Contested Hearings (Qld)

When a person in Queensland is charged with a criminal offence, they may plead guilty and proceed to be sentenced, or they may contest the charge. When a person contests a charge in the Magistrates Court or Children’s Court, the matter will be adjourned to another date for a contested hearing. This page deals with contested hearings in Queensland.

Summary and indictable matters

The vast majority of criminal matters in Queensland are finalised by magistrates. This includes summary offences and most indictable offences that are triable summarily. However, some indictable offences are committed to a higher court for finalisation after a committal proceeding. Matters that are contested in the higher courts must go through different procedures than those outlined on this page.

Entering a plea

When a person contests a criminal charge in the Local Court, they must enter a plea of not guilty. A person may plead not guilty because they did not commit the physical acts alleged, because they have a legal defence, or because they want to put the prosecution to proof. The prosecution bears the burden of proving each of the elements of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Brief of evidence

Prior to deciding to contest a criminal charge, it is usually advisable to obtain the prosecution brief of evidence. This is a summary of all the evidence that the prosecution is planning to call in support of its case. It may include police statements, civilian statements, CCTV footage, records of police interviews, medical records and DNA evidence.

Once the defence has obtained the brief of evidence, the accused can make a fully-informed assessment of the strength of the case against them. They can also assess the viability of any factual defence (such as an alibi) that they plan to rely on or the merits of any legal defence (such as self-defence) that they plan to rely on.  

The brief of evidence may contain potentially challengeable evidence. For example, if the accused made admissions during a police interview without being made aware of their right to remain silence, this interview may be found to be inadmissible as evidence. If the defence wishes to have some items of evidence excluded, it may be able to achieve this through negotiations with the prosecution. If no agreement can be reached, it may be necessary to hold a voir dire to determine whether evidence should be admitted or excluded.

If the brief of evidence reveals a strong prosecution case, the accused may decide to plead guilty. This is particularly advisable in cases where the accused is being held on remand and is unlikely to receive a long sentence if found guilty. In such a case, contesting the mater may mean spending more time in prison than if they pleaded guilty.

Bail or remand

After a person has indicated that they are contesting a criminal matter, they may be granted bail, or they may be remanded in custody.

If the accused is granted bail, they must abide by the conditions of their bail and attend court on the dates they are required to do so. Failure to attend court will generally result in a warrant being issued for their arrests.

If the accused is held on remand, they will remain in prison until the hearing date. If they are found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment, that term will be backdated to the date they went into custody. This means that when they are sentenced they will already have served some (or all) of their sentence.  

Court procedures

After a person has indicated that they will be pleading not guilty to charges, the matter will be adjourned for a preliminary conference. This is a meeting convened by a member of the court where parties will identify the areas of agreement and the issues in dispute. A preliminary conference may result in the resolution of the matter – such as the prosecution agreeing to withdraw one charge if the accused pleads guilty to the other. If the matter cannot be resolved at the preliminary hearing, the hearing date will be confirmed.

At the contested hearing, the prosecution will call evidence in support of its case. The defence will have the opportunity to cross-examine each prosecution witness. The defence may also call witnesses, who will then be cross-examined by the prosecution. Each party will then make submissions and the court will make a decision as to whether the accused is guilty or not guilty.

If the accused is found guilty, the court will then impose a sentence. This may occur on the same date or may be adjourned until a later date.

If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter please contact Go To Court Lawyers.