Committals jurisdiction if both Federal Court of Australia and State or Territory court have jurisdiction in relation to indictable offence
68A Committals jurisdiction if both Federal Court of Australia and State or Territory court have jurisdiction in relation to indictable offence
This section applies if both:
the Federal Court of Australia; and
a court of a State or Territory (the superior State or Territory court);
have jurisdiction to try a person on indictment for an indictable offence against a law of the Commonwealth (the indictable offence).
Working out which court the person should be committed to
If a court of the State or Territory (the State or Territory committals court) has, under subsection 68(2), jurisdiction with respect to the examination and commitment for trial on indictment of a person who is charged with the indictable offence, the court may, in exercising that jurisdiction:
commit the person for trial on indictment for the offence before either:
the Federal Court of Australia; or
the superior State or Territory court; or
if the person pleads guilty to the offence, commit the person for sentencing for the offence by either:
the Federal Court of Australia; or
the superior State or Territory court.
This subsection has effect subject to subsections (3) and (4).
Paragraph (2)(b) refers to committal for sentencing. For the power of the State or Territory committal court to commit for sentencing, see subsection 68(7).
Despite subsection 68(1), if:
a person is charged with the indictable offence; and
at the end of the proceedings before the State or Territory committals court, the State or Territory committals court proposes to make an order (the committal order) that the person be committed for trial on indictment, or for sentencing, for the indictable offence;
the State or Territory committals court must invite the Director of Public Prosecutions to suggest the court before which the person is to be tried or sentenced.
The State or Territory committals court must make this invitation even if the Director of Public Prosecutions is not a party to the committal proceedings.
When making the committal order, the State or Territory committals court must consider specifying the court suggested by the Director of Public Prosecutions as the court before which the person is to be tried or sentenced.
Committal court may grant bail to person to appear before Federal Court
If the committal order relating to the person specifies the Federal Court of Australia, then a power of the State or Territory committals court:
that is conferred by a law applying under subsection 68(1) in relation to indictable offences against the laws of the Commonwealth; and
that enables the State or Territory committals court to grant bail to persons accused of such offences to appear before the superior State or Territory court if committed for trial, or for sentencing, before the superior State or Territory court;
applies as if the power included the power to grant bail to the first‑mentioned person to appear before the Federal Court of Australia.
Appeals or reviews of the exercise of this power will be dealt with under the laws of the State or Territory applying under subsection 68(1). However, bail will be dealt with under Part VIB of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 once indictable primary proceedings (within the meaning of that Act) commence for the person.
If question about person’s fitness to be tried
Subsection 20B(1) of the Crimes Act 1914 applies as if the reference in that subsection to the court to which the proceedings would have been referred had the person been committed for trial were a reference to a court to which the proceedings could have been referred had the person been committed for trial.
This means the committal court may choose whether to refer a question of the person’s fitness to be tried to either the Federal Court of Australia or the superior State or Territory court.
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.