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The Benefits of Serving a Full Brief of Evidence in Council and Other Government Agency Prosecution Proceedings

Daniel Silfo, Ian Pridgeon, Marcus Heath and Elizabeth Flanagan
Russell Kennedy Lawyers has recently carried out various ex-parte prosecutions relying upon full briefs of evidence, which has highlighted the benefits of serving a full brief of evidence at an early stage of the proceeding. The benefits include potential cost savings, expediency and potentially increasing the likelihood of an Accused entering a guilty plea.

A full brief of evidence is a complete set of evidence relevant in a criminal proceeding within the possession of the prosecution, along with other procedural matters. A full brief may be served on an Accused upon written request, at the discretion of the prosecution or otherwise as required under the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) (CPA).

Benefits of serving a full brief in Council and other government agency prosecutions
Ex parte - where a full brief is served a matter may proceed ex-parte in the absence of the Accused should they fail to attend Court. In those circumstances prosecution witnesses are not required to give evidence as the full brief is relied upon as the whole of the prosecution’s evidence.

Expediencein circumstances where a full brief has been served, the Court may hear and decide the matter ex-parte. This may avoid the need for multiple adjournments in the absence of an Accused.

Costif an Accused does not attend Court, costs may be incurred as a result of any necessary adjournments. These can be avoided or limited by serving a full brief early in a proceeding.

Increased likelihood of a guilty plea if a full brief has been served and an Accused attends Court they may be more likely to enter a guilty plea as the strength of the prosecution evidence will be clear to the Accused. The evidence contained in the full brief will show that the prosecution can prove each element of the alleged offence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Requirements
The contents of a full brief is regulated by section 41 of the CPA, which contains a detailed list of the required contents. Importantly, a full brief must include any information, document or thing the prosecution intends to rely on, or that is relevant to the alleged offence. A full brief which does not satisfy section 41 will be invalid and will not be capable of being relied upon for the purpose of an
ex-parte hearing.

Recent examples of ex-parte hearings conducted by Russell Kennedy relying upon a full brief
Pool safety – failure to comply with a building order

In this matter three people were charged with a failure to comply with a building order for minor work requiring building works to bring about compliance with respect to a swimming pool safety barrier. A full brief was served after each Accused failed to appear at Court. The matters proceeded ex-parte relying upon the full briefs. The Court made orders imposing a financial penalty upon each Accused and also made costs orders totalling $18,045.50.

Building work carried out without a building permit – failure to comply with a building order

The Accused in this matter failed to comply with a building order issued in respect of a veranda constructed at the subject property without a building permit. The Accused failed to appear in Court and the matter proceeded ex-parte as a full brief of evidence had been served. The Court imposed a fine and made a cost order in the total sum of $10,000.00.

Temporary fencing – failure to comply with a building order


In this matter a corporate Accused was charged with failing to comply with a building order for minor work which related to temporary site fencing as a result of building work at the subject property. The Accused failed to appear on multiple occasions and the matter was heard ex-parte relying upon a full brief. The Court imposed a combined penalty and costs order in the amount of $8,500.00.

Further information

Please contact our Statutory Building and Prosecution Team should you require any further advice: Daniel SilfoIan PridgeonMarcus Heath, and Elizabeth Flanagan.

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