the informant which includes— • a description of the nature and circumstances of the offence alleged against you, including the background and consequences of the alleged offence, and any statements or comments you have made about the alleged offence; • the names of the people who may be called to give evidence against you; and • a list of potential exhibits. WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO YOU? If you do not attend Court on the date on your summons, the Court may determine the summary charges against you in your absence. The Court may base its decision on the outline of evidence, if the Court is satisfied that it was served on you at least 14 days before that date. If you have been charged with an indictable offence, then you must attend Court, or you may be arrested. A box on the charge sheet should tell you whether a charge is summary or indictable. If the Court finds you guilty of the summary charges in your absence on the basis of the outline of evidence, then it may make any order against you that it could have made if you had been present, except that it cannot— • imprison you or make a community-based order; • fine you more than $2000 for an offence or fine you more than $5000 in total for more than one offence; or • make compensation or restitution orders above $2000. If the Court thinks that you should receive a penalty prohibited by this procedure, or if it decides not to hear the case without you in attendance, then it must adjourn the proceeding for you to attend court, and may issue a warrant for your arrest. r. 7 -- 7 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 7 The Court may be given a copy of any prior convictions you have for traffic or parking infringements within the meaning of the Road Safety Act 1986 but may not be informed of any other type of prior conviction. If the Court finds you guilty and makes an order against you, then the Court must post to you a written notice of the order and of your right to apply for a re-hearing of the charge. The notice must be sent to you at your address on the Court's register. RE-HEARING APPLICATIONS You will have 28 days from the service of that notice to apply to the Court for a re-hearing of the charge. If you apply for a re-hearing, the Court must set aside the order and re-hear the charge. You may still apply to the Court for a re-hearing after that time, but the Court may refuse your application. You may also appeal to the County Court within 30 days after the day the order was made. FURTHER INFORMATION For further information, contact the Registrar of the Magistrates' Court, your lawyer, Victoria Legal Aid, a Community Legal Centre or the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. YOU SHOULD SEEK LEGAL ADVICE"; (c) in Form 19— (i) for "14 days before the date listed on the mention date" substitute "10 days before the mention date"; and (ii) for "at least 7 days before the date listed for the hearing of your case" substitute "on or before the 5th day before the mention date or within such other period as the Court may fix". ═══════════════ r. 7 -- 8 of 9 -- S.R. No. 96/2002 Magistrates' Court General (Further Amendment) Regulations 2002 8 ENDNOTES 1 Reg. 4: S.R. No. 69/2000 as amended by S.R. Nos 7/2001, 106/2001, 4/2002, 22/2002 and 41/2002. Endnotes -- 9 of 9 --