4Overview

1. This Act provides for the following matters:

2. for procedural purposes, there are 4 categories of offence (see section 6):
3. there are 2 types of trial process—Judge-alone trials and jury trials (see Part 4):

Commencement of proceedings

4. all proceedings begin in the District Court by the filing of a charging document (see Part 2):

Category 1 offences

5. in general terms, a category 1 offence is an offence that is not punishable by imprisonment:
6. an infringement offence is a category 1 offence if proceedings in relation to that infringement offence are commenced by filing a charging document under section 14, rather than by issuing an infringement notice:
7. all stages of a proceeding for a category 1 offence are dealt with by the District Court:
8. if the matter proceeds to trial, the trial will be a Judge-alone trial:

Category 2 offences

9. in general terms, a category 2 offence is an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of less than 2 years:
10. a trial for a category 2 offence will be in the District Court unless an order is made transferring the proceeding to the High Court for trial (see sections 68, 68A, and 70):
11. if the matter proceeds to trial, the trial will be a Judge-alone trial:

Category 3 offences

12. in general terms, a category 3 offence is an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of 2 years or more (other than a category 4 offence):
13. a defendant charged with a category 3 offence has a choice about whether or not to elect a trial by jury (see section 50):
14. a trial for a category 3 offence will be in the District Court unless an order is made transferring the proceeding to the High Court for trial (see sections 68, 68A, and 70):
15. the procedure for a category 3 offence generally depends on whether the defendant elects trial by jury:
16. if the defendant does not elect trial by jury, and the matter proceeds to trial, the trial will be a Judge-alone trial:
17. if the defendant elects trial by jury, and the matter proceeds to trial, the trial will be a jury trial (unless a Judge-alone trial is ordered under section 102 or 103):

Category 4 offences

18. category 4 offences are listed in Schedule 1:
19. if the matter proceeds to trial, the trial will be a jury trial in the High Court (unless a Judge-alone trial is ordered under section 102 or 103):

Procedure may vary if proceeding joined with proceeding for more serious offences

20. the procedure for an offence may vary from the general rule if the proceeding is joined with proceedings for a more serious offence:

Pre-trial procedures

21. there will be pre-trial procedures for all categories of offence. These are set out in Part 3. Pre-trial matters include entering a plea and orders about the admissibility of evidence. Sections 54 to 58 set out the case management procedures that must be followed if a defendant pleads not guilty to a category 2, 3, or 4 offence, including requirements to complete case management memoranda and attend at case review hearings in certain cases:
22. there are additional pre-trial procedures and powers that automatically apply to jury trials (and that a court may also apply in some Judge-alone proceedings). These include—
    1. the filing of formal statements; and
    2. the possibility of taking oral evidence from a potential witness:

Trial

23. Part 4 contains provisions about the trial:

General provisions

24. Part 5 contains provisions that may apply to all or various categories of proceedings at stages throughout a proceeding. These include—
    1. pleading, or being found, guilty; and
    2. requirements for the presence of the defendant at hearings, and the powers of the court if the defendant does not attend; and
    3. provisions relating to amendment and withdrawal of charges and conducting proceedings together; and
    4. provisions relating to the dismissal of charges; and
    5. certain rights to a retrial or rehearing (for category 1 and 2 offences, or if a defendant is convicted or sentenced in his or her absence); and
    6. provisions about dealing with witnesses, adjournments and bail; and
    7. provisions relating to the Solicitor-General's responsibility for oversight and conduct of certain prosecutions; and
    8. public access and restrictions on reporting:

Appeals

25. Part 6 contains provisions about appeals:

Jurisdiction of District Court

26. Part 7 contains provisions about the jurisdiction of the District Court. These set out the jurisdiction of Community Magistrates and Justices to conduct various proceedings and to sentence offenders. They also require a District Court Judge conducting jury trials to hold a jury trial warrant under the District Court Act 2016:

Miscellaneous and transitional provisions

27. Part 8 contains miscellaneous and transitional provisions. Among other things, provisions in this Part deal with contempt and costs orders for failure to comply with the requirements of this Act and rules and regulations made under it:

Amendments to other Acts

28. Part 9 contains amendments to other Acts.

29. This section is by way of explanation only. If a provision of this or any other Act is inconsistent with this section, the other provision prevails.