Victorian Criminal Procedure 2019 : State and Federal Law

Victorian Criminal Procedure 2019 : State and Federal Law
ISBN: 9781760021870
Publication Date: 7 February 2019

This work continues to offer a comprehensive overview of the law governing the procedures for prosecuting offenders against commonwealth and state law in Victoria in what has become an increasingly detailed and complex component of criminal justice.

Its aim is to be a practical aid for police, legal practitioners, magistrates, judges, corrections officials and others involved in the administration of the justice system in Victoria. It will serve as a useful reference source for academic and public libraries and a helpful guide for law and legal studies students as well as those taking criminology and criminal justice courses.

The major policy changes since the last edition was published in 2015 relate to:

• Major changes to the Bail Act 1977 according primacy in bail determinations to maximising the safety of the community and of persons affected by crime. The Act has been amended to enlarge the number of categories of crime for which accused persons are to be treated as presumptively ineligible for release on bail or can now satisfy the tests for overcoming that presumption.
• A statutory presumption that an adult accused, who has been remanded in custody, should appear before the court via an audio-visual link to the place of custody for routine hearings in the Magistrates' Court.
• The Juries Act 2000 has been amended to alter jury empanelment procedure in significant ways. Jury trials have been further expedited by simplification and standardisation of jury directions by the enactment of the Jury Directions Act 2015 to enlarge upon and replace the Jury Directions Act 2013. The legislation directs that the reasoning of appellate courts must also be consistent with how a jury would be directed in accordance with the principles enunciated in the upd...