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May 2026reviewed
In detail
How sentence indication works in practice.
A sentence indication is an application available under the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) where the accused asks the court to give a non-binding indication of the likely sentence if they were to plead guilty. This allows the accused to make an informed decision about whether to plead guilty or contest the charge. The indication given by the magistrate is not binding, but if the accused then pleads guilty on the basis of the indication, the court will generally not impose a more severe sentence than indicated unless new information comes to light.
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