Pleading not guilty

​​ Defending a fine can be complicated. Sometimes what you think is a defence is only an explanation. If you are not sure if you have a defence you should get legal advice.

The mention

The first time you have to go to court is called a 'mention'.

If you decide to plead not guilty at the mention, your case will not be dealt with on that date. A registrar or magistrate will list your case for a hearing on another day or you may need to attend another mention before the hearing date is set.

You will need to tell the court:

• how many witnesses you will be calling (including yourself)
• any days that you or your witnesses are not available
• if you, or any of your witnesses need an interpreter.

This will help the court to work out when to schedule the hearing and how long the hearing will take. The hearing may be some weeks or months in the future, depending on how busy the court is and when witnesses are available.

Once a hearing date has been set, it can be very difficult to change this date. If you ask for the hearing to be adjourned (postponed), the court may make a costs order against you.

For more information about costs, see Costs in fine cases.

For more information about what happens at the mention, see Mention.

You can also watch the video below to learn what to do and say when you go to court to plead not guilty. 

You can also read a transcript of this video (44 kb).

Pleading not guilty in writing​

If you know you want to plead not guilty, but you can't get to court for the mention, you can fill out a form that tells the court you want to plead not guilty. This is called a 'Written Notice of Pleading'.

If you want to send the court a Written Notice of Pleading you must do so at least seven days before your court date. There is no guarantee that a court will accept a Written Notice of Pleading.

You cannot use a Written Notice of Pleading if you are on bail for the offence and your bail conditions require that you attend court.

For more information, see Pleading not guilty in writing.

Preparing for the hearing

Before you go to court for the hearing you will need to prepare your case. You should consider whether you need to:

• gather any photos or other evidence
• view any photos or videos held by the police or relevant prosecutor
• issue any subpoenas.

Step by step guide: Preparing for the hearing - Step by step guide.

Changing your plea

If you entered a plea of not guilty at the mention or in writing, you can change your plea to guilty before the hearing. If you change your plea on the day of the hearing you may be ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution attending the hearing.

If you want to try and avoid these costs, you can file an Application to Vacate a Hearing Date.

For a copy of the application form, go to the Local Courts website.

Before you apply to vacate a hearing date, you should get legal advice.

If you entered a plea of guilty, you would need to have special circumstances to change your plea to not guilty. If you want to do this, you should get legal advice.

Presenting your case at the hearing

When the hearing starts, a number of things may happen:

• the magistrate may listen to any issues
• the prosecutor will call their first witness and ask them questions (called 'examination in chief')
• you will then be allowed to ask the witness some questions (called 'cross-examination')
• the prosecutor might ask the witness some further questions about anything raised in cross-examination (called 're-examination')
• the above process will be repeated with the rest of the prosecution's witnesses
• you can give evidence
• you may be cross examined
• you can call any witnesses to give evidence
• your witnesses may be cross examined
• you can re-examine your witnesses
• the prosecutor can summarise their evidence and arguments
• you can summarise your evidence and arguments
• the magistrate will make a decision.

Step by step guide: Presenting your case at the hearing - Step by step guide.

Case study

​​​