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04related terms
May 2026reviewed
In detail
How contested hearing works in practice.
A contested hearing is the trial equivalent in the Magistrates' Court. The accused enters a not-guilty plea, and the matter is set down for a hearing date, usually one to three months after the plea is entered. At the hearing, the prosecution calls its witnesses, the defence cross-examines them, and the accused may give evidence or call their own witnesses. The magistrate then determines whether the charge has been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Contested hearings in the Magistrates' Court are generally heard in a single day.
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