Committal ends the District Court’s inquiry but not its involvement. The file has to move, the exhibits have to be kept, and the defendant has to be got to the National Court on the right day.
Transmission of the file
The examining Court shall, after completion of proceedings in which a defendant is committed for trial or sentence, immediately transmit (a) a notice of committal in the prescribed form to the Registrar of the National Court; and (b) copies of all statements and documents admitted in evidence and recognizances granted, to the Public Prosecutor.
Section 110 separately requires copies of the bail recognizances to go to the Public Prosecutor, and section 96(2)(c) and section 103(2)(c) send the defendant’s own statement or admission the same way. Under section 119, once transmitted the documents are in the Public Prosecutor’s custody, subject to the same duties on a certiorari as the Court would have had, and the prosecuting officer delivers them to the National Court at the trial sitting if the judge directs.
The Public Prosecutor’s decision
(1) Where a person is committed for trial or sentence, the Public Prosecutor or a State Prosecutor shall consider the evidence and may (a) reduce into writing in an indictment a charge of any offence that the evidence appears to him to warrant; or (b) decline to lay a charge.
(3) Where the Public Prosecutor declines to lay a charge, he shall sign a declaration in duplicate, file the original in the National Court, and deliver the duplicate to the person committed; (4) on receipt of it, any person having custody of the person shall immediately release him in relation to that charge.
Two features matter to the defendant. The indictment need not match the committal charge; it may be for any offence the evidence warrants, more or less serious. And the decision may be to lay no charge at all, in which case the section 525(3) declaration secures release. The Magistrates’ Manual and the case law are agreed that the courts will not interfere with that decision; see the ex officio indictment.
Exhibits
(1) Where a person charged with an indictable offence is directed to be tried, the Court shall retain custody of all exhibits tendered during the examination and (a) if the person is indicted, they shall be delivered to the proper officer of the National Court in accordance with its Rules; and (b) if a nolle prosequi is entered or the person is otherwise discharged, they may be returned to the person who tendered them or other person entitled to possession.
(2) While the exhibits are in the Court’s custody, the person charged, the Public Prosecutor and the prosecutor are each entitled to inspect them.
So a defendant or his lawyer can go to the District Court registry to inspect the exhibits before trial. Property alleged to be stolen and held by the police, as distinct from exhibits tendered, is dealt with under section 276; see stolen property held by the police.
Witnesses
Section 111 allows the committing Court to bind a witness who gave material evidence by recognizance to appear at the trial, and section 113 allows a witness who refuses to be committed to custody until the trial, to be released if the defendant is not committed or the Public Prosecutor declines to indict. Section 102 makes the committal statements admissible at trial, with the National Court’s consent, where the witness is dead, insane, too ill to travel, kept away by the accused, or a registered medical practitioner, on proof that the statement was served on the accused. See can a witness be held in custody.
Bail between committal and trial
Committal in custody is not the end of bail. Section 105(2) allows a magistrate to admit a committed defendant to bail at any time before the first day of the sitting at which he is to be tried, and section 106 lets the committing magistrates certify for bail so that a recognizance can be taken later under section 108. Once the sitting begins, bail is a matter for the National Court. See bail after committal.
If the trial does not come
In the event that the trial of a person is not commenced within four months of the date on which he was committed for trial, a detailed report concerning the case shall be made by the Chief Justice to the Minister responsible for the National Legal Administration.
This is a reporting obligation, not a right to release, but it reflects the constitutional expectation in section 37(3) of a hearing within a reasonable time. A defendant in custody whose trial has not commenced should renew the bail application in the National Court, where delay is a recognised consideration.
The District Court’s own record
| Record | Provision |
|---|---|
| Entry in the Register of Decisions | Regulation 10 |
| Recognizances entered in the Security Book | Regulation 13 |
| Original warrant of arrest, if any, held by the Clerk | Regulation 3 |
| Copies of the information, depositions and decision available on payment of the fee | s 164 |
| For a Schedule 2 offence tried summarily: conviction or certificate of dismissal sent to the Registrar of the National Court | s 208 |
The District Courts Act and Regulation are not on PacLII; both are on vLex (Act, Regulation).
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the District Courts Act (Chapter 40) and check for later amendments. The Act is not on PacLII; the figures and time limits quoted in this series come from the consolidation to No 8 of 2000, and the District Courts (Amendment) Act 2009 changes some of them once it is brought into operation. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.