Court

This information originated from this Kiwibiker article. This article documents what you can expect if you decide to defend (or appear before the court) for a minor traffic offence.

Defending a minor traffic charge

If this is your first court experience and you are appearing because you don't believe you are guilty you can expect:

• On your first appearance you will only enter a plea (guilty, not guilty, or enter 'no plea', which is essentially the same as not guilty).
• You will go to the court on the day at 10am (this is normal time for court). There are several courtrooms. There are lists posted outside each one. Yours will be in the minor traffic court, so find a list with that heading on it and your name should be on it.
• It will be heard by two JP's, not a Judge.
• Now you can either wait outside in the lobby for your name to be called over the P.A. or you can opt to "sit in" the court room at the back in the public gallery and watch the proceedings go on before you. I suggest this to be a good idea as you will get a feel for what goes on and what to do/say etc.
• Over the PA you will hear "John Smith, followed by George Citizen (you), courtroom 3. Which means it is John Smiths turn and you are next.
• Then you will hear "George Citizen (you), followed by Sam Brown, courtroom 3". his means it is your turn to go inside.
• You do not need to bow to the JP, this is only for counsel (lawyers) to do.
• You may address the JP as "Your Worship" but "Sir" or "Maa'm" is perfectly acceptable.
• You will enter the courtroom, pass the public gallery seating, beyond some railings that separate them from the rest of the court and stand over to one side. You will be directed where to stand by one of the JP's, they are very accommodating to first timers.
• The JP will ask the Police prosecutor (usually a sergeant) what the charge is. He will tell the court that you are charged with - whatever you are being charged with.
• The JP then looks over to you and asks how you plead to that charge. This is where you say, not guilty Sir. The court then sets a date for a defended hearing (usually a month or so away depending on court time etc). If the date does not suit you (need a pretty good reason though) you may request an alternate date at this point in time.
• A date will be set and you will be excused from the court ... day one over.

Next comes the defended hearing.

• Same as above up until the where you stand bit. As you are representing yourself, you go and sit at the tables normally assigned for your legal representation. The police prosecutor will read the charge to the court.
• After this the police officer that gave you the ticket will stand in the witness box and state his full name and job title, then swear on the bible that he will tell the truth etc.
• The prosecutor will ask him a series of questions relating to the day you were stopped. These will include things like were the radar equipment checked etc before shift, which of course they answer yes too. They will normally produce the certification papers for the speed device in question and the JP will offer to show you these.
• Once the prosecutor has finished asking questions the JP will give you the opportunity to cross examine the police officer. This is where you STAND UP and ask questions. You may have paper with the questions on if you want. It is a good idea to scribble some notes while the prosecutor was asking questions to the police officer. This is your chance to get any information from the police officer which may help your case.
• When you are finished asking questions, the policeman will sit down.
• You may optionally get up in the witness box. If you do then you give the prosecution the right to cross examine you. Think very carefully weather you want to do this (read further comments below). If you do go up in the witness box, state your full name and swear on the bible. You may not read from notes in the witness box, some JP's allow them as a reference only. You will then proceed to tell your "version" of events. You can support this with diagrams or photos of the roadway or whatever you want.
• Once you are finished the prosecutor will cross examine YOU (remember this can only be done if you get up in the witness box). This part is very tricky and you need to pause and think very carefully how you answer each question. They are designed to trap you into an admission of guilt basically. Answer slowly (the JP's are recording in long hand). Even seemingly benign questions have a reason for being asked. They may ask what colour the car was behind you... you wont know.. they move on and later ask if there was a truck not far in front of you... this you wont know either.... then they tell the JP that clearly you were not concentrating on riding because you will have known these things so you clearly were not concentrating on your speed and are a menace to society. From here you feel the colour drain from your face and you feel giddy as you realise this prosecutor has sucked you in and your fucked.
• He will also ask you directly if you were speeding....think very carefully how you answer this. If you say no, he will say "I put it to you that you are not being truthful in this court today" think how you will answer this as well. * At this point the JP may or may not ask you a brief question or two, or to clarify a point.
• It is now that if you have a witness they will be brought in and it is as above.
• It is at this point also that if you have researched any previous similar cases (on the internet or whatever) that have similar circumstances to yours and were let off you may bring this to the courts attention. You need to be very specific about exactly which case it was, where it was heard and what the outcome was (edit... obviously this needs to be a NZ case, not necessarily recent tho).
• If not, you go sit down again and the JP's will bugger off.
• A little while later they return (you stand on entering).
• They sit there and very briefly re-cap the case and tell you that in this instance they have found the police case to be proved.
• You then still pay the fine and $30 court costs.

A few points missed about the actual court hearing

For the actual hearing itself (not the first one for a plea) the prosecution MUST disclose all the evidence they intend to use at the hearing well before the due date so you have time to prepare your defence. This must include all the evidence that the policeman will be stating in the witness box. If this evidence isn't in your hands at least a week before the hearing you can ask for an adjournment, (insufficient time to prepare your defence).

I would strongly suggest you don't go into the witness stand, most people don't realize you don't have to. This is a similar reason for NEVER talking to the police - anything you say will be used against you.

Basically if you haven't committed an offence, why talk? And if you have...let them prove it..........and don't talk.

You cannot talk your way out of alleged offence, but it's very easy to talk your way into one.

Related Information

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 No 109, Section 25:

Minimum standards of criminal procedure
     Everyone who is charged with an offence has, in relation to the determination of the charge, the following minimum rights:
           (a) The right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial court:
           (b) The right to be tried without undue delay:
           (c) The right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law:
           (d) The right not to be compelled to be a witness or to confess guilt:
           (e) The right to be present at the trial and to present a defence:
           (f) The right to examine the witnesses for the prosecution and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses
               for the defence under the same conditions as the prosecution:
           (g) The right, if convicted of an offence in respect of which the penalty has been varied between the commission of
               the offence and sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser penalty:
           (h) The right, if convicted of the offence, to appeal according to law to a higher court against the conviction or
               against the sentence or against both:
           (i) The right, in the case of a child, to be dealt with in a manner that takes account of the child's age.