Observation of Criminal Law Case in Australian Magistrates Court

This report describes the observation of a criminal law case in the Australian Magistrates Court. It includes the court's description, the case's details, and the conduct of the parties. The report also discusses the due process model and its elements.

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
For the purposes of the report, visits have been made to an Australian court to observe
and understand the proceedings of a case before it. It contains the description of the court
attended for observing the court matters. This type of court visit is very important and crucial for
the law students in order to understand the system of working of the Australian Court through
actual observation of the court proceedings. The case that has been observed is described
together with other information like court room description, conduct of the parties and others.
1. The court that I have visited for the purpose of this report is the Magistrates Court Richland at
around 10 am of 3rd April of 2019 (Richlandcountysc.gov, 2019). I was there for around 5 hours
and returned from it at around 3pm. The Magistrates Court in Australia is the first level of the
State Courts and it hears and adjudicates most of the civil and criminal matters whose pecuniary
value is less than $150,000. Almost 90 percent of the legal disputes of Queensland are heard
before the Magistrates Court in the country. This category of courts deal has the jurisdiction to
deal with summary offences. It also determines whether a person accused and charged with a
criminal offence must face a trial. If the answer is affirmative, it also decides which court will
hear the case.
2. The matter of dispute that I observed in the court was the case of a young Caucasian female
who was pleading guilty to the charge of uttering a forged cheque. When I entered in to the court
room, the hearing of the case has already started. The case was in the trial stage.
3. The matter of dispute was presided over by the Magistrate. The other persons that are present
in the court are a clerk, a prosecutor, two defence solicitors and two corrective services officers.

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The clerk has the duty of recording the proceedings and calling the defendants to come to
the court. Out of the two solicitors, one of them appeared as the duty lawyer and he represented
the defendants. The prosecutor was the Police Officer and he represented the Crown. The two
service officers had the duty to accompany the prisoners and to be seated at the dock when the
prisoner was present. The defendant of the case usually sat in the public gallery of the court or
inside the waiting room.
4. When I entered in to the court, the case was at the trial stage. The defendant is a Caucasian
lady and she pleaded guilty before the magistrate. As per the summary of facts by the police, the
bank manager of the Bank of Queensland called the police. The bank teller had identified that the
cheque tendered by the Defendant 1 had a fraudulent signature. After searching the bag carried
by her, the police found another cheque with the same fraudulent signature. The two cheques
were in sequential order. The defendant confessed before the police that time that she knew she
had done an offence by making fraudulent signature (Police 2019). Moreover, she had done it
from her own free will. The prosecutor tendered the entire history of the lady.
The defence solicitor then addressed the magistrate with due respect that a probational
order and community service to be considered while adjudicating her case. Then, he also told the
magistrate that certain incidents had occurred in her client’s life which resulted into mental
health problems and hence she was under very high dose of medicines. He supported this fact by
submitting current prescription of psychiatrists who was doing her treatment. The defendant also
said that she needed to socialize more and was desperate to get out of her present
accommodation condition. For changing accommodation, she needed huge money due to which
she sought to use fraudulent signatures to procure more money.

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The magistrate also observed that based on the statements made by the defendant
solicitor, the defendant lady had sufficient insight into her own situation. He also considered that
defendant had no previous record of committing offence or conviction and she was not a
dishonest person normally. Her guilty plea was also considered (Sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au
2019). He made clear reasoning of his supervision order.
5. As per the facts of the case, the defence solicitor argued that the lady was under mental health
problems. Beside this, he also remarked that she wanted to change her accommodation for which
she required large amount of money. In order to procure such money, she tried to defraud the
bank by using fraudulent signatures on cheques. The fact that she was under mental illness
contradicts the fact she committed forgery. Forgery included guilty intention which is usually not
possible under mentally ill conditions. The probable reason behind guilty pleading was to escape
the stringent punishment. The maximum punishment allocated for forgery is imprisonment for
10 years. In order to escape it, the better option was to plea guilty.
6. Considering the facts of the case, the magistrate sentenced her to probation and community
service of 40 hours. The defendant was very happy and she started screaming with joy after
hearing the sentence. Her mother had tears in her eyes after hearing the decree. The Bank
manager was however was not happy and satisfied with the order. As per his communication
with another bank staff, it was seen that this type of lenient sentence of the court will encourage
people to seek the option of committing frauds in bank. If the court made strict decision, it would
de -motivate common people from committing this type of frauds with the bank.
7. In the given case that I observed in the court seems to focus on the due process model as in
this case the main focus was on the liberty and rights of the individual, thereby limiting the

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powers of the government. Herbert Packer, a law professor formulated two models of crime
control model and due process model. These two models indicates two competing systems of
values functioning within the criminal justice (Feeley 2017). The main elements of the due
process model are equality, economy, expedition, evidence and equity.
The first and foremost condition is equality means the system must not discriminate
procedurally between the parties. If one party is entitled to counsel, then all are entitled. There
must be no discrimination.
The second criterion of the due process model is economy which means the cost of
access to the system must not be a barrier to use of it or it must not cause disadvantage to one or
more of the parties.
The third one is expedition means fast administration of justice. It is said that justice
delayed indicates justice denied. Hence, it must be fast disposal of cases. It does not cause
foreclosure of orderly procedure with sufficient time to ensure notice, time to prepare and gather
witnesses. However it causes the foreclosure of unreasonable extension of time and dilatory
tactics.
The fourth condition is evidence. The judicial system must be designed and function to
obtain evidence. Decision must be based on assumption or presumptions but on the evidence that
are available to the case.
The fifth condition is equity. The judicial system must reflect a sense of rightness and
reasonableness. The judgment must consider mitigating circumstances and achieving a balance
between the objectives and values.

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References:
Feeley, M., 2017. Two models of the criminal justice system: An organizational perspective.
In Crime, Law and Society (pp. 119-137). Routledge.
Police, W. (2019). Cheque Fraud. [online] Western Australia Police. Available at:
https://www.police.wa.gov.au/Crime/Fraud/Cheque-fraud [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].
Richlandcountysc.gov. (2019). Richland County > Government > Courts and Judicial System >
Magistrates. [online] Available at: http://www.richlandcountysc.gov/Government/Courts-and-
Judicial-System/Magistrates [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].
Sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au. (2019). Guilty Pleas and Sentencing | The Sentencing Advisory
Council. [online] Available at:
https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/about-sentencing/sentencing-process/guilty-pleas-and-
sentencing [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].