South Australian Current Acts

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CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1921 - SECT 115

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.



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