Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Magistrates' Court Act 1989 - SECT 37A

Service of outline of evidence on defendant

37A. Service of outline of evidence on defendant



(1) The informant may serve on the defendant, in the case of a charge for a
summary offence, an outline of evidence and a notice in the prescribed form
explaining this section and clause 6 of Schedule 2.

(2) An outline of evidence is a statement by the informant-

   (a)  describing the nature and circumstances of the alleged offence,
        including-

   (i)  the background and consequences of the alleged offence; and

   (ii) the comments or statements, if any, made by the defendant concerning
        the alleged offence; and

   (b)  including-

   (i)  the names of all persons who may be called to give evidence by or on
        behalf of the informant at the hearing of the charge and indicating
        whether those persons have made statements; and

   (ii) a list of any things that may be tendered as exhibits.



(3) An outline of evidence must be-

   (a)  in the form of an affidavit; or

   (b)  signed by the informant and must contain an acknowledgment signed in
        the presence of-

   (i)  a member of the police force of Victoria, of any other State or of an
        internal Territory; or

   (ii) a member of the Australian Federal Police- that the statement is true
        and correct and is made in the belief that a person making a false
        statement in the circumstances is liable to the penalties of perjury.

(4) Despite subsection (3), a copy of an outline of evidence that-

   (a)  is served on the defendant; or

   (b)  is used for the purposes of clause 6 in Schedule 2-

need not bear the manual signature of the informant.

(5) An informant who acknowledges an outline of evidence which the informant
knows at the time to be false is liable to the penalties of perjury.

(6) The outline of evidence and notice referred to in subsection (1) must be
served in accordance with section 34 or 36(1) (as the case requires) as though
they were a summons to answer to a charge.

(7) Service of documents referred to in subsection (1) may be proved in any
manner in which service of a summons to answer to a charge may be proved under
section 35.

(8) Section 90 of the Road Safety Act 1986 applies as if a reference to
"summons" were a reference to "outline of evidence under section 37A of the
Magistrates' Court Act 1989".

(9) An informant must retain an outline of evidence bearing the manual
signature of the informant for a period of 12 months after the determination
of the charge.