Chapter 5 - Trial on indictment - Part 5.7 – Trial - Divisions 1 to 4 - Preliminary; Arraignment; Judge may address the jury; Opening addresses Flashcards
S210 When trial commences
(1) Trial commences when the accused pleads NG on arraignment in presence of jury panel in accordance with s 217. (2) if jury split into 2+ parts, trial commences when A pleads NG on arraignment in presence of first part of JP present in court
S211 Time limit for commencing trial for offences other
than sexual offences
The trial of a person for an offence (other than a sexual offence) must commence—
(a) within 12 months after day on which person is committed for trial in respect of the offence (b) if no committal proceeding in respect of the offence is held, within 12 months after the day on which indictment ats. Person is filed
(c) if new trial ordered by CoA, within 6 months after day on which order made or (d) within any extended s 247 period re: the above
S212 Time limits for sexoff trials
(a)-(d) just like above but 3 months for every period in (a)-(c)
S213 Powers of trial judge not affected
(1) Subject to s 204, TJ may make any order that could’ve been made under Div 3/4 of Part 5.5, (2) nothing in this Act removes TJ powers existing before commencement of Act
S214 Non-appearance of corporate accused at trial
(1) if CA does not appear at trial per 144(2)(d), Court can proceed with trial and proceed to hear/determine summary offence if (a) satisfied notice under s148/173 has been served on A (b) considers it appropriate (2) If court conducts a trial in the absence of a corporate accused, the court may dispense with or vary any requirement imposed by or under this Part
S215 Arraignment
(1) An A is arraigned when court (a) asks them whether they are person named on indictment (b) AND reads out each charge on indictment and asks the A whether they plead G/NG.
(2) can be arraigned/re-arraigned at any time
S216 Written pleas of guilty may be accepted (if P consents and court considers it appropriate)
(1) if A PG to some charges and indicates intention to PG to rest
(a) not necessary to read the rest to the A (b) can accept PG for the rest with written notice signed by A
(2) court must not accept PGs per (1)(b) unless
(a) P consents, and (b) court considers it is appropriate to do so, having regard to number of charges in indictment.
(3) PG per above has same effect as if entered on arraignment
S217 Arraignment in presence of jury panel
If A has pleaded NG to all charges on an indictment
(a) A must be arraigned in front of JP or the first part of a split JP (b) jury for trial must be empanelled from that panel
S218 Special pleas in addition to plea of not guilty
On arraignment, accused may enter a special plea in addition to pleading not guilty
S219 Plea of guilty to alternative offence
(1) A can plead NG to offence charged but G to alt. offence
(2) consequences of PG to that offence are same as if it had been charged in the indictment
S220 Form of plea of previous conviction or previous acquittal (sufficient to state was lawfully convicted/acquitted)
(1) in a plea of previous conviction, it is sufficient for A to state that A has been lawfully convicted of offence charged in indictment
(2) in previous acquittal plea, sufficient to state A has been lawfully acquitted of offence charged in indictment
(3) Subject to Chapter 7A, CL rules with respect to autrefois convict and autrefois acquit continue in force in respect of pleas of previous conviction and previous acquittal, respectively
S221 Refusal to plead (deemed NG plea)
(1) If, on arraignment, A will not answer directly to charge on indictment, court may order plea of NG be entered on behalf
(2) deemed as if A had in fact pleaded NG
S222 judge may address jury (issues arising/relevant of admissions etc; any other relevant matter)
At any time during a trial, the TJ may address the jury on—
(a) issues expected to arise/have arisen in the trial
(b) relevance to the conduct of the trial of any admissions made, directions given, matters determined prior to commencement
(c) any other matter relevant to jury in the performance of its functions and its understanding of the trial process, including giving jury direction as to issue of law, evidence, procedure
S223 Jury documents relating to trial issues and evidence (eg indictment, P opening/A opening/opening/closing addresses/docs/statements of facts)
(1) for purpose of helping jury to understand the issues or the evidence, TJ may order at any time during trial that copies of the following be given to the jury in any form considered appropriate:
(a) indictment (b) P opening summary (c) A response to P opening summary and A response to notice of PTA of P (d) any doc admitted as evidence (e) any statement of facts (f) opening and closing addresses of P and the A (g) any address of TJ to the jury under s222 (h) any schedules, chronologies, charts, diagrams, summaries, other explan. Material (ha) trial evidence transcript (i) transcripts of evidence or AV/A recordings of evidence (j) transcripts of AV/A recordings (k) trial judges directions under s 238 (ka) a jury guide specific to the trial (l) any other document that the trial judge considers appropriate
(1A) Jury guide for (ka) can contain any of the following
(a) list of Qs to assist them in reaching a verdict (b) directions on evidence and how evidence is to be assessed (c) references to how P and A have put their case in relation to issues at trial
(d) any evidence identified under s 66 of JDA (e) any other info
(2) The trial judge may specify in an order under subsection (1) when any material is to be given to the jury.
223A General jury guide (general trial process info; general info re legal concepts; general info re deliberations/processes)
(1) To help jury to perform its functions and understand trial process, TJ may order at any time that copies of general jury guide be given to jury in any form considered appropriate
(2) Despite (1), if regs per (5) made, guide must be reg-compliant
(3) the guide may contain any of the following
(a) general criminal trial process info, (i) including about role of jury, judge parties and (ii) order of events (b) general info about legal concepts relevant to criminal trials, including info about (i) presumption of innocence, (ii) requirement of proof BRD
(c) general info about jury deliberations/processes, including info about (i) what to do if a juror has a question, (ii) appointing a foreperson, (iii) ways jury can organise itself, (d) any other general info. (4) guide may include pictures and diagrams.
(5) regs prescribed
