Contest mention hearings - Practice Direction 3 of 2015

The contest mention hearing has been a longstanding feature of the criminal process in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria (the Court). It is an important step in the process of dealing with certain criminal proceedings in the Court. It serves two purposes:

a) enabling the Court to manage the proceeding effectively and expeditiously;

b) enabling the parties to resolve some or all of the issues in dispute in the proceeding.

Section 55 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 gave the process a legislated basis with sub-section (3) setting out the powers of the Court. Sub-section (4) requires the accused to attend all contest mention hearings.

For the benefit of the parties to contest mention hearings, this Practice Direction sets out the usual way in which such a hearing will be conducted.