Different Courts
There are four different courts where charges can be heard:
First, there is the Magistrates’ Court. In the Magistrates’ Court, there are two types of hearings where you might have to give evidence. These are called a committal hearing and a contested hearing.
In a committal hearing the Magistrates Court decides if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial in the County or Supreme courts. If you give evidence at a committal, you may have to give evidence again at a trial.
Some cases stay in the Magistrates’ Court. A contested hearing is to decide whether there is enough evidence to find the person guilty. In contested hearings, the Magistrate makes the decision.
Next, there is the Children’s Court. This court is a special kind of Magistrates’ Court where you usually go if the person who is charged with the crime is under 18 years old.
Then there is the County Court or Supreme Court. These are called ‘higher courts’.
The person charged with the offences can plead guilty at any time and if this happens before you give your evidence then you will not have to give evidence. We talk about pleas in the “after court” section.
If the case is proceeding and goes up to the County Court or Supreme Court there will be a trial. If you gave evidence in the committal hearing, you may also have to give evidence at the trial. If you are a complainant in a sexual assault that is proceeding to a higher court, you will give your evidence at a Special Hearing and will not have to give evidence at the committal. You will also be able to give your evidence from a remote location away from the Court. We will talk about this more in the “in court” section.
In each court, there are also different types of hearings. There are hearings that help the Magistrate or Judge to know where things are up to, so they can set dates for witnesses to give evidence. Then there are other hearings where witnesses give their evidence in court. You do not really need to know all about them, but if you are interested, you can look them up in ‘Words and Meanings’.