Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act 1986

01/02/2010

The Criminal Procedure Amendment (Case Management) Act 2009 **commenced today, 1 February 2010. **The object of the Act is to amend the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 to make further provision in relation to the management of cases to reduce delays in proceedings on indictment, including provision in respect of pre-trial disclosure, pre-trial hearings and pre-trial conferences.

The Act also extends section 130A of the Criminal Procedure Act, which makes pre-trial orders binding on a trial judge in sexual assault proceedings, to all proceedings on indictment. The amendment also extends the application of the section to orders of the trial judge in the proceedings so that where there is a new hearing ordered or the proceedings are discontinued, the orders of the original trial judge are binding on another trial judge hearing fresh proceedings except in certain circumstances.

**1 February 2010 **