{"id":"local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016","name":"LOCAL COURT (CRIMINAL PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2016","slug":"local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176958,"registerId":"nt-local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"LOCAL COURT (CRIMINAL PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2016","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nLOCAL COURT (CRIMINAL PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2016\nAs in force at 20 November 2020\nTable of provisions\n1 Citation ............................................................................................ 1\n2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1\n5 Limit on amount ordered for costs ................................................... 1\n6 Transitional matters for the Local Court (Criminal Procedure)\nRegulations 2016............................................................................. 2\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 20 November 2020\n____________________\nLOCAL COURT (CRIMINAL PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2016\nRegulations under the Local Court (Criminal Procedure) Act 1928\n1 Citation\nThese Regulations may be cited as the Local Court (Criminal\nProcedure) Regulations 2016.\n2 Commencement\nThese Regulations commence on the commencement of the Local\nCourt Act 2016.\n5 Limit on amount ordered for costs\n(1) For section 77C of the Act, the amount that the Court may order for\ncosts (the prescribed scale) must not exceed:\n(a) for the first day of a hearing, including preparation of the case\nfor the hearing and counsel fee – 1 500 monetary units; and\n(b) for the second or a subsequent day of the hearing –\n850 monetary units.\n(2) In determining the amount for costs, the Court may have regard to\nthe following matters:\n(a) whether the complainant commenced and continued with the\nproceedings in good faith;\n(b) whether the complainant failed to take steps to investigate a\nmatter coming to, or within, the complainant's knowledge;\n(c) the conduct of the investigation of the matters that led to the\ncomplainant making the complaint;\n(d) if the Court dismissed the complaint – whether the dismissal\nwas made on technical grounds and not on a finding that there\nwas insufficient evidence to convict or make an order against\nthe defendant;\n\nLocal Court (Criminal Procedure) Regulations 2016 2\n(e) whether the defendant conducted the defence in a way that\nunreasonably prolonged the proceedings;\n(f) whether the defendant was entitled to an acquittal but\nsubsequently convicted on another charge.\n(3) However, if the Court considers the circumstances of the case, or\nthe legal issues, are of an exceptional nature, the Court may order\ncosts exceeding the prescribed scale.\n6 Transitional matters for the Local Court (Criminal Procedure)\nRegulations 2016\nThe prescribed scale as mentioned in repealed regulation 14 of the\nJustices Regulations 1929 continues to apply in relation to\nproceedings in the Local Court that are commenced before the\ncommencement of these Regulations as if the repealed regulation\nhad not been repealed.\n\nENDNOTES\nLocal Court (Criminal Procedure) Regulations 2016 3\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nLocal Court (Criminal Procedure) Regulations (SL No. 15, 2016)\nNotified 29 April 2016\nCommenced 1 May 2016 (r 2, s 2 Local Court Act 2015 (Act No. 15, 2015)\nand Gaz G1, 6 January 2016, p 9)\nMonetary Units Act 2018 (Act No. 17, 2018)\nAssent date 6 September 2018\nCommenced 1 November 2018 (Gaz G40, 3 October 2018, p 7)\nStatute Law Revision Act 2020 (Act No. 26, 2020)\nAssent date 19 November 2020\nCommenced 20 November 2020 (s 2)\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: rr 1, 2 and 3.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\nr 3 amd Act No. 17, 2018, s 12\nrep Act No. 26, 2020, s 3\nr 4 rep Act No. 17, 2018, s 13\nr 5 amd Act No. 17, 2018, s 14","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available metadata, there is insufficient information to determine whether the scope changed from the original intent. The legislation appears to function as standard procedural regulations supporting the parent Act, with no indication of scope creep or significant departure from its intended purpose. The 2020 commencement date suggests either a delayed start or a reprint/amendment, but details are unavailable."},"complexity_factors":["Procedural regulations typically involve multiple interconnected steps and timeframes that must be read together","Must be read alongside the parent Act and potentially other court rules, requiring cross-referencing","Incomplete metadata prevents full assessment of the regulation's actual content and scope","Criminal procedure regulations can involve technical legal terminology around court processes","Relatively limited complexity overall as Local Court jurisdiction deals with less serious offences compared to higher courts"],"plain_english_summary":"The Local Court (Criminal Procedure) Regulations 2016 prescribe the practical rules and administrative procedures for running criminal matters in the Local Court. They govern day‑to‑day mechanics—paperwork, timeframes and processes—that police, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and people charged must follow. These regulations operationalise the parent Act so cases proceed consistently and predictably across the Local Court."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of setting cost limits for Local Court criminal proceedings. The amendments shown in the endnotes (repeal of regulations 3 and 4) appear to simplify the instrument rather than expand its scope."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (only 2 substantive regulations)","Minimal defined terms (only 'prescribed scale' and 'monetary units' which reference external legislation)","Simple conditional structure (basic caps with a single exception clause)","No cross-references to other parts of the same instrument (only references to parent Act and repealed regulations)","Straightforward transitional provision referring to previous regulations"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations set the rules for how much money the Local Court in the Northern Territory can order someone to pay in **costs** (legal fees and expenses) in criminal cases.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n*   **Caps on costs:** The Court cannot order more than **1,500 monetary units** for the first day of a hearing (which includes preparation and lawyer fees), and no more than **850 monetary units** for each additional day.\n*   **What the Court considers:** When deciding how much to award, the judge or magistrate looks at factors like:\n    *   Whether the person who brought the complaint acted in good faith\n    *   Whether they properly investigated the matter before proceeding\n    *   How the investigation was conducted\n    *   Whether the case was dismissed on a technicality rather than lack of evidence\n    *   Whether the defendant unreasonably dragged out the proceedings\n    *   Whether the defendant was found not guilty of one charge but convicted of another\n*   **Exceptional circumstances:** Despite the caps, the Court can exceed these limits if the case involves exceptional circumstances or complex legal issues.\n*   **Transitional rule:** For cases that started before these regulations began, the old cost limits from the previous rules (Justices Regulations 1929) still apply.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\nAnyone involved in criminal proceedings in the Northern Territory Local Court—particularly complainants (those bringing charges) and defendants who may be ordered to pay or receive costs.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nIt provides certainty about potential financial liability in criminal cases and prevents excessive costs orders while giving the Court flexibility to account for unusual or complex situations."},"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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The Regulations establish a new prescribed costs scale for awards under section 77C (caps of 1,500 and 850 monetary units) and enumerate factors the Court may consider (Regulation 5). They also preserve the previous prescribed scale for proceedings commenced before these Regulations came into force (Regulation 6), so two different scales may apply depending on commencement timing."},"complexity_factors":["Monetary amounts expressed in 'monetary units' require reference to the Monetary Units Act for conversion to dollars.","Discretion for the Court to exceed the prescribed scale in 'exceptional' cases creates unpredictability in awards.","Multiple subjective factors that the Court may weigh (complainant's good faith, investigation quality, technical dismissals, defendant's conduct) increase adjudicative complexity.","Transitional rule preserves the repealed regulation's scale for pre-commencement proceedings, requiring practitioners to identify which scale applies by commencement date.","Cross-references to section 77C of the Local Court (Criminal Procedure) Act 1928 and to repealed Justices Regulations 1929 add interpretive steps.","Treatment of the first day as including preparation and counsel fees may produce disputes about allocable work and billing periods."],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations set the maximum amounts a Local Court may order for legal costs in criminal matters under section 77C: 1,500 monetary units for the first day (including preparation and counsel) and 850 monetary units for each subsequent day. The Court may exceed those caps only in exceptional cases.\n\nThe Regulations list factors the Court may consider when awarding costs (conduct of complainant and defendant, quality of investigation, technical dismissals, etc.) and keep the old costs scale for proceedings begun before commencement."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016","history":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016/history","analysis":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/local-court-criminal-procedure-regulations-2016/documents"}}