Pleading not guilty

Information to help you prepare and present your not guilty plea. If you plead not guilty, this means that you do not agree with the offence or that you do agree, but you have a defence.

Alert

Different discounts on penalty apply depending on the type of offence you have been charged with and at what stage you have pleaded guilty. You should get legal advice about your specific situation and about what the benefit would be in pleading guilty. 

Pleading not guilty

If you plead not guilty, this means that you do not agree with the offence or that you do agree, but you have a defence.

Pleading not guilty in writing

If you have received a Court Attendance Notice (CAN) and you want to plead not guilty but you cannot get to court for the mention, you may be able to plead not guilty in writing and get the court to send you a letter telling you the next date on which you have to go to court.

You can fill out a form called a 'Written Notice of Pleading'. A Written Notice of Pleading tells the court:

you are pleading not guilty
what dates you won't be available for a hearing
how many witnesses you will have.

You must send this to the court at least seven days before your court date.

Before pleading not guilty in writing, you should get legal advice. The court may not accept your written plea and may want you to come to court instead.

For more information, see Pleading not guilty in writing to a criminal charge.

Preparing for the hearing

If you are pleading not guilty, you will usually have to go to court on more than one occasion. This is usually for the 'reply date' and the 'hearing'.

At the mention the Court may order the police to serve you with a brief of evidence (documents that make up the evidence against you) and give you a reply date. On the reply date you have to go to court. The Court will confirm whether the police have served the brief of evidence and if you still want to plead not guilty.

If the brief has been served and you still want to plead not guilty, the magistrate will set a hearing date.

Before you go to court for the hearing you will need to prepare your case. You should:

read the brief of evidence, if there is one
talk to your witnesses
gather any documents, photos or other evidence
subpoena documents and witnesses if necessary
go to court for the reply to the brief of evidence.

The police do not have to provide you with a brief of evidence for some charges. If a brief is not required, then there will be no reply date and the case will be listed straight for hearing.

For more information, see:

Going to the hearing

When you go to court, you will need to find your courtroom. After the court calls your name, the case will start and will usually go ahead as follows:

The prosecutor will call its witnesses and ask them questions ('examination-in-chief'). You can also ask them questions ('cross-examination').
You give evidence and will be cross-examined by the prosecutor.
You call your witnesses (if you have any) and question them. The prosecutor will cross-examine your witnesses.  
You and the prosecutor sum up your cases.
The court makes a decision.

For more information, see Step by step guide – Going to a defended hearing.

Changing your plea

If you entered a plea of not guilty, you can change your plea to guilty. You do not need the permission of the court to do this.

You can change your plea to guilty any time before or during the hearing, but if you are considering changing your plea, get legal advice as soon as possible.

You should notify the court and the prosecutor as soon as you can after deciding to change your plea. If you change your plea on the day of the hearing you may be ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution attending the hearing.

For more information, see Changing your plea to a criminal charge.

The decision

After hearing all the evidence, the Court will decide whether you are guilty or not guilty of the offence. If you are found not guilty your case will be dismissed. If you are found guilty the magistrate will sentence you for the offence.

For more information, see The decision, in Step by step guide - Going to a defended hearing.