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Preparing for court if you are pleading guilty

Information about documents you may prepare and programs you may complete before going to court if you are pleading guilty.

How to prepare for court

Being well prepared can help you get a better result. It is your chance to provide the court with anything you would like the court to consider when they decide the penalty in your case. 

Preparing for court can include:

  • completing relevant programs
  • collecting and preparing documents to support what you are saying
  • preparing what you will say to the court - this is known as your submissions.

For more information, see:

Character reference

A character reference is a letter to the court written by people who know you and can tell the court about your character.

A character reference can:

  • show the magistrate you are normally a person of good character
  • tell the magistrate about any special circumstances, such as why you need a licence or any personal issues which may help explain why you committed the offence.

For more information, see Character references.

Apology letter

Writing an apology letter to the court is usually a good idea if you are pleading guilty.

An apology letter can show the court:

  • that you are sorry for the offence or offences and take responsibility for them
  • any steps you will take to change your behaviour.

For more information, see Apology letter.

Employment and education

You should tell the magistrate about your employment and education history.

If you have been charged with a driving offence and you need a drivers licence for your job, you should let the court know.  It is a good idea to get a letter from your employer confirming that you need your licence for work and how losing your licence may affect your job. The court may take that into consideration when deciding how long to disqualify you from driving, or whether to disqualify you at all.

When sentencing you the magistrate can also take into account your education. You may want to provide copies of certificates showing your level of education to the court.

Medical evidence

If you are suffering from any medical condition or are receiving treatment, you should provide evidence of this to the magistrate. You can hand up a detailed medical certificate, letter or report from your doctor.

Any certificate, letter or report should be signed and dated. It should also be addressed to the Presiding Magistrate of the court your case is listed in.

If you are receiving medication for a condition, you can also bring a recent prescription.

Other documents

If you think there are other things about you that the court should take into consideration, you should tell the magistrate and if necessary provide some evidence. For example you could provide:

  • a copy of payslips
  • a letter from Centrelink if you want to tell the magistrate that it would be difficult for you to pay a large fine
  • a copy of receipts if you were charged with an offence where someone was hurt or property was damaged and you paid for the victim's expenses or the property damage
  • evidence of weather and road conditions if you have been charged with a traffic offence
  • evidence of any intervention programs you have completed.

Intervention programs

Traffic Offenders Intervention Program (TOIP)

The TOIP is a road safety program that aims to help you become a safer driver. The TOIP:

  • runs for six to eight weeks and
  • requires you to attend a lecture each week, lasting about two to three hours.

If you are interested in the program you can:

  • enrol before your court date or
  • tell the magistrate on the first court date and seek leave to be referred. 

If you want to find a program and enrol before your court date, see Traffic offenders intervention program on the Local Court of NSW website. You can contact the course provider and find out when the next course starts, how long it will go for and how much it will cost. On the first court date you should let the court know which provider you are doing the course through, when it started, and when it will be finished.

The court may give you time to complete the program and adjourn your case to a date after you have completed it, or they may just sentence you.

If you complete the program, the provider will send a certificate of completion to the court. The magistrate can take this into account when sentencing you.

If you choose to do the program you must be committed, attend every lecture and complete any assessments. If you fail to do any of this the magistrate may also take that into account when sentencing you.

The TOIP program must be delivered on at least two separate days over two weeks. You cannot complete the program in a one day course. 

Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program

If you have a history of drug use, the MERIT program can give you the opportunity to work towards rehabilitation as part of the court process.

You may be referred to the program by a magistrate, solicitor or the police.  If you want to participate in the program and the magistrate has not mentioned it, you can tell the magistrate that you would like to be considered for the program. You can participate in the MERIT program before you enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Your case may be adjourned until you have completed the program.

The MERIT program includes things like:

  • counselling
  • rehabilitation
  • case management.

The program runs at over 50 Local Courts in NSW. Some of the courts also provide MERIT programs for people with alcohol problems. Most MERIT programs go for about 12 weeks.

For a full list of the MERIT locations, see Coverage statewide on the MERIT website.

Counselling

If you have been charged with an offence, you may want to consider getting some counselling to help you. For example, if you have a problem with anger or alcohol you may be able to get counselling.

You should tell the Magistrate if you are receiving any counselling and if possible, ask your counsellor to provide you with a detailed letter or report that you can give to the magistrate after you plead guilty.

Sentencing submissions

Submissions are what you say to the magistrate to tell them about the offence, your circumstances and what penalty you would like the magistrate to consider.

You will have a chance to make your submissions after you have entered a plea of guilty, the magistrate has read the documents provided by the police prosecutor, and the magistrate has read any documents provided by you.

You should make sure what you say is well organised and not too long. The magistrate wants to know why and how you committed the offence and what kind of person you are. This may mean giving the magistrate a lot of information about yourself, some of which you may regard as private.

If there are any details about your life which you would prefer not to talk about in front of the courtroom but which you want the magistrate to know about, you can ask the magistrate if you can hand up all or part of your submissions in writing.

For more information, see Preparing sentencing submissions for your criminal case.

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