115—Evaluation of evidence at committal proceedings
(1) The following
principles govern the Magistrates Court's approach to evidence in committal
proceedings:
(a)
evidence will be regarded as sufficient to put the defendant on trial for an
offence if, in the opinion of the Court, the evidence, if accepted, would
prove every element of the offence;
(b)
although the Court may reject evidence if it is plainly inadmissible, the
Court will, if it appears that arguments of substance can be advanced for the
admission of evidence, admit the evidence for the purpose of the committal
proceedings, reserving any dispute as to its admissibility for determination
by the court of trial.
(2) If the Magistrates
Court, after completing its consideration of the evidence, is of the opinion
that the evidence is not sufficient to put the defendant on trial for any
offence, the Court will—
(a)
reject the information; and
(b) if
the defendant is in custody on the charges contained in the information (and
for no extraneous reason)—order that the defendant be discharged from
custody.
(3) If, after
completing consideration of the evidence, the Magistrates Court is of the
opinion that the evidence is sufficient to put the defendant on trial for an
offence—
(a) the
Court will review the charges, as laid in the information, in order to ensure
that they properly correspond to the offences for which there is, in the
opinion of the Court, sufficient evidence to put the defendant on trial and
make any necessary amendment to the information; and
(b)
following the review of the charges—
(i)
if the defendant stands charged with a major indictable
offence—the Court will commit the defendant to a superior court for
trial;
(ii)
if the defendant stands charged with a
minor indictable offence but with no major indictable offence—the Court
will, if the defendant has not previously elected for trial by a superior
court on that charge, allow the defendant a reasonable opportunity to do so
and, if the defendant does so elect, will commit the defendant to a superior
court for trial but otherwise will proceed to deal with the charge in the same
way as a charge of a summary offence;
(iii)
if the defendant stands charged with a summary offence
but with no indictable offence—the Court will proceed to deal with the
charge in the same way as if the proceedings had been commenced on information
charging the defendant with summary offences only.
(4) Where the
Magistrates Court commits a defendant for trial, the Court must—
(a)
provide the defendant with a written statement in the prescribed form—
(i)
setting out the more important statutory obligations of
the defendant to be fulfilled in anticipation of trial; and
(ii)
explaining that non-compliance with those obligations may
have serious consequences; and
(b) give
the defendant such further explanations of the trial procedure and the
defendant's obligations in regard to the trial as the Court considers
appropriate.
(5) If, in any legal
proceedings, the question arises whether a defendant has been provided with
the statement and explanations required by subsection (4), it will be
presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that the defendant has been
provided with the statement and explanations.