NSW Proposes Amendments to Mandatory Pre-Trial Disclosures
Monday 20 August 2018 @ 10.40 a.m. | Legal Research
The NSW Government has introduced the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Pre-trial Disclosure Bill 2018 (NSW) (‘the Bill’) on 15 August 2018. The Bill reflects the recommendations of the 2017 review of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) to revisit the mandatory pre-trial disclosure provisions by the prosecutor and the accused person.
Background to the Bill
The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) relate to mandatory pre-trial disclosures that were brought in by the Criminal Procedure Amendment (Mandatory Pre-trial Defence Disclosure) Act 2013 (NSW). In 2017, the NSW Department of Justice conducted a review of the amending Act. This Bill proposes to amend the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) to incorporate the recommendations of the review of the amending Act.
Main Amendments
The Bill proposes to amend the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) to make the following provisions:
- Requiring the prosecutor to provide the accused with a copy of the transcript of an audio or visual recording, if the prosecutor proposes to adduce the transcript at trial;
- Requiring the defence response to the prosecution’s case to include matters such as copies of reports of expert witnesses that the accused intends to call at trial, any issue that is proposed to be raised by the accused with respect to any exhibit disclosed by the prosecutor, and any request or the editing of recordings or transcripts that the prosecutor intends to adduce at the trial.
- Requiring the prosecution response to the defence response to contain notice as to whether the prosecutor wishes to dispute the editing of recordings or transcripts.
Attorney-General Mark Speakman noted in his second reading speech:
He also observed that the Bill proposes to impose additional obligations on the prosecution for the purpose of fulfilling a policy objective for mandatory pre-trial disclosures:
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Sources:
Criminal Procedure Amendment (Pre-Trial Disclosure) Bill 2018 (NSW) and second reading speech, as published on TimeBase LawOne.