Criminal procedure

Reference received: 17 January 1982    

Reports

​​Report 45: Criminal Procedure - Unsworn Statements of Accused Persons (PDF, 227.0 KB) [PDF, 420Kb], October 1985

Tabled in parliament: 31 October 1985

Legislative action: ​No legislation was required to implement this Report. However, the right to make an unsworn statement was subsequently abolished by the CrimesLegislation(Unsworn Evidence) Amendment Act 1994 (NSW) which inserted s 404A into the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) (now Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) s 31).

Research Report 48: Criminal Procedure: The Jury in a Criminal Trial (PDF, 680.2 KB) [PDF, 679Kb], March 1986

Tabled in parliament: 30 April 1986

Legislative action: Jury (Amendment) Act 1987; Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1988; Crimes Legislation Amendment (Procedure) Act 1997​

​Judicial citation: ​Cheatle v The Queen (1993) 177 CLR 541,  562; R v Taousanis (1999) 146 ACrimR 303 (NSW SC) [7], [10], [12], [20]; Katsuno v The Queen (1999) 199 CLR 40 [97]; Wu v The Queen (1999) 199 CLR 99 [46]; R v Laws (2000) 50 NSWLR 96 [30], [31], [34]; R v MM(2004) 145 ACrimR 148 (NSW CCA) [138]; R v Lavender(2005) 218 ALR 521 (HC) [89]; R v NZ[2005] NSWCCA 278 [188]; R v Tichowitsch[2006] QCA 569 [3]; Vella v Western Australia; Jenkins v Director of Public Prosecutions [2013] NSWCA 406 [130]

Report 66: Police Powers of Detention and Investigation after Arrest (PDF, 580.9 KB) [PDF, 580Kb], December 1990

Tabled in parliament: 20 February 1991

Legislative action: Crimes Amendment (Detention After Arrest) Act 1997

Judicial citation: ​R v Savvas (1991) 55 ACrimR 241; R v McKinney (unreported, NSW SC, Wood J, 1 July 1993) 37; Bell v The Queen (1994) 77 ACrimR 213; R v Rondo (2001) 126 ACrimR 562 (NSWCCA), [15]; R v Day (2002) 129 ACrimR 198 (SA CCA), [48]; Norton v The Queen (No 2) (2001) 24 WAR 488 (WASCA); Kelly v The Queen(2004) 205 ALR 274 (HCA), [28]

Discussion paper​s

Discussion Paper 9: Unsworn Statements of Accused Persons, May 1980 (originally issued under Reference 13: Evidence)

Discussion Paper 12: Criminal Procedure - The Jury in a Criminal Trial (PDF, 44.6 MB), September 1985​ 

Judicial citation: Otis Elevators Pty Ltd v Zitis (1986) 5 NSWLR 171, 202; Wu v The Queen (1999) 199 CLR 99 [42]; R v PZG (2007) 171 A Crim R 62, [20] ​

Discussion Paper 13: Criminal Procedure - Procedure from Charge to Trial: A General Proposal for Reform, December 1986

Discussion Paper 14: Criminal Procedure: Procedure from Charge to Trial: Specific Problems and Proposals, February 1987

Judicial citation: Barron v Attorney General (NSW) (1987) 10 NSWLR 215, 233; Aboud v Attorney General (NSW) (1987) 10 NSWLR 671, 679; Kintominas v Attorney General (NSW) (1987) 24 A Crim R 456, 462; Hilton v Hyde (NSW SC, No S18236-7/85, Hunt J, 29 April 1987, unreported), 4; R v Elshaw [1991] 3 SCR 24

Discussion Paper 16: Criminal Procedure: Police Powers of Arrest and Detention, August 1987

Judicial citation: R v Walsh (NSW, Court of Criminal Appeal, No 60257/89, 18 October 1990, unreported) per Samuels JA at 20​

Research report

​Research Report 1: Criminal Procedure: The Jury in a Criminal Trial: Empirical Studies, June 1986

Judicial citation: ​Pahuja v The Queen (1987) 30 ACrimR 118; Cheatle v The Queen (1993) 177 CLR 541, 562

Issues paper

​Issues Paper 3: Criminal Procedure - General Introduction and Proceedings in Courts of Petty Sessions, 1982 

An Outline of the Paper was also published

​Preliminary paper

Robert L Misner, " Legislatively Mandated Speedy Trials" (1984) 8 Criminal Law Journal 17
[ A report to the New South Wales Law Reform Commission, which was made possible by a grant from the Law Foundation of New South Wales.]​

Journal article

​​J H Phillips, "The calling of expert evidence-in-chief - a new approach" (1989) 63 Australian Law Journal 545​​

Terms of reference

To inquire into and review the law and practice relating to criminal procedure, the conduct of criminal proceedings and matters incidental thereto; and in particular, without affecting the generality of the foregoing, to consider-

(a) the means of instituting criminal proceedings;

(b) the role and conduct of committal proceedings;

(c) pre-trial procedures in criminal proceedings;

(d) trial procedures in matters dealt with summarily or on indictment;

(e) practices and procedures relating to juries in criminal proceedings;

(f) procedures followed in the sentencing of convicted persons;

(g) appeals in criminal proceedings,

(h) the classification of criminal offences;

(i) the desirability and feasibility of codifying the law relating to criminal procedure.