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This page was last updated 23 August 2010. 17 Preparing for Court
Most charges laid against protestors are summary matters and so are heard in the Local Court with a solicitor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), or sometimes a police prosecutor, presenting the evidence against you. If you are charged with a more serious or indictable offence, your matter will be heard by a judge and jury in the District Court and the case against you will be presented by a Crown Prosecutor or Solicitor Advocate from the DPP. Defamation and tort actions are usually dealt with in either the District or Supreme Court. It would be highly advisable to obtain legal representation for these matters. Civil actions are not dealt with further here. The things you need to do (yourself) to prepare for Court will depend on whether you have legal representation. Going to Court is serious and may affect your future, so take care to prepare properly. 17.1 Getting Assistance17.1.1 Legal assistanceEven if you want to represent yourself at Court, you should seek legal advice as soon as possible after your arrest. A lawyer will be able to give you advice on the preparations needed, as well as talking to you about what will happen in Court. There are a number of options for legal assistance, depending on whether you are willing and/or able to pay. These include:
17.1.2 InterpretersYou should consider legal representation or an interpreter if you are not confident about your English. You should contact the local Court where your matter is to be heard to book an interpreter. In most criminal matters, interpreters will be free. If you are eligible for legal aid, the Legal Aid Commission will arrange an interpreter for your appointment with the duty solicitor. 17.2 Preparing Your Case17.2.1 Recording eventsYou should make a record of all the relevant circumstances occurring on the day of the arrest as soon as possible. If there are any witnesses to the alleged offences or the arrest, ask them to record, date and sign a statement as soon as possible. Sometimes videos or photographs are taken at protest actions, either spontaneously or as part of a well-planned action (see Chapter 3 above). If so, you should collect any that show you being arrested. This will assist you and/or your lawyers in the preparation of your case. It will also assist you if you need to make a complaint about police misconduct. You should also note that police regularly videotape protest events. 17.2.2 Organising a fileYou should maintain a file of all the documents you have been given - such as the charge sheet, police facts sheets, Court Attendance Notice and bail undertaking - as well as your notes. You should have received a copy of the charge sheet and facts sheet from the police when you were charged. If you did not, contact the arresting officer to ask for a copy. You should take all documents with you to Court. 17.2.3 Doing Your HomeworkIn preparing your case, you or your lawyer will need to know:
The prosecution case against you should be found in the documents you have received - such as the charge sheet, facts sheet and Court Attendance Notice (CAN) (see Appendix D for an example of a CAN). The CAN will set out the following:
You should consider speaking to the prosecutor before the hearing. The NSW Legal Aid Commission advises that this may help to:
b) Relevant law and procedures Finding (and understanding) the law and Court procedure can be particularly difficult if you are not legally trained. However, depending on the complexity of the matter, it may not be too difficult to represent yourself through a combination of preliminary legal advice, research and good preparation. This Handbook is an obvious starting point for practical advice regarding offences relating to the context within which many campaigners operate. However, finding your way around the relevant statutes and case law is no easy task and you should seek professional legal advice from the Legal Aid Commission or from community legal centres. The Legal Information Access Centre is also an excellent resource.7 More generally, the Law Handbook is a useful guide to both the applicable laws and procedure relating to Court. You should also consider familiarising yourself with the rules of Court. These are now available on the internet,8 in libraries and at the Court. You will find help in locating and using these services from the Legal Information Access Centre and community legal centres. The Clerk of the Court is a helpful contact in the Court itself. They are usually experts on Court procedures and administration. The Clerk assists in the organisation and listing of matters (that is, when they are to be heard). A good working relationship with the Clerk will be most helpful to you especially if you are responsible for organising a number of defendants. 17.3 Deciding How to PleadAfter you have received legal advice, you can decide whether you will plead guilty to the charges or go to trial. If you intend to plead guilty, make sure that you agree with the details in the police facts sheet, as it will be handed up to the magistrate. You can negotiate an agreed set of facts with the police prior to your appearance in Court and the facts sheet can be amended by rewriting or blacking out parts of it. If you have a criminal history (including charges where you were convicted but no conviction was recorded), obtain a copy from the police to check its accuracy. The police and the DPP have an obligation to supply a copy to you and give you an opportunity to verify it before it is handed up. The consequences of pleading guilty or not guilty are discussed in Chapter 18.
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