Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears —
accused means a person alleged in a prosecution
notice or indictment to have committed an offence;
acquit , in relation to a charge, has the meaning
given by subsection (2)(b);
approved notice means a notice approved by the
chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally
assisting in the administration of this Act;
arrest warrant —
(a) for
an accused, means a warrant that complies with section 31;
(b) for
a witness, means a warrant that complies with section 160;
audio link means facilities, including telephones,
that enable, at the same time, a court at one place to hear a person at
another place and vice versa;
case means a prosecution, or any proceedings in a
court that involve its criminal jurisdiction;
charge means a written allegation in a prosecution
notice or indictment that a person has committed an offence;
convict , in relation to a charge, has the meaning
given by subsection (2)(a);
corporation means any body corporate, whether
incorporated in this State or elsewhere;
court means a court of summary jurisdiction or a
superior court;
court hearing notice means a document that
complies with section 33(1);
court of summary jurisdiction means a court, or a
person, acting in circumstances in which it, he or she is a court of summary
jurisdiction by virtue of another written law;
courtroom includes any place where a court is
sitting;
deal with a charge, includes to hear and determine
it;
determine a charge, means —
(a) to
convict the accused of the charge;
(b) to
acquit the accused of the charge; or
(c) to
enter judgment on the charge under section 128(2) or (3);
document means a record that is on paper or that
is capable of being put on paper;
DPP means the Director of Public Prosecutions
appointed under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1991 or any
person performing the functions or acting in that office;
either way charge means an indictable charge that,
by virtue of The Criminal Code section 5, or another written law, may be
tried either on indictment or summarily;
electronic recording means an electronic or
magnetic recording of sounds or moving images or both;
indictable charge means a charge of an indictable
offence;
indictable offence means a crime or any other
offence described by a written law as an indictable offence, irrespective of
whether in some circumstances it may be dealt with summarily;
indictment means a document that contains one or
more indictable charges, complies with section 85(2), and is lodged with
a superior court;
legal practitioner means an Australian legal
practitioner within the meaning of that term in the
Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3;
magistrate means a magistrate appointed
under —
(a) the
Children’s Court of Western Australia Act 1988 ;
(b) the
Magistrates Court Act 2004 ; or
(c) any
other written law for the purpose of constituting a court of summary
jurisdiction;
offence means an indictable offence or a simple
offence;
party , in relation to a charge, means the
prosecutor or the accused;
post a document, means to send the document by
pre-paid ordinary post;
prescribed court officer , in relation to a
prosecution notice lodged with a court of summary jurisdiction, means an
officer of that court who is prescribed by rules of court made by that court
for the purposes of this Act;
prosecution means proceedings in a court that
allege a person has committed an offence and that are taken for the purpose of
having the person tried for the offence;
prosecution notice means a document that contains
one or more charges, complies with section 23(2), and is lodged with a
court of summary jurisdiction;
prosecutor means —
(a) in a
prosecution in a court of summary jurisdiction, the person who commenced the
prosecution or a person who in court represents that person;
(b) in a
prosecution in a superior court, the authorised officer (as defined in
section 80) who commenced the prosecution or a person who in court
represents that person;
public authority means —
(a) a
Minister of the State;
(b) a
department of the Public Service;
(c) a
local government or a regional local government; or
(d) a
body, whether incorporated or not, or the holder of an office, being a body or
office that is established for a public purpose under a written law and that,
under the authority of a written law, performs a statutory function on behalf
of the State;
record means any thing or process —
(a) on
or by which information is recorded or stored; or
(b) by
means of which a meaning can be conveyed by any means in a visible or
recoverable form,
whether or not the use or assistance of some
electronic, electrical, mechanical, chemical or other device or process is
required to recover or convey the information or meaning;
remand warrant means a warrant issued by a court
under this Act or the Sentencing Act 1995 that orders that an accused be
kept in custody while a case is adjourned;
simple offence means an offence that is not an
indictable offence;
statutory penalty for an offence, means the
penalty specified by a written law for the offence;
summons , to an accused, means a document that
complies with section 32(1);
superior court means the Supreme Court or the
District Court;
trial date means the date set for the start of a
trial;
vehicle has the meaning given by the Road Traffic
Act 1974 ;
video link means facilities, including closed
circuit television, that enable, at the same time, a court at one place to see
and hear a person at another place and vice versa;
witness summons means a document that complies
with section 161;
witness undertaking has the meaning given by
Schedule 4 clause 1;
working day means a day other than a Saturday, a
Sunday, or a public holiday throughout the State.
(2) For the purposes
of this Act —
(a) a
person is convicted of a charge if a court under section 147(1) enters a
judgment of conviction of the offence charged in respect of the person;
(b) a
person is acquitted of a charge if a court —
(i)
under section 147(2) enters a judgment of acquittal
of the offence charged on account of unsoundness of mind in respect of the
person; or
(ii)
under section 147(3) enters a judgment of acquittal
of the offence charged in respect of the person.
[Section 3 amended by No. 21 of 2008
s. 657(2).]