What Is a Case Review Hearing?
A case review hearing is a pretrial hearing held to see if the charges against the defendant can be resolved without a trial. Case review hearings are held for any case where the defendant could be sent to prison for the crime, states the Community Law Manual.
Case review hearings are usually overseen by a court registrar and not a judge. The registrar hears the case, and either works to find a solution or sends the case to trial before a judge, according to the Community Law Manual.
In Category 2 cases where a trial sees a judge hearing the case without a jury, the review hearing takes place 30 working days after a defendant pleads not guilty to an alleged crime. For Category 3 or higher offences, the defendant may choose to have a jury trial. In these cases, the case review hearing takes place 45 working days after a plea of not guilty is entered. To get a case review hearing, the defense and the prosecution must jointly file a Case Management Memorandum, which tells the court what the issues are to be at trial and other details of the case. The Memorandum has to be filed at least 5 working days before the case review date, according to Community Law Manual.
