Court Processes/Legal Questions Flashcards
The judge must exclude a defendants statement if they are satisfied the statement was improperly obtained. What is the standard of proof required?
Balance of probabilities.
A good charging decision is made when the charges chosen adequately reflect the nature and extent of the criminal conduct and…
The court is provided with an appropriate basis for sentence.
What must happen before a Judge can require a plea to be entered?
Initial disclosure has been delivered and a defendant has had the opportunity to obtain legal advice.
When applying the evidential Test you must consider if there is sufficient admissible evidence to…
Provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.
You are considering charging someone with Burglary. Before you do you must satisfy the test for prosecution contained in the solicitor-generals prosecution guidelines. Which component of the test should you conduct first?
The evidential test - if the evidence meets the evidential test we can then consider the public interest.
The meaning of the term arbitrary detention as explained in the case R v Goodwin (1993) is:
When the words or conduct of an officer cause a person to believe that he or she is not free to go.
After issuing a summons you then decide not commit a prosecution. What must you do next?
Take all reasonable steps to advise the defendant that there will be no prosecution, prior to the date summonsed.
Jonny Smith is served with a summons to appear in court in two months time. The charging document has not yet been filed. When must the charging document to be filed?
As soon as reasonably practicable after the service of the summons.
What are the aims of case management discussions?
To determine whether the case proceeds to trial and make arrangements to resolve any issues before trial.
Which test is described in the statement. It is met if there is sufficient admissible evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.
The evidential Test.
When deciding whether to commence prosecution by laying charges, which of the following test must be applied?
The evidential test and the public interest test.
If your file has been sent back because you’ve been tasked with completing remedial work before case management discussions, what is the latest time that the phone needs to be with the PPS office?
Five working days before the case management discussion.
Can a person charged with male assaults female (section 194 (b) Crimes Act 1961) a category three events, elect a jury?
Yes.
The case R v Weaver (1956) defined the term ‘cross-examination’ as it applies to interviewing suspects. How was cross-examination defined in that case?
Questions put to a suspect to either whittle down or differentiate answers already given because their answers are not accepted.
Although the Judge may exclude an interview based on unreliability, this does not exclude the interview being offered as evidence of the:
Defendants physical or mental condition.
