Letter · Criminal Law
Letter to the prosecution requesting service of the brief of evidence and missing material (NSW Local Court)
Defence letter to the police prosecutor or ODPP after a not guilty plea in the NSW Local Court: asks for the brief on time, lists missing statements, exhibits and recordings, seeks inspection of exhibits, and reserves objections to unserved evidence.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use after a plea of not guilty in summary proceedings in the Local Court of NSW, once the brief service date is set, and again when material in the brief is missing. Pair it with the disclosure tracker. For indictable matters in committal proceedings, adapt it to the committal brief and charge certificate process.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may compare the brief index with the statements and exhibits served and list what is missing; the lawyer decides what to request and whether to object to evidence at the hearing.
AI may
- Compare the brief index and the statements against the material actually served and list missing statements, exhibits, recordings and records
- List exhibits referred to in statements that have not been copied or made available for inspection
- Calculate the 14-day service date from the hearing date, for the lawyer to confirm
AI must not
- Must not decide that an item is relevant to the defence case or disclose defence strategy in the request
- Must not process the brief in a tool outside the firm’s approved environment or one that retains or trains on inputs
- Must not send the letter or contact the prosecutor or police
The lawyer checks
- Each item requested is identified precisely (statement, exhibit, recording, record) and the request does not reveal defence strategy the client has not authorised
- The service date and the hearing date are right, and any order for a later date or for part of the brief not to be served has been checked
- For ODPP matters, the request for relevant unused material is framed around the officers’ disclosure duty
- Objections under s 188 to evidence not served are noted for the hearing and the client is advised about any adjournment
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Criminal Law
- Bail application submissions (NSW release application)
- Guilty plea sentencing preparation checklist: purposes, s 21A factors, plea discount and subjective material (NSW)
- Client’s written instructions to plead guilty, with record of advice and acknowledgment of the facts
- Letter of advice on the brief of evidence and plea options
- Representations to the DPP seeking charge resolution or withdrawal
- Plain-language letter to a client explaining their bail conditions and what happens if they are breached (NSW)
- Sentencing submissions and guidance letter for character referees
- Defended hearing preparation and attendance checklist (NSW Local Court summary proceedings)
- Application under s 14 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW)
- Protocol: AI-assisted review of the prosecution brief and digital evidence
- Checklist: challenging or authenticating suspected AI-generated (deepfake) evidence
All precedents for Criminal Law · Tasks and AI use in this area