Reading a brief of evidence 

​​What is a brief of evidence?

If you plead not guilty to an offence, the magistrate may in some cases order the police to serve (give) a brief of evidence on you.

A 'brief of evidence' is a group of documents, including statements and photographs that the police may use as evidence at the hearing. In most cases, it will contain:

• a 'contents list' of the documents in the brief of evidence
• statements from the police officers involved in the case
• statements from the victim (if there is one) and witnesses
• copies of any exhibits, for example, photos or CDs containing CCTV footage
• the results of any forensic tests, for example, blood tests
• a transcript or recording of the interview between you and the police (if you did one)
• a Local Court Listing Advice, which you will need to fill out and give to the magistrate when you next go to court.

Reading and understanding a brief of evidence can be complicated. If you don't understand it, you should get legal advice.

It is possible to change your plea after reading the brief of evidence. For more information, see Changing your plea. 

If you have been charged with a serious offence, the rules for the brief of evidence are different. You should get legal advice as soon as possible. 

Will you get a brief of evidence?

The police do not have to provide you with a brief of evidence for some charges. These include:

• many offences where a fine could have been given to you instead of you being charged
• offensive conduct or language
• some minor driving offences
• possession of prohibited drugs.

When will you get the brief of evidence?

After you have entered your not guilty plea, the magistrate will set a date for the prosecution to serve the brief of evidence on you. This is usually about four weeks later. The police will usually serve the brief of evidence on you personally but it can also be served by post, email or fax. The police may also request that you go to the police station and collect it from them.

If you are still waiting for some or the entire brief of evidence 14 days before the hearing, you should get legal advice.

 If you have been charged with a serious offence, the rules for the brief of evidence are different. You should get legal advice as soon as possible. 

What if something is missing?

You should check that all the documents in the contents list are included in the brief of evidence.  If a document is missing, you should contact the police officer in charge of the investigation and ask them to send it to you. You can contact the police by phone, by email, facsimile or by post. Whichever method you choose, you should always keep a copy of the letter or email or write down the name of the officer and time you spoke to them.

If you have requested documents and the police have not served them on you by the reply date, you can tell the magistrate the next time you are in court. The magistrate may make orders that the documents be served on you. If the next time you are in court is the hearing date, you should get legal advice.

If you have not received all the documents that are supposed to be in the brief of evidence and it is getting close to the hearing date, you should get legal advice. You may need to consider asking for the hearing date to be vacated.

If you need a document that is not part of the police brief, you should consider asking the court for a Subpoena to Produce documents.

For more information, see Subpoenas.​