Before a magistrate can find a person guilty of contempt under s 134 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1989 (Vic) for refusing to answer questions, the magistrate must: (1) sufficiently articulate the charge of contempt, identifying which specific answers are alleged to be contemptuous and under which paragraph of s 134(1); (2) conduct a separate inquiry into whether the charge is made out, affording the alleged contemnor an opportunity to defend; and (3) take a plea. A prior warning that refusal to answer may constitute contempt is not a substitute for the formal articulation of a charge. The procedural requirements from Zukanovic apply to all forms of statutory contempt, not only contempt in the face of the court under s 133.
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