Committal mentions – A detailed look at procedure and preparation

If you have been charged with a more serious criminal offence, the process is different to the less serious matters in the summary stream that stay in the Magistrates' Court. A serious criminal matter will be assigned to the indictable stream in the Magistrates' Court and ultimately, indictable matters are destined for a higher court; either the County Court or the Supreme Court. If you are pleading not guilty, you are working towards a trial before a jury. It is helpful to keep this bigger picture in mind when trying to understand the purpose of different administrative hearings along the way.

The first step in the indictable stream process is a filing hearing. Generally, six weeks after the filing hearing, you will receive a copy of the brief of evidence. The next step in the process is a committal mention or committal case conference. They are essentially the same thing save for a few key differences.