The future of committals

Abstract

Legislative initiatives to change the committal process are being considered by several Australian states. The papers at this conference summarise the debate surrounding committal hearings, presenting a number of different viewpoints. The papers consider whether committal hearings should be abolished and whether they take up too much court time, exacerbating delays in the criminal justice system. Some papers also examine whether committal hearings provide an effective mechanism for the early identification of guilty pleas and for filtering out weak cases.

Proceedings of a conference held 1-2 May 1990

Contents

  • Committals again under the microscope
    Peter A. Sallmann
  • Evaluating the committal
    David Brereton and John Willis
  • The future of committal proceedings in New South Wales
    Peter Berman
  • The case for the retention of committals in their present form is overwhelming
    John Marsden
  • A critique of proposed committal reform in New South Wales
    Clarrie Briese
  • Committal proceedings: the Victorian perspective
    John Coldrey
  • The future of committals
    Bryan J. Clothier
  • Moves in the Australian Capital Territory
    Ron Cahill and Mark O'Neill
  • Disclosure of the prosecution case before trial
    Ben Salmon
  • Committal proceedings in the Australian Capital Territory
    Terry Higgins
  • A case for abolition
    John Johnson
  • Committal for trial and pre-trial disclosure: some overseas perspectives
    Bron McKillop
  • The future of committals - a defence lawyer's perspective
    Terry O'Gorman
  • A Tasmanian defence lawyer's perspective
    Alan Blow
  • The future of committal hearings: the victim/witness point of view
    Andrew Paterson
  • A prosecution perspective
    Mark Weinberg
  • Committals - time for change
    John Murray
  • Committals in Victoria - a police perspective
    Kerry Stephens
  • Publicity and committals
    Jack Waterford
  • Judicial review of committal proceedings for federal offences
    Bronwyn Naylor
  • Legal aid and committals
    Mick O'Brien
  • Committals, offence classification and the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court
    Matthew Goode