Contest Mentions

A contest mention is a procedural hearing in criminal cases as per section 55 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 that have issues causing an accused to plead not guilty. A contest mention is heard in open court, although lawyers for the accused will speak first to the prosecutor in order to identify relevant issues before discussing the case with a Magistrate.

How do contest mentions assist case management?

Contest mentions are used by the Magistrates’ court to ease case management by reducing the number of full contested hearings as much as possible. This is necessary as there are only a limited capacity for contested hearings to be heard. Such hearings can take between an hour and a couple of weeks to hear all the evidence that will allow a magistrate to make a decision. It goes without saying that the court wants to minimise the number of contested hearings that get heard, and the contest mention process affords the court the option to avoid them.

Can a contest mention prevent a contested hearing?

There are various ways that a contested hearing could be avoided. One way is if an accused is persuaded that it is in their interest to resolve the matter at the contest mention. This can occur through applying for a sentence indication in which the Magistrate will advise the accused what the sentence would be if they agreed to plead guilty at the contest mention hearing. Another way is for the Magistrate to indicate to both defence and the prosecution their view on the merits of the contested hearing. It may be the case that this can persuade the parties to come to a resolution that avoids them.

What happens in a contest mention?

In a contest mention some key rules for the contested hearing will be established including whether the dispute involves a legal argument, a factual dispute or the admissibility of evidence, or whether key disclosure is required prior to the contest. Both defence and prosecution have to outline how many witnesses they will call and give an estimate as to the potential length of the contested hearing. This enables the Magistrate to determine the next available contested hearing date for the length of hearing required.