This provision has not been checked by a human. The text below was read automatically from the official PDF and has not yet been verified against it, so it may differ from the provision as published — in its wording, its numbering, or where one provision ends and the next begins. For the authorised text, see legislation.vic.gov.au.
regulates warnings to juries in criminal proceedings where a delay as been found by the court to have resulted in a significant forensic disadvantage to the defendant. Under subclause (2), the defendant must apply to the judge for a warning to be given. The court can only give a warning if satisfied that the defendant has in fact suffered a significant forensic disadvantage and that this is a result of delay. When giving such a warning, the court must tell the jury about the nature of the disadvantage and the need to take this into account when considering the evidence. Whilst no specific words are required to be used in the warning, subclause (4) makes it clear that the judge is prohibited from suggesting in any way that it would be dangerous or unsafe to convict the defendant solely because of the delay or significant forensic disadvantage. A relevant delay for the purposes of this section is a lapse in time between the alleged offence and its being reported. Subclause (5) makes it clear that delay alone will not be sufficient to constitute significant forensic disadvantage. Subclause (3) provides that the judge need not comply with subclause (2) if there are good reasons for not doing so.