This unit is designed to introduce students to the role and responsibilities of a police prosecutor and to summary court processes. It also seeks to develop an awareness and understanding of the relationship and obligations a prosecutor has to various stakeholders in the criminal justice process, including the Court, defence and Crown counsel, defendants, complainants, other police officers, the police department (as employees) and the general public. The unit will explore a prosecutor’s ethical responsibilities in the context of a practical examination of their functions both inside and outside the courtroom. The unit also considers the sometimes difficult and contentious areas of prosecutorial discretion and the payment of costs to successful defendants in failed prosecutions.

Students will consider the legal and practical issues of commencing, maintaining and discontinuing prosecutions, as well as the obligations of disclosure to defendants in criminal proceedings. In the later part of the unit, students will commence their study of the criminal process, first becoming familiar with court facilities and services, before embarking on an examination of court procedure and the resolution of complaints. Students will also study the important issue of bail, and consider how to deal with a variety of other common forms of application in the summary jurisdiction.