Justices Act 1886

This section applies if, in any proceeding before justices, the justices—

make an order; or

commit the defendant to be tried; or

commit the defendant for sentence; or

discharge the defendant.

The clerk of the court must on—

the application in writing of any person; and

payment of the amount of the prescribed fee;

subject to this section, supply to the applicant a copy of the complaint relevant to the proceeding, any order made therein (including an order for the committal or discharge of the defendant), any documentary exhibit therein other than a photograph, or, as the case may require, a copy of such of them as the applicant applies for.

Except where an application is made under subsection (1A), or a request is made under the Recording of Evidence Act 1962 for a transcription of a record under that Act of the proceeding, by or on behalf of a person who feels aggrieved by a conviction or order of any justice or justices in connection with the institution of an appeal against that conviction or order, or where the Minister otherwise determines, a person shall not be entitled under this section to a copy of—

any part of the record of a proceeding in the Childrens Court; or

any part of the record of a proceeding which has been made whilst persons have been excluded from the court, room or place wherein the proceeding was conducted by order of justices under section 70 or 71; or

any part of the record of a proceeding that has been made while the court is closed under a provision of an Act, or an order made under a provision of an Act, requiring the court to be closed; or

any part of the record of a proceeding if—

a court makes an order prohibiting access to, or the disclosure or publication of, the record, or a document or information that is part of the record; or

in relation to a part of the record that is an exhibit—

the clerk of the court considers giving the record, or a part of the record, may risk a person’s safety; or

the record contains confidential or sensitive information; orExamples of confidential or sensitive information—

• a person’s date of birth, financial account number, social security or tax file number

• a person’s criminal history

• medical records, including information about a person’s health or drug use

• commercially confidential information

• a victim impact statement

a provision of an Act, other than a provision mentioned in subsection (3), prohibits the disclosure of the record, or a document or information that is part of the record.

A person is not entitled under this section to a copy of—

sensitive evidence as defined under the Criminal Code, section 590AF; or

a section 93A criminal statement as defined under the Evidence Act 1977, schedule 3; or

a recording as defined under the Evidence Act 1977, section 21AY; or

a recorded statement as defined under the Evidence Act 1977, section 103A.

The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prejudice the provisions of the Criminal Code, sections 705 and 706.

Subsections (2) and (3) do not prevent the giving of access to a record or information under the Childrens Court Act 1992, section 28A.

The Minister may delegate the Minister’s power under subsection (2) to the chief executive.

The chief executive may subdelegate the Minister’s power delegated to the chief executive under subsection (6) to an appropriately qualified officer or employee of the department.

In this section—appropriately qualified, for an officer or employee to whom the Minister’s power may be subdelegated, includes having the qualifications, experience or standing appropriate for the power.Example of standing for an officer or employee of a department—the officer or employee’s classification level in the departmentexhibit includes a document that—

was given to a drug court under the repealed Drug Court Act 2000; and

is about an offender who had appeared before a magistrate who was allocated the functions of a drug court magistrate under section 10 of that Act.