The Victorian criminal trial process is, viewed from outside, a long sequence of unfamiliar steps with unfamiliar names. Mention. Filing hearing. Committal. Indictment. Empanelment. Verdict. The vocabulary alone makes the system feel impenetrable. It is not, once you know what each step actually does.
This is our plain-English guide to how a criminal matter moves through the Victorian courts, from the moment a person is charged through to the verdict and any appeal that follows.
Arrest, charge and bail
A criminal proceeding begins when a person is charged. That can happen in several ways. The most common is that police arrest a suspect, take them into custody, interview them and then either charge them or release them. Where someone is charged, the next question is whether they are released on bail or held in custody pending their first court appearance. Bail decisions in Victoria are governed by the Bail Act 1977 (Vic), and the test depends on the seriousness of the alleged offending and the person’s history. Some offences carry a presumption against bail.
An alternative pathway is the ‘summons’ or charge-and-summons process, where police charge a person without arrest and give them a date to attend court. This is common for less serious matters and for matters where the suspect is cooperative.
From the moment a person is charged, the presumption of innocence applies and continues to apply at every step until a court has found them guilty.
Summary versus indictable offences
The first major fork in the process is whether the offence is being dealt with summarily or on indictment.
Summary offences are the less serious category. They are heard in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria by a magistrate sitting alone, without a jury. Most road traffic offences, minor assaults, theft of low-value property, public order offences and minor drug offences are dealt with summarily.
Indictable offences are the more serious category — armed robbery, aggravated burglary, sexual offences, serious drug offences, manslaughter, murder. Indictable matters generally proceed to the County Court of Victoria or, for the most serious, the Supreme Court of Victoria, where they are tried before a judge and jury.
A large middle category exists: indictable offences triable summarily. Many indictable offences can be heard in the Magistrates’ Court if the magistrate considers the matter appropriate to be dealt with summarily and the accused consents. That route results in lower maximum penalties but a faster outcome.
The Magistrates’ Court mention
Whether the matter ends up summary or indictable, the first appearance is in the Magistrates’ Court at a hearing called a mention. The mention is a procedural step. The accused enters a preliminary indication of plea, the court confirms representation, and a timetable is set for the next stages. A summary case may be resolved at the mention, particularly where there is an early guilty plea.
For matters that are not resolved at the first mention, the case is adjourned for a contest mention or a contested hearing if it is summary, or for a filing hearing and committal mention if it is indictable.
The committal process
For indictable matters, the Magistrates’ Court conducts the committal proceeding. The committal is a filtering step. The magistrate examines whether there is sufficient evidence on the brief, on its highest, to support a conviction by a properly directed jury. If yes, the accused is committed for trial in the County Court or Supreme Court. If no, the charges are struck out at this stage.
Committals can include a committal hearing at which prosecution witnesses give evidence and are cross-examined by defence. In recent years, Victoria has reformed parts of the committal regime to reduce trauma to victims of sexual offences and to streamline cases — the Special Hearings regime under the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) is part of that.
Indictment and arraignment
Once committed, the matter moves to the County Court or the Supreme Court. The Office of Public Prosecutions, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, files an indictment — the formal document setting out the charges the accused will face at trial.
At an arraignment, the indictment is read to the accused and a formal plea of guilty or not guilty is entered to each charge. A guilty plea moves the matter directly to a sentencing hearing. A not-guilty plea moves it to a trial date.
Jury empanelment
Trials on indictment in Victoria are heard by a judge and a jury of 12. The empanelment process selects the jury from the broader pool summoned for the day. Both prosecution and defence have a limited number of peremptory challenges that allow them to object to a juror without giving a reason. Challenges for cause — for actual bias or other reason — are heard separately by the judge.
Once the jury is empanelled and sworn, the trial begins. Until the verdict, jurors are bound by directions about the conduct of the trial — they must not research the case, must not discuss it outside the jury room and must decide the case only on the evidence in court.
The prosecution case and the defence case
The trial proceeds in a familiar order. The Crown opens, outlining the case it intends to prove. Prosecution witnesses are called and examined in chief by the prosecution, then cross-examined by defence, then re-examined if needed. The Crown closes its case.
The defence is then entitled to call evidence but is not required to. The accused has the right to silence and is not compelled to testify. Where the defence does call evidence, the same examination-cross-examination-re-examination structure applies in reverse. The defence may also make a no-case submission at the close of the prosecution case — a submission to the judge that the evidence is not capable of supporting a conviction. If the no-case submission succeeds, the trial ends without going to the jury.
Both sides then deliver closing addresses to the jury.
The judge’s charge and the verdict
Before the jury retires to consider its verdict, the judge delivers the charge to the jury — a structured set of directions on the law that the jury must apply, on the elements of each offence the Crown must prove, on the standard of proof (beyond reasonable doubt), on the burden of proof (on the Crown throughout) and on any specific evidentiary issues that arose during the trial.
The jury then retires to deliberate. Verdicts in Victoria are normally required to be unanimous. A trial judge may, after a prescribed period and on satisfaction of statutory conditions, accept a majority verdict (11 of 12) for most offences, though not for murder or certain Commonwealth offences. If the jury cannot reach a verdict, the result is a hung jury and the matter may be retried.
Sentence and appeal
If the verdict is guilty, the matter moves to a separate sentencing hearing, at which the court hears submissions on sentence from prosecution and defence, considers any victim impact statements and applies the principles of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). Sentencing is dealt with in detail in our companion explainer.
Either side may appeal. The accused may appeal against conviction, against sentence, or both, to the Court of Appeal (a division of the Supreme Court). The Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal against sentence on the ground of manifest inadequacy. A further appeal to the High Court of Australia is possible only with special leave, which is rarely granted.
The institutions you will hear named
Several institutions appear repeatedly through the process and are worth knowing.
- Office of Public Prosecutions — the independent body that prosecutes serious indictable matters in Victoria, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
- Victoria Legal Aid — the statutory body providing legal assistance to people who cannot afford private representation, including duty lawyers in courts.
- Court Services Victoria — the agency that administers the courts and tribunals, supporting the operations of the Magistrates’, County, Supreme and Children’s Courts and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
- Victims of Crime Commissioner — the independent advocate for victims’ rights through the criminal justice process.
The trial process is deliberately slow in places. The committal exists to filter weak cases out before they consume jury time. The empanelment process exists to ensure the jury is properly constituted. The judge’s charge exists to make sure the jury applies the law as it actually is. Nothing about the system is fast, and very little of it is dramatic. That is by design.
If you are a victim of crime navigating the court process, the Victims of Crime Helpline is available on 1800 819 817, and the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal can provide financial assistance. For free legal information, contact Victoria Legal Aid on 1300 792 387. In an emergency, call 000.
