[no bill text published] Mandatory physical court appearances for detained defendants

Criminal Procedure Legislation Amendment Bill 2026

Assembly

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Detained defendants must appear physically in court for specific parts of summary criminal proceedings; this includes their first appearance.
The Local Court can waive certain compliance requirements if there is a good reason.
Legally represented defendants can bypass the preliminary examination process.
The Local Court presumes that domestic violence charges against a defendant involving the same person will be heard together.
The Local Court can order that charges on separate informations be dealt with together.
The Local Court can set a date for a further mention before the date for directions.
The Justices Regulations 1929 and Justices Amendment Regulations 2011 are repealed.

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