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How We ManageCasesJudges manage cases under theCrimes (Criminal Trials) Act 1999[Crimes (CT) Act]. The purpose ofthis Act is to increase the capacity forjudicial management of criminal trialsin order to more efficiently managethe process of criminal hearings.The Crimes (CT) Act provides for:• full and complete disclosure bythe prosecution;• a required summary of theCrown opening given by theprosecution to the defencebefore trial so that the defenceknows how the Crown proposesto present its case;• a required response to thatopening given by the defencebefore trial and to state whatmatters are in issue in the trial;and• a mechanism by which theCrown may serve a notice ofpre-trial admissions on thedefence requiring the defenceto respond to that notice.The Crimes (CT) Act emphasisespre-trial court control of criminalproceedings. One or more Judges,whose rulings will be operative ontrial, administer pre-trial procedures.During 2004–05 two Judges conductedpre-trial hearings casesunder the Crimes (CT) Act inMelbourne. In addition, threeJudges regularly visited countrylocations to conduct pre-trial hearingsin order to expedite matters atcountry locations.In Melbourne, Criminal Judgesconducted 1,374 case conferences,1,054 directions hearings and 552video links to prisons, including83 links to country locations, 32interstate links and 16 overseaslinks.Managing Long TrialsThe Court considers any trial thatruns five weeks or longer to be a‘long trial’. The Listing Judges referthese trials to Judge Strong and theyare listed before him for mention.Judge Strong handled all pre-trialissues and allocated a hearing dateindependently of the normal Courthearing dates provided by theRegistry, with a view to avoiding anylong delays and encouraging partiesto prepare their cases. Judge Strongthen identified a Judge who wouldbe available for the period the trialwas scheduled to run and allocateda Judge to manage and hear thetrial. No statistics are available forthis reporting period with respect tolong trials.Listing of TrialsThe Court aims to manage the listingof trials and pleas so that theresources of the Court, includingcourtrooms and Judges, are utilisedeffectively and efficiently. In thereporting year, the difficulties associatedwith listing all new trials on aMonday (about 18 per week) withincreased numbers of pleas andappeals listed for later in the week,were the subject of discussionamong Judges and Registry staff. TheCourt considered whether thismethod could be further improvedby listing trials to commence oneach day of the week; our primaryaim being to avoid bringing partiesto the courtroom door, only to haveto tell them that the resources of theCourt prohibit the hearing of scheduledcases. For the most part, theCourt has been able to deal with thelisted cases, while aiming to refineExamples of a Criminal Trial and an Appeal from the Magistrates’ Court Progressingthrough the CourtTrial to Hear Case Involving Sexual Offences.23 July 2004Committal Hearing in MagistratesCourt:• Accused pleads not guilty• Committed for trial in the CountyCourt on 25 October 2004 onseveral sexual assault charges.29 July 2004Directions Hearing listed for23 September 2004.8 September 2004Depositions filed.22 September 2004Crown Opening filed.23 September 2004Directions Hearing Orders made.Trial Date confirmed.25 October 2004Trial commences.Jury empanelled.1 November 2004Jury discharged—unable to reachverdict.5 January 2005Case listed for retrial on 19 May 2005.19 May 2005Trial commences.20 May 2005Jury returns a verdict of not guilty.Appeal Where Appellant is in Custody.4 March 2005Appeal listed for 13 April 2005.9 March 2005Advice sent to prison regardinghearing date.12 April 2005Order to bring the appellant toCourt issued.13 April 2005Appeal heard and orders made.Court Performance 29