Revoked – Procedural Requirements for Section 123 Committal Proceedings - Sexual Offences - Practice Direction 3 of 2019

On 3 March 2019 a new section 123 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 was substituted by the Justice Legislation Miscellaneous Amendment Act 2018. The new s123 prohibits cross-examination at committal of any witness in sexual offence proceedings where the complainant is a child or is cognitively impaired and where the proceedings commenced on or after 3 March 2019. The reason for the amendment was to reduce the time between the complainant making their VARE statement and giving their evidence at the special hearing in the County Court.

Standard disclosure items

The Accused seeks the production of the following items to be served with the hand-up brief:

1. Copies of all crime reports, attendance registers, police notes, diary and day book entries (whether official or otherwise), Form 501/502 (running sheets) in relation to the investigation of the Accused and/or the subject of the allegations against the Accused, which were made or created by any member of Victoria Police during the course of the investigation of the Accused.
    
2. A copy of any notes (whether in written, printed, or in electronic form) made or created by any civilian witness (including any complainant) if in the possession of the Informant.
    
3. Copies of all relevant INTERPOSE database entries made in relation to the subject matter of this investigation and/or the allegations against the Accused, including but not limited to the ‘Full Response Report.
    
4. Copies of all relevant Victoria Police LEAP database entries made in relation to the subject matter of this investigation and/or the allegations against the Accused, including but not limited to the “Incident Report and Case Progress”” information, inclusive of sub-heading:
   
   Incident Report & Case Progress
   
   (a) Persons Involved
   (b) Accused Details
   (c) Case Progress
    
5. Copies of any audio or video recordings or transcripts thereof, and other notes or documents (whether in written, printed, or electronic form) concerning any interviews, discussions, debriefings, or conversations conducted during the course of the investigation of the Accused, between any member of Victoria Police and:-
   
   (a) any witnesses in this proceeding
   (b) any person who could or might be called as witnesses for the prosecution; and
   (c) any person suspected of or investigated in relation to the commission of an offence or offences the subject of this investigation;
    
6. Copy of all covert recordings (video and/or audio) between any member of Victoria Police and any other person, made in the course of the investigation of the Accused;
    
7. Copies of any statements (including drafts of such statements) obtained from any person during the course of the investigation of the Accused which are not contained in the Hand-Up Brief (whether or not those statements were finalised and/or signed).
    
8. A copy of any notes or documents used by any prosecution witness relied upon in any way to assist them with drafting/preparing their witness statement.
    
9. Copies of all warrants obtained by police during the course of this investigation.
    
10. Complete copy of all photographs and video footage taken by any member of Victoria Police in the course of this investigation (digital copies on a CD/DVD are sufficient).
     
11. Copies of any audio, visual, or audio-visual material (such as photographs, audio recordings or video recordings) made or created by any civilian witness in relation to the subject matter of the allegations against the Accused, irrespective of whether such witness is to be called.
     
12. Copies of all exhibit logs, property receipts, property book entries, and other similar documentation relating to all exhibits and property obtained or seized during the course of the investigation of the Accused.
     
13. 13. All prior convictions and findings of guilt from all Australian states of any witnesses (including for any alias of any witness) who is or may be called to give evidence for the prosecution save for Police or expert witnesses.

Notes:

These documents are to be served on defence and prosecution at the same time as the
hand up brief is served.

The documents must be appropriately redacted by the informant prior to being served on the
parties.

While the material is to served at the same time as the hand up brief, it does not form part of
the hand up brief and should be clearly identified as disclosure material.

As soon as possible after the Filing Hearing, the Informant and OPP solicitor will discuss the
production of these standard disclosure items including issues of relevance and any grounds
for objection.

The order to produce these standard disclosure items does not preclude the Informant from
objecting to provision of any items if appropriate. Reasons for any objection should be given.

Where there is objection to the production of any standard disclosure item(s), notice should
be given to the accused as soon as possible. The parties are encouraged to discuss the
nature of the objection.