Criminal Case Conferencing

The Supreme Court of Western Australia offers a voluntary criminal case conferencing process (VCCC) to assist in resolving issues in criminal cases speedily and, in some cases, to avoid the need for a trial altogether. VCCC is available to the parties at any stage of the pre-trial period and the parties can request referral to the VCCC at any time following the accused’s first appearance in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court.  

Involvement of the parties in VCCC is conducted in accordance with the Protocol for Voluntary Criminal Case Conferencing, developed by the Court to ensure that VCCC does not improperly interfere with the conduct of the criminal process. The conference and the facilitator's involvement do not form part of the trial process. Nor is anything said or agreed by the parties or their counsel at such a conference binding in the sense that it is enforceable or able to be used against a party at trial. 

The conference may be with respect to any issue/s, but matters which might be the subjects of discussion include identifying the issues, resolving evidentiary issues by agreement between the parties, agreeing to the making of admissions, the likely prospects of conviction or acquittal and other possible outcomes.

Please refer to the Protocol for Voluntary Criminal Case Conferencing page for more information.

Last updated: 1-Mar-2019

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