{"id":"criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017","name":"Criminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017","slug":"criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235340,"registerId":"sa-criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Criminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017","content":"South Australia\nCriminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017\nunder the Criminal Procedure Act 1921\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tNotice of sentencing reductions and processes for entering guilty plea\n5\tPrescribed class\n6\tPrescribed form of statement\n7\tProsecution response to defence case statement\n8\tProsecution witness fees\n9\tDefence witness fees\n10\tCosts payable by defendant in certain criminal proceedings\nSchedule 1—Information to be included in statement\n1\tDefence case statement\n2\tInformation which you may be required to give to the prosecution\n3\tExpert evidence\n4\tAlibi evidence\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Criminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Criminal Procedure Act 1921.\n4—Notice of sentencing reductions and processes for entering guilty plea\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of section 105(1)(a) of the Act, the notice required to be given to a defendant charged with an indictable offence must include information about—\n\t(a)\tsentencing reductions available under the sentencing laws in relation to guilty pleas in accordance with section 105(2)(a) of the Act; and\n\t(b)\tthe process for having the matter called on in a court for the purpose of entering a guilty plea in accordance with section 105(2)(b) of the Act.\n\t(2)\tThe information referred to in subregulation (1)(a) may be set out in writing or in pictorial or graphical form (or any combination of those forms).\n5—Prescribed class\n\t(1)\tFor the purposes of section 111(5)(a)(ii) of the Act, the following are persons of a prescribed class:\n\t(a)\ta person who is a prescribed interviewer for the purposes of section 74EB of the Summary Offences Act 1953;\n\t(b)\ta person, or a person of a class, designated by the Minister responsible for the administration of the Disability Services Act 1993 by notice in the Gazette;\n\t(c)\ta person, or a person of a class, designated by the Minister responsible for the administration of the Children's Protection Act 1993 by notice in the Gazette.\n\t(2)\tA notice referred to in subregulation (1)(b) or (c) may be varied or revoked by the relevant Minister, by subsequent notice in the Gazette.\n6—Prescribed form of statement\nFor the purposes of section 115(4)(a) of the Act, a written statement containing the information set out in Schedule 1 is prescribed.\n7—Prosecution response to defence case statement\nFor the purposes of section 123(9) of the Act, if—\n\t(a)\tnotice has been provided to the prosecution by the defendant of the defendant's intention to introduce expert or alibi evidence; and\n\t(b)\tthe prosecution intends to challenge the admissibility of the expert or alibi evidence,\nthe prosecution must file a response that outlines the basis on which it intends to challenge the admissibility of that evidence.\n8—Prosecution witness fees\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, the following amounts may be authorised by a prescribed person as payable in respect of a witness for the prosecution:\n\t(a)\tthe actual amount lost, or the expenses necessarily incurred, by the witness by reason of the witness' absence from home or business for the purpose of attending court or $100 per day, whichever is the lesser;\n\t(b)\tan allowance for the travelling expenses of the witness in attending court, calculated on the basis of travel by public transport to and from court, or, if the use of public transport by the witness is not reasonably practicable, $0.20 per kilometre necessarily travelled to and from court;\n\t(c)\tif the witness is necessarily absent from home overnight—the accommodation and meal expenses reasonably incurred by the witness;\n\t(d)\tif the witness is necessarily accompanied by another person—an amount equal to that which could be certified in accordance with these regulations in respect of that other person if they were a witness for the prosecution.\n\t(2)\tIf—\n\t(a)\tthe amount lost, or the expenses incurred by the witness exceed the amount determined in accordance with subregulation (1)(a); or\n\t(b)\tthe travelling expenses incurred by the witness exceed the amount determined in accordance with subregulation (1)(b),\nthe amount to be paid to the witness may include such further amount as the prescribed person thinks just and reasonable in the circumstances.\n\t(3)\tNo amount is to be paid in respect of a witness who is an officer or employee of the State or Commonwealth, including a police officer but excluding an officer or employee who is on leave during the period of attendance at court.\n\t(4)\tIn this regulation—\nprescribed person means—\n\t(a)\tin the case of proceedings in the Supreme Court or District Court—the Sheriff; or\n\t(b)\tin the case of proceedings in the Magistrates Court—a magistrate or justice;\nwitness includes a witness who attended court but was not called to give evidence.\n9—Defence witness fees\n\t(1)\tA prescribed authority may, at the request of a witness for the defence in respect of proceedings under the Act, authorise an amount to be paid to the witness of any or all of the amounts that would be payable to the witness if the witness were a witness for the prosecution.\n\t(2)\tIn this regulation—\nprescribed authority means—\n\t(a)\tin the case of proceedings in the Supreme Court or the District Court—the Supreme Court or the District Court (as the case requires); or\n\t(b)\tin the case of proceedings in the Magistrates Court—a magistrate or justice;\nwitness has the same meaning as in regulation 8(4).\n10—Costs payable by defendant in certain criminal proceedings\nPursuant to section 189A(2)(a) of the Act, the amount of $150 is prescribed for the purposes of subsection (2) of that section.\nSchedule 1—Information to be included in statement\n1—Defence case statement\nGeneral\nThe prosecution is required to give you (or your lawyer) a prosecution case statement setting out a summary of the facts alleged against you and other information relating to your trial. This must be provided to you 6 weeks before your arraignment in the Supreme or District Court.\nYou are required to file in court and give to the prosecution a defence case statement not more than 4 weeks after being given the prosecution case statement.\nA defence case statement must include—\n\t(1)\tany facts and any elements of the offence set out in the prosecution case statement that you admit; and\n\t(2)\tany witnesses that you want the prosecution to call (if the witnesses have provided a statement but are not amongst the list of witnesses the prosecution intends to call at trial); and\n\t(3)\tan indication of whether you—\n\t•\tconsent to any of the prosecution applications included in the prosecution case statement;\n\t•\tintend to introduce expert evidence or evidence of alibi (in which case you will also be required to comply with the requirement to give notice of your intention to introduce expert or alibi evidence—see section 124 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1921);\n\t•\tagree with the prosecution estimate of the length of the prosecution case;\n\t•\twill apply for trial by judge alone;\n\t•\trequire an interpreter (and if so, the language that the interpreter will be required to interpret);\n\t•\tintend to raise any of the following prior to trial:\nissues relating to joinder or severance;\nissues relating to cross-admissibility of evidence;\nchallenges to the legality of any searches;\napplications for stay of proceedings;\nissues relating to chain of evidence or continuity of custody of exhibits;\npoints of law.\nChanges to defence case statement\nIf any information or material included in your case statement subsequently changes or information or material is obtained or occurs after your case statement has been filed, you must disclose the information, material or occurrence to the prosecution as soon as possible. You may do this in the form of an updated defence case statement.\nNotice of defence case statement to other defendant where jointly charged\nIf you are jointly charged with 1 or more defendants, your case statement must be given to each other defendant in accordance with any orders made by the court.\n2—Information which you may be required to give to the prosecution\nThe court may authorise the prosecution to serve you with a notice or notices requiring you to provide information in relation to the following matters:\n\t•\tNotification of prosecution witnesses who are not required\nThe court may require you to notify the prosecution in writing whether you consent to the prosecution not calling witnesses to prove the admissibility of the following kinds of evidence:\n\t(a)\tdocumentary, audio, visual, or audiovisual evidence of surveillance or interview;\n\t(b)\tother documentary, audio, visual or audiovisual evidence;\n\t(c)\texhibits.\nIf you fail to comply with such a notice, the court will assume you have no objection.\n\t•\tNotice of defences\nThe court may require you to give written notice to the prosecution if you intend to call evidence at the trial which tends to establish that—\n\t(a)\tyou are mentally unfit to stand trial; or\n\t(b)\tyou were mentally incompetent to commit the alleged offence(s); or\n\t(c)\tthe circumstances of the alleged offence(s) occurred by accident; or\n\t(d)\tyou were entitled to any property which is the subject of the offence(s); or\n\t(e)\tyou were acting for a defensive purpose.\nThe court may also require you to give written notice to the prosecution if you intend to call evidence at the trial—\n\t(a)\trelating to the defences of provocation, automatism, necessity or duress; or\n\t(b)\tthat you were intoxicated at the time of the alleged offence(s).\nIf you fail to give the prosecution notice of any of these matters, you may call evidence about them but the prosecutor or the court or both may comment to the jury on your failure to give notice.\n3—Expert evidence\nIf expert evidence is to be called for the defence at the trial, written notice of your intention to call the evidence must be given to the prosecution at the same time that the defence case statement is filed in court and given to the prosecution or, if the evidence does not become available to the defence until later, or if any expert information already provided to the prosecution in a written notice changes, as soon as practicable after such evidence becomes available or the defence becomes aware of such changes.\nThe notice must set out the name and qualifications of the expert and describe the general nature of the evidence and what it tends to establish.\nThe notice must be given in the form required by the Supreme/District Court Criminal Rules.\nIf you wish to introduce expert psychiatric evidence or other expert medical evidence relevant to your mental state or medical condition at the time of the alleged offence(s), the court may require you to submit to an examination by an independent expert approved by the court.\nIf you fail to submit to a psychiatric or other medical examination as required by the court, the court may not allow you to call expert psychiatric or medical evidence which you wish to tender to the court.\nIf you fail to comply with any other requirement in relation to expert evidence, you may not be allowed to call the evidence without the court's permission and the prosecutor or the court may comment on your non-compliance to the jury.\n4—Alibi evidence\nAlibi evidence is evidence that you were at some place other than the scene of the alleged offence(s) at the relevant time.\nIf you wish to call alibi evidence at your trial and the evidence was not given at your committal hearing, written notice of your intention to call the evidence must be given to the prosecution at the same time that the defence case statement is filed in court and given to the prosecution.\nIf you do not give notice you may not be able to call alibi evidence, and the prosecutor and the court may be able to comment to the jury on your failure to give notice of that evidence before the trial.\nThe notice must—\n\t(a)\tcontain a summary of the facts that you wish to establish by calling the alibi evidence; and\n\t(b)\tinclude the name and address of the witness you intend to call to give the alibi evidence; and\n\t(c)\tcontain any other particulars and be in the form required by the Supreme/District Court Criminal Rules.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nLegislation revoked by principal regulations\nThe Criminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017 revoked the following:\nSummary Procedure (Section 107 Statements) Regulations 2007\nSummary Procedure (Witness Fees) Regulations 2007\nPrincipal regulations and variations\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2017\n322\nGazette 12.12.2017 p4964 \n5.3.2018: r 2\n2018\n250\nGazette 13.12.2018 p4289\n1.1.2019: r 2\nProvisions varied\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nr 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n1.1.2019\nr 10\ninserted by 250/2018 r 4\n1.1.2019\nSch 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n1.1.2019\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"These regulations replaced earlier Summary Procedure (Section 107 Statements) Regulations 2007 and Summary Procedure (Witness Fees) Regulations 2007 (see \"Legislation revoked by principal regulations\"). The instrument also received a variation in 2018 inserting regulation 10 which prescribes a $150 amount under s 189A(2)(a), indicating a change in the monetary obligation imposed on defendants."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross‑references to the Criminal Procedure Act 1921 (e.g. ss 105, 111, 115, 123, 124, 189A) requiring readers to consult primary statute for full effect","Detailed timing and content rules for disclosure (prosecution case statement 6 weeks; defence case statement within 4 weeks) in Schedule 1","Different decision‑makers depending on court level (Sheriff for Supreme/District Court; magistrate/justice for Magistrates Court) affecting who authorises witness payments (reg 8(4))","Discretion for additional witness payments where actual expenses exceed prescribed minima (reg 8(2))","Exclusions and conditional rules (no payment for state/Commonwealth employees except those on leave; court may require independent medical examinations; non‑compliance can bar evidence) increasing compliance risk","Ministerial power to designate prescribed classes by Gazette with variation/revocation power (reg 5(1)(b),(c),(2))","Prescribed forms and court rules interplay (prescribed form under reg 6; references to Supreme/District Court Criminal Rules for expert notices)","Revocation and amendment history (the 2017 regulations revoke earlier 2007 instruments; r10 inserted in 2018 prescribing the $150 amount) creating transitional/interpretive considerations"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set procedural rules under the Criminal Procedure Act 1921: they require notice about sentencing reductions and how to enter a guilty plea, prescribe the form and timing for defence case statements (Schedule 1), require notice for expert and alibi evidence and allow courts to limit evidence for non‑compliance, and set who may authorise witness fees and a $150 defendant cost.\n\nThey affect defendants, prosecutors, witnesses, courts and prescribed officials — payments to witnesses are authorised by court officers or authorities, Ministers may designate prescribed classes, and failure to comply can restrict evidence or attract comment from the court or prosecutor."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available. The page returned an error, likely due to a website restructure on 24 March 2026. No comparison between original intent and enacted provisions is possible."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","Analysis is based solely on the title and document type, not actual regulatory text","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the substantive provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"The Criminal Procedure (General) Regulations 2017 (SA) prescribe procedural rules for criminal proceedings in South Australia — e.g., filing and service of documents, prescribed forms, fees, timeframes and other administrative requirements. They principally affect people charged with offences, legal practitioners, police, prosecutors and court administrators.\n\nThe linked text could not be retrieved; to read the instrument go to legislation.sa.gov.au or contact OPCWeb@sa.gov.au."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations appear consistent with their original purpose as procedural machinery for the Criminal Procedure Act 1921. The 2018 amendment adding regulation 10 (costs) and the omission of regulation 2 and Schedule 2 under standard revision powers represent minor administrative adjustments rather than scope creep. The instrument consolidates and replaces two earlier regulations (Summary Procedure (Section 107 Statements) Regulations 2007 and Summary Procedure (Witness Fees) Regulations 2007) without expanding beyond procedural implementation."},"complexity_factors":["Moderate cross-referencing to the Criminal Procedure Act 1921 (at least 6 specific section references)","Nested conditional logic in witness fee calculations (regulation 8 has multiple tiers: standard calculation, then 'just and reasonable' override, then exclusions for government employees)","Schedule 1 contains detailed procedural requirements in plain English rather than dense legal drafting, reducing complexity","Multiple defined terms (Act, prescribed person, prescribed authority, witness) but only 4 total definitions across the instrument","Ministerial discretion powers requiring Gazette notices for designated classes of persons (regulation 5)","Legislative history table included but this is standard metadata rather than operative complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out the practical rules for how criminal trials work in South Australia, covering what information defendants must share with prosecutors before trial, how witnesses get paid, and what notices defendants must receive about their rights.\n\n**Key things this legislation does:**\n\n**1. Pre-trial information sharing (\"disclosure\")**\n- Defendants must file a \"defence case statement\" within 4 weeks of receiving the prosecution's case summary. This must include:\n  - Which facts they admit\n  - Which witnesses they want the prosecution to call\n  - Whether they plan to use expert witnesses or alibi evidence (proof they were somewhere else when the crime happened)\n  - Whether they want a judge-only trial or need an interpreter\n- If plans change, defendants must update their statement promptly\n\n**2. Special protections for vulnerable witnesses**\n- Certain people (like disability advocates and child protection workers) can be officially designated to help vulnerable witnesses give evidence\n\n**3. Witness payments**\n- **Prosecution witnesses**: Can claim up to $100/day for lost income, travel costs (20 cents/km if public transport isn't practical), and overnight expenses. Government employees generally can't claim.\n- **Defence witnesses**: Can request the same payments as prosecution witnesses, authorised by the court\n\n**4. Sentencing information**\n- Defendants must be told about sentence reductions available for guilty pleas and how to enter a guilty plea\n\n**5. Costs**\n- Sets a $150 amount that defendants may have to pay in certain criminal proceedings\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThese rules ensure trials run fairly and efficiently. By forcing both sides to share information early, it prevents \"trial by ambush\" where one side springs surprise evidence. The witness fee rules ensure ordinary people aren't financially ruined by attending court. The regulations balance the defendant's right to a fair trial against the need for courts to operate smoothly."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017","history":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/criminal-procedure-general-regulations-2017/documents"}}