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+ New South Wales Law Reform Commission Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas December 2014 www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au February 2014 www.lawreform.lawlink.nsw.gov.au Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas © New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Sydney, 2014 Copyright permissions This publication may be copied, distributed, displayed, downloaded and otherwise freely dealt with for any personal or non-commercial purpose, on condition that proper acknowledgment is included on all uses. However, you must obtain permission from the NSW Law Reform Commission if you wish to:  charge others for access to the publication (other than at cost);  include all or part of the publication in advertising or a product for sale; or  modify the publication. Disclaimer While this publication has been formulated with due care, the NSW Law Reform Commission does not warrant or represent that it is free from errors or omission, or that it is exhaustive. This publication deals with the law at the time it was first published and may not necessarily represent the current law. Readers are responsible for making their own assessment of this publication and should verify all relevant representations, statements and information with their own professional advisers. Other publication formats The NSW Law Reform Commission is committed to meeting fully its obligations under State and Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation to ensure that people with disabilities have full and equal access to our services. This publication is available in alternative formats. If you require assistance, please contact the Commission on 02 8061 9270 or email [email protected]. Cataloguing-in-publication Cataloguing-in-publication data is available from the National Library of Australia. ISSN 1030 0244 ISBN 978-1-922254-02-3 ii NSW Law Reform Commission December 2014 The Hon B Hazzard MP Attorney General and Minister for Justice Level 19, 52 Martin Place SYDNEY NSW 2000 Dear Attorney Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas We make this report pursuant to the reference to this Commission received 1 March 2013. The Hon Anthony Whealy QC Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley Commissioner Commissioner December 2014 December 2014 NSW Law Reform Commission iii Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas Table of contents Tables and figures ......................................................................................................................... x Participants ................................................................................................................................. xiii Terms of reference ..................................................................................................................... xiv Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. xv Executive summary ................................................................................................................... xvii Recommendations .................................................................................................................... xxv 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Background to the review ..................................................................................................... 1 The report in context.............................................................................................................. 2 Our process ............................................................................................................................ 2 The scope of this report ........................................................................................................ 3 Summary/indictable proceedings .......................................................................................... 4 Commonwealth prosecutions ............................................................................................... 5 Late guilty pleas in the current system ................................................................................ 7 Defining “late” guilty pleas .................................................................................................... 7 The incidence of late guilty pleas .......................................................................................... 8 The consequences of late guilty pleas .................................................................................. 9 Why late guilty pleas happen: 10 obstacles in a self-reinforcing system .............................. 9 Broad and systemic change is required ............................................................................ 10 Directions of reform ............................................................................................................ 11 New thinking and new ways of working are needed ........................................................... 12 The structure of this report ................................................................................................. 12 2. Guilty pleas in NSW: current status of indictable District Court matters ........................ 15 What happens in the Local Court? ..................................................................................... 16 Outcomes of indictable matters in the Local Court 2012/13 ............................................... 16 Late guilty pleas in the District Court ................................................................................. 18 How many matters resolve by a plea of guilty? .................................................................. 18 How many matters resolve by a late guilty plea? ................................................................ 19 How many late guilty pleas occur on the day of trial? ......................................................... 22 Comparison with Victoria and England and Wales ........................................................... 25 Victoria: occurrence of late guilty pleas in 2009 .................................................................. 26 England and Wales: occurrence of late guilty pleas in 2011 ............................................... 27 Who pleads guilty late in NSW? .......................................................................................... 28 The District Court of NSW: case flows ............................................................................... 30 Inflows and outflows: the District Court of NSW ................................................................. 30 Nature of inflows: initially trial or sentence? ........................................................................ 33 Regional variation ............................................................................................................... 35 Outflows (finalisations) ........................................................................................................ 36 Lessons from the data ......................................................................................................... 37 3. Overcoming the obstacles to early guilty pleas: a blueprint for change ........................ 39 Current criminal procedure for indictable matters in NSW .............................................. 40 What are the key obstacles to early guilty pleas in the current system? ............................. 43 A blueprint for change ......................................................................................................... 46 An overview of the proposed changes............................................................................... 47 How does the proposed blueprint address the obstacles to early guilty pleas? .................. 50 iv NSW Law Reform Commission Table of contents A joint practice note .............................................................................................................. 53 Excluded models ................................................................................................................... 54 Why we have excluded sentence indication ........................................................................ 54 Why we do not propose any changes to charge negotiations ............................................. 54 4. Early charge advice .............................................................................................................. 57 The need for early charge advice ........................................................................................ 58 The mechanism and extent of changes to the charge ......................................................... 59 Charge variations encourage late guilty pleas ..................................................................... 62 Stakeholders support early charge advice but differ on approach ....................................... 63 Two models for early charge advice: pre charge and post charge .................................. 63 Model 1: pre charge advice for NSW ................................................................................... 64 Model 2: post charge advice for NSW ................................................................................. 65 How do the two models look side by side? .......................................................................... 65 Comparing pre and post charge regimes ........................................................................... 67 Achieving charge certainty .................................................................................................. 67 Achieving efficiencies for courts and parties ........................................................................ 69 Promoting efficient police and prosecution disclosure ......................................................... 70 Charge decision bail: issues of principle and practical problems ......................................... 71 The extent of reform required .............................................................................................. 73 Our view: pre charge advice is ideal but not recommended at this time .............................. 75 The recommended operation of early charge advice in NSW ........................................... 76 Features of early charge advice for NSW ............................................................................ 77 Charge determinations from the ODPP ............................................................................... 79 Certification of the charge .................................................................................................... 80 Commonwealth and other prosecuting authorities ............................................................... 80 Cases must proceed promptly ............................................................................................. 81 NSW police to supply brief .................................................................................................. 82 Procedure for setting and meeting a timetable .................................................................... 82 Pre charge advice should be sought in appropriate cases ............................................... 86 The existing pre charge advice protocol in NSW ................................................................. 86 Alberta: a hybrid pre and post charge advice arrangement ................................................. 87 Pre charge advice in the Commonwealth jurisdiction .......................................................... 89 Our view: the existing pre charge advice protocol should be expanded .............................. 90 How would early charge advice be implemented? ............................................................. 91 5. Disclosure in the Local Court .............................................................................................. 93 Current process for disclosure ............................................................................................ 94 Disclosure from NSWPF to ODPP ....................................................................................... 95 Disclosure at committal ....................................................................................................... 96 Disclosure in the District Court and Supreme Court ............................................................ 97 Problems with the current system of disclosure................................................................... 98 Disclosure regimes in other jurisdictions ......................................................................... 103 Disclosure regime in England and Wales .......................................................................... 104 Disclosure regime in Western Australia ............................................................................. 108 Disclosure regime in New Zealand .................................................................................... 110 Disclosure regime in Queensland ...................................................................................... 112 Observations of the disclosure regimes in other jurisdictions ............................................ 114 Reforming disclosure in the Local Court .......................................................................... 114 Our view: introduce early disclosure regime in the Local Court ......................................... 115 Why we consider early disclosure will encourage early guilty pleas .................................. 115 Operation of the early disclosure regime in the Local Court .......................................... 116 Timing of early disclosure .................................................................................................. 116 NSW Law Reform Commission v Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas Material to be disclosed .................................................................................................... 118 Disclosure certificate should accompany initial brief ......................................................... 121 Comprehensive pre-trial disclosure should occur in the Supreme Court and District Court122 Enforcing compliance with disclosure requirements ......................................................... 122 Should there be a different standard of disclosure where a guilty plea is anticipated? ..... 123 Implementation ................................................................................................................... 123 6. Local Court case management for offences dealt with on indictment .......................... 125 Current case management in the Local Court ................................................................. 126 Current case management of indictable matters in the Local Court ................................. 126 Does the current case management process encourage early guilty pleas? .................... 128 Local Court case management under our blueprint ....................................................... 130 Case management should be based on a small number of meaningful events ................ 130 Why should the Local Court be responsible for case management? ................................ 130 What does Local Court case management seek to achieve? ........................................... 131 Stages of our proposed Local Court case management process ................................. 132 First stage: disclosure and putting the parties in contact .................................................. 132 Second stage: criminal case conference and cross-examination of prosecution witnesses135 Third stage: entering a plea .............................................................................................. 136 Are the stages of Local Court case management fixed? .................................................. 139 Early consideration should be given to likelihood of a guilty plea ................................ 139 Critical points for identifying matters likely to resolve in a guilty plea ................................ 140 How to identify a matter likely to resolve in a guilty plea ................................................... 141 Fitness to be tried under the blueprint ............................................................................. 143 Operational requirements for Local Court case management ....................................... 144 Involvement of senior prosecution and defence lawyers .................................................. 144 Centralised case management courts .............................................................................. 145 Alignment of ODPP and Legal Aid NSW catchment areas ............................................... 146 Increased use of audio-visual link facilities ....................................................................... 146 7. Mandatory criminal case conferencing ............................................................................ 149 The trial of criminal case conferencing in NSW (2006-2012) .......................................... 150 How did criminal case conferencing operate in NSW? ..................................................... 150 How successful was case conferencing in NSW? ............................................................ 153 The current process for facilitating case conferencing in NSW .................................... 156 Stakeholder views on reintroducing criminal case conferencing ................................. 156 Mandatory criminal case conferencing in NSW .............................................................. 157 Alternative models and stakeholder views ........................................................................ 158 Our view: criminal case conferencing should be mandatory ............................................. 160 When and how should criminal case conferencing occur? ........................................... 162 Alternative models and stakeholder views ........................................................................ 162 Our view: criminal case conferencing to occur before the final Local Court appearance and be in any form ............................................................................................................... 162 Should criminal case conferencing be facilitated? ......................................................... 163 Alternative models and stakeholder views ........................................................................ 163 Our view: criminal case conferencing does not need to be facilitated .............................. 164 Requirements for certificates ............................................................................................ 165 Application of the criminal case conferencing program to Commonwealth matters... 166 How will criminal case conferencing be implemented in NSW? .................................... 166 8. Committal proceedings ..................................................................................................... 169 Committal proceedings and early guilty pleas ................................................................ 170 Overview of the committal process .................................................................................. 171 vi NSW Law Reform Commission Table of contents How do indictable offences progress through the committal process? .............................. 171 On what basis is the magistrate’s decision at committal made? ........................................ 173 What happens after the committal process is concluded? ................................................. 174 What are the statistics on committal proceedings? ........................................................ 175 Outcome of matters listed for committal 2012/13 .............................................................. 176 Outcome of matters listed for committal 2011/12 .............................................................. 178 Cross-examination of witnesses at committal .................................................................... 178 Discontinuance of proceedings after committal ................................................................. 180 Ex officio indictments filed by the ODPP following discharge at committal ........................ 181 Committals run by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions ............................ 181 Background to reform of committal proceedings ............................................................ 183 History of committal proceedings ....................................................................................... 183 Proposals have been made in NSW to abolish committals ............................................... 184 How have other jurisdictions reformed committal proceedings? ........................................ 186 What functions do committal hearings serve in NSW? ................................................... 191 Effectiveness of the modern committal hearing in achieving its functions................... 194 Is the committal decision an effective filter for weak cases? ............................................. 194 Does the committal process effectively facilitate prosecution disclosure? ......................... 197 Does the committal process effectively facilitate guilty pleas? .......................................... 200 Changing committal hearings in NSW .............................................................................. 200 Will removing the committal decision encourage earlier guilty pleas? ............................... 201 Will removing the committal decision save time and resources in the Local Court? .......... 202 Will removing the committal decision result in delay in the Supreme and District Courts? 204 Our conclusion on committal proceedings ...................................................................... 205 Minority view: introduce default committal for trial with option to request committal decision by magistrate ................................................................................................................. 206 Majority view: remove committal decision ......................................................................... 207 Pre trial oral evidence ......................................................................................................... 208 Should there be a procedure for oral evidence in the Local Court? ................................... 209 Our view: retain oral evidence in the Local Court with safeguards .................................... 210 Should there be a procedure for oral evidence in the Supreme and District Courts? ........ 214 9. Applying the discount on sentence ................................................................................... 217 Sentencing discounts for the utilitarian value of a guilty plea........................................ 218 The current application of a sentence discount for a guilty plea in NSW ........................... 218 Sentencing discounts in other jurisdictions..................................................................... 221 England and Wales: discount attached to an early guilty plea scheme ............................. 221 The Commonwealth .......................................................................................................... 221 Current NSW law on sentencing discounts does not encourage early guilty pleas ..... 223 The belief that the sentence discount for an early guilty plea will not make a difference ... 223 The belief that the timing of the plea has little effect upon whether the maximum discount is applied ........................................................................................................................... 224 Stakeholder views ............................................................................................................... 224 Our view: a statutory sentence discount regime is required .......................................... 225 The discount reflects the utilitarian value of the plea ......................................................... 226 The discount should be reflected in statute ....................................................................... 227 The discount should have three clear tiers ........................................................................ 228 The maximum discount should be referred to as the “ERD” .............................................. 230 The discount is a maximum ............................................................................................... 230 Exceptions to the three tiered approach ........................................................................... 231 Exceptions to the cut off should be limited ........................................................................ 231 Should there be any further exceptions to the application of the statutory discount? ........ 233 How should the statutory discount regime be implemented in NSW? ........................... 234 NSW Law Reform Commission vii Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas 10. Case management in the Supreme and District Courts .................................................. 237 The value of case management in the higher courts ...................................................... 237 Current pre-trial procedure in the higher courts of NSW ............................................... 238 Key legislative provisions .................................................................................................. 238 The impact of our blueprint on criminal procedure in the higher courts ...................... 239 The District Court practice note ........................................................................................ 240 Issues in practice in the District Court............................................................................... 243 The Supreme Court practice note ..................................................................................... 245 Issues in practice in the Supreme Court ........................................................................... 246 Proposed measures for the higher courts ....................................................................... 247 A trial case management stream ...................................................................................... 247 11. Victims and the indictable criminal justice system ......................................................... 251 How do victims currently interact with the indictable criminal justice system? .......... 252 Prosecution obligations regarding victims ...................................................................... 256 Charter of Victims Rights .................................................................................................. 256 ODPP’s Prosecution Guidelines ....................................................................................... 257 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) ............................................................. 258 What problems do victims experience with the current indictable system? ................ 259 Lack of information ........................................................................................................... 259 Charge negotiations.......................................................................................................... 260 Delay ................................................................................................................................ 262 Committal hearings ........................................................................................................... 263 Sentence discounts for early guilty pleas.......................................................................... 264 What does the proposed blueprint look like from a victim’s perspective? ................... 265 What are the advantages for victims under our blueprint? ............................................ 267 Getting the charge right early ........................................................................................... 267 Minimising delay ............................................................................................................... 267 Continuous ODPP involvement ........................................................................................ 267 Earlier charge negotiations ............................................................................................... 268 Less likelihood of a late guilty plea close to trial ............................................................... 268 Only early guilty pleas receive the maximum sentencing discount ................................... 268 When should victims be consulted under the blueprint? ............................................... 269 Victim should be consulted as soon as possible after charge is confirmed ...................... 269 Victim should continue to be consulted prior to charge negotiations ................................ 270 Improving the interaction between the prosecutor and the victim ................................ 271 Other suggestions for reform ........................................................................................... 272 Free legal advice for victims ............................................................................................. 272 Requirement to “obtain” victim and police views ............................................................... 273 12. Reform of criminal justice agencies and evaluation of the blueprint ............................ 275 Supporting systemic changes .......................................................................................... 275 Public and private service provision.................................................................................. 276 Specifying outcomes and collecting data ........................................................................ 277 Legal Aid NSW .................................................................................................................... 278 Assignment ....................................................................................................................... 278 Quality control of the panel ............................................................................................... 279 Fees.................................................................................................................................. 280 The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions .......................................................... 282 Changes the ODPP has made ......................................................................................... 282 Changes to ODPP processes required under the blueprint approach .............................. 283 The role of Crown Prosecutors ......................................................................................... 284 The courts ........................................................................................................................... 284 viii NSW Law Reform Commission Table of contents Joint practice note ............................................................................................................. 285 Create centralised courts with increased audio-visual link capability ................................. 285 The NSW Police Force ........................................................................................................ 285 The legal profession ........................................................................................................... 285 Resourcing the blueprint .................................................................................................... 287 Implementation .................................................................................................................... 288 Evaluation of the blueprint ................................................................................................. 289 How should any evaluation be staged? ............................................................................. 290 13. Safeguarding against inappropriate guilty pleas ............................................................. 293 Unrepresented defendants ................................................................................................. 294 Current practice and procedure regarding unrepresented defendants in indictable proceedings ................................................................................................................... 294 Stakeholder views ............................................................................................................. 297 Our view: unrepresented defendants are sufficiently protected under current guidelines and practices......................................................................................................................... 297 The particular characteristics of the defendant ............................................................... 298 Gender and guilty pleas ..................................................................................................... 298 Minority groups and guilty pleas ........................................................................................ 299 Age of the offender and guilty pleas .................................................................................. 300 Our view: complex causative factors cannot be dealt with in this report ............................ 300 Sentence disparity .............................................................................................................. 301 Stakeholder views ............................................................................................................. 302 Our view: inappropriate pleas mitigated under our blueprint ............................................. 303 Appendix A Submissions ......................................................................................................... 305 Appendix B Consultations and stakeholder engagement ..................................................... 307 Appendix C Methodological notes on NSW committal statistics .......................................... 315 Appendix D A proposed framework for pre charge advice .................................................. 321 Appendix E Fast-track early guilty plea schemes in England and Wales and WA .............. 347 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 353 NSW Law Reform Commission ix Report 141 Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas Tables and figures Figure 2.1 and 2.2: Outcomes of indictable matters in the Local Court 2012/13 ........................ 17 Figure 2.3: A snapshot of all indictable matters resolved in the District Court of NSW 2013 ... 19 Figure 2.4: Data measures for late guilty pleas ............................................................................. 20 Figure 2.5: Percentage of cases initially committed to trial actually finalised by sentencing (a late guilty plea after committal) 2002-2013 .......................................................... 21 Figure 2.6: The percentage of cases finalised by a guilty plea in the District Court of NSW, where a guilty plea was entered late 2002-2013 ...................................................... 21 Figure 2.7: Outcome of matters committed for trial 2011/12 ........................................................ 23 Figure 2.8: Precise timing of late guilty pleas in the District Court 2011/12 ............................... 23 Figure 2.9: Precise timing of late guilty pleas in the District Court 2012/13 ............................... 24 Figure 2.10: Of all day-of-trial pleas in the District Court, the proportion that are to a changed charge 2012 ................................................................................................ 25 Figure 2.11: Times of entry of guilty pleas in NSW and Victoria .................................................. 26 Table 2.1: Summary of factors related to plea (Table 4) ............................................................... 29 Figure 2.12: Incoming cases and finalised cases in the District Court of NSW 2002-2013........ 31 Figure 2.13: Difference between number of incoming cases and number of finalised cases in the District Court of NSW 2002-2013 .................................................................... 31 Figure 2.14: Median number of days from committal to outcome in the District Court of NSW 2009-2013 .......................................................................................................... 32 Figure 2.15: Median number of days from arrest to committal in the Local Court of NSW 2009-2013 .................................................................................................................... 33 Figure 2.16: Number of cases committed for trial or sentence in the District Court of NSW 2002-2013 .................................................................................................................... 34 Figure 2.17: Type of incoming cases in the District Court of NSW 2002-2013 ............................ 35 Figure 2.18: Type of incoming cases to different District Court of NSW registries 2013........... 36 Figure 2.19: Method of finalisation of cases in the District Court of NSW 2002-2013 ................ 37 Figure 3.1: Current criminal procedure for indictable matters in NSW ....................................... 42 Figure 3.2: Flowchart of the proposed blueprint for NSW indictable proceedings .................... 49 Table 3.1: A snapshot of how our blueprint addresses the obstacles to early guilty pleas ...... 52 Figure 4.1 and 4.2: Outcomes of indictable matters in the Local Court 2012/13 ........................ 60 Figure 4.3: Proportion of all day-of-trial pleas in the District Court to a changed charge 2012 61 Figure 4.4: Flowchart comparing pre and post charge advice ..................................................... 66 Table 4.1: Summary chart between pre and post charge advice regimes ................................... 74 Figure 4.5: Flowchart of proposed early charge advice regime for NSW .................................... 78 Table 4.2: Necessary authorisation for early charge advice ........................................................ 91 Table 5.1: Contents of Charging Reports and the National File Standard in England and Wales ................................................................................................................. 106 Table 5.2: Disclosure regime under the Criminal Procedure Act 2004 (WA) ............................. 109 Table 5.3: Disclosure regime under the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008 (NZ) ............................. 111 Table 5.4: Required changes to implement early disclosure in the Local Court ...................... 123 Figure 6.1: Current committal process in NSW ........................................................................... 127 Figure 6.2: Stages of case management in the Local Court under the blueprint: an example 138 Figure 7.1: Comparison of administrative and statutory CCC trials in NSW 2006-2012 .......... 151 Figure 7.2: Number of cases committed for trial or sentence in the District Court 2002-2013 155 Figure 7.3: Percentage of matters entering the District Court that were committed for trial 2002-2013 .................................................................................................................. 155 Table 7.1: Required amendments and inclusions for implementation of ERD and the trial case management streams ..................................................................................... 167 Figure 8.1: Outcomes of indictable matters in the Local Court 2012/13.................................... 177 x NSW Law Reform Commission

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Law Reform Commission. Report. 141. Encouraging appropriate early guilty pleas. December 2014 www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au. February 2014 Child sex offence, with no aggravated sexual to the District or Supreme Court for trial loses access to the maximum discount for a guilty plea
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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.