VPRS 30 Criminal Trial Briefs

Full description

This series comprises the documentation created in the course of the prosecution of individuals committed for trial on indictable and capital offences. The contents of this series is gathered, created and maintained by the recording agencies which have been responsible for preparing and prosecuting such cases on behalf of the Crown.

Indictable offences are generally those crimes identified within the various Crimes Acts since 1890. The 1890 Crimes Act had replaced the Criminal Law and Practice Act 1864 that consolidated the various legislation in place beforehand. A capital offence differed from an indictable offence in that it carried a mandatory death sentence.

Trials relating to these offences were held in either the Supreme or County Court depending on the charge. (The County Court was known as the Court of General Sessions prior to 1968.) A trial could not occur until the accused had been committed for trial by a committal hearing in the Magistrate's Court (known prior to 1971 as Courts of Petty Sessions). At this hearing the Magistrate determined if sufficient evidence existed to commit the accused for trial.

The series is titled Criminal Trial Briefs although the brief itself is part of a much larger accumulation.

This accumulation commenced when an individual had been committed and the papers used by the Crown in the committal hearing had been received from the committing court. Papers generated during the subsequent trial preparation and prosecution process were added so that by the end of the prosecution, the documentation for each case may have consisted of a number of items.

Documentation for a completed case typically contained the following elements:

Original depositions (including exhibits)
These are the papers sent from the committing court, forming the basis of the prosecution. They include the depositions (or statements) of various witnesses and associated documents such as witness recognisances, bail documentation and subpoenas. These were usually bound together in some way and a cover sheet containing summary information about the prosecution is usually attached. Researchers should note that exhibits which are private or police property are returned to their owners at the conclusion of the trial.

Additional evidence
This consists of evidence collected after the committal hearing.

Prosecutor's brief (also known as the Brief for the Prosecution)
These are papers created to assist the Crown Prosecutor in presenting the prosecution case during the trial. Contents usually comprised copies of papers found in the original depositions together with original items such as the prosecutor's instructions and notes, results of scientific tests, query sheets, notices of additional witnesses and admissions of fact by the accused. Additional briefs were also created when the prosecutor appeared before the court in matters dealing with specific trial processes, such as applications for change of trial venue (known as a Brief to Appear), or in instances where the prosecutor approached the Chamber Prosecutor or another barrister for a legal opinion (also known as a Brief to Advise).

Administrative Papers / Work in Progress file
These records are miscellaneous administrative papers, correspondence and legal opinions relating to any aspect of the prosecution, preparation and appeal action. From 1983 these papers have been placed in a specially marked folder known as the Work in Progress File.

Since approximately the middle of the 20th Century, other items have also been created and added to the file. These include:

Duplicate copies of the original depositions
These are produced for all persons involved in the prosecution process, including one copy for each of the officers responsible for preparing the case, the trial Judge, any Junior Counsel assisting the prosecutor, counsel for the accused and a spare copy. Duplicate copies of most documentary exhibits are also created for use of all jury members during the trial.

Trial transcripts
The inclusion of transcripts started in the mid-1940s and they are found in approximately half of the files. Transcripts are more prevalent in later cases. Duplicate copies were also created for the trial judge, junior counsel and occasionally others, but these have been removed.

Breach of court order files
These are files which document any subsequent prosecution of the accused for the breach of any court order imposed as part of the original trial sentence.

Appeal files
These records document any appeals initiated against the original trial sentence and / or decision by the Crown Prosecutor or the accused.


CONTENTS OF SERIES IN ARCHIVAL CUSTODY

All files in archival custody created prior to c.1960 appear to have been culled so that, in most instances, only the original depositions and, in some cases, the prosecutor's briefs have been retained.

All files in custody created since 1971 have been culled under the provisions of Public Record Office Standard 88/18, Records Disposal Schedule for Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Under this schedule the original documents, the unique elements of the prosecutor's brief, documentary exhibits and where extant, a copy of the trial transcript, the appeal file, and the covering sheet of the breach of court order file were retained permanently.