It is a fundamental principle of our criminal justice system
that accused persons are informed of the evidence against them and
have the opportunity to investigate the veracity of that material
before their cases reach contested hearings or jury trials.
In New South Wales, this principle is embodied in
section 183 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986, which provides
that:
"(1) If an accused person pleads not guilty to an
offence, the prosecutor must, subject to section 187, serve or
cause to be served on the accused person a copy of the brief of
evidence relating to the offence.
(2) The brief of evidence is, unless the regulations
otherwise provide, to consist of documents regarding the evidence
that the prosecutor intends to adduce in order to prove the
commission of the offence and is to include–
