DATA ELEMENTS AND DATA ELEMENT CONCEPTS
INITIAL PLEA
IDENTIFYING AND DEFINITIONAL ATTRIBUTES
Metadata type:
DATA ELEMENT Version: 1
Definition:
The first/earliest plea entered by a defendant (at the current court level) in relation to the criminal charges laid against them.
Context:
A plea of guilty to each charge indicates that the defendant does not wish to contest the charges and if unchanged results in a sentence hearing, consequently the defendant is undefended. A plea other than guilty, including no plea, is regarded as an intention to contest the charge(s) and, if unchanged, results in the defendant being listed for a trial or defended hearing.
RELATIONAL AND REPRESENTATIONAL ATTRIBUTES
Datatype:
Numeric
Field size:
Min: 2 Max: 2
Representational form:
Code
Representational layout:
NN
Data domain:
The plea classification has two major categories separating plea on the basis of whether or not the defendant defends the charge(s) against them. Codes are provided to distinguish between the levels in the hierarchy and can be used to assist with data entry and/or output purposes.
10 Undefended n.f.d.
20 Defended n.f.d.
21 Not guilty plea
22 No plea
23 Plea reserved
24 Other defended plea n.e.c.
99 Unknown/Not stated
Guide for use:
Undefended refers to where the defendant does not contest the charge(s) laid against them.
Defended refers to where the defendant will contest the charge(s) laid against them.
More detailed definitions of the types of pleas can be found in the glossary.
Only one plea code may be applied to each defendant in a particular court level. National coding rules (see below) are applied to determine the appropriate plea code to be assigned when the defendant has multiple charges which have different pleas.
1. If a defendant has multiple charges which all have exactly the same plea, then the Initial Plea for the defendant is the same as the plea code shared by the multiple charges.
2. If the plea to one or more charges is Defended/Not Guilty (Codes 20-24), the Initial Plea for the defendant is Defended n.f.d. (Code 20).
3. If the plea to each charge is Undefended/Guilty (Codes 10-11), the Initial Plea for the defendant is Undefended n.f.d. (Code 10).
Verification rules:
If Method of Initiation is Ex-officio indictment of charges to a higher court for trial (Code 121), Initial Plea must not be Undefended or Guilty (Codes 10-11).
If Method of Initiation is Retrial ordered by Court of Appeal (Coded to 290), Initial Plea must not be Undefended or Guilty (Codes 10-11).
If Method of Initiation is Ex-officio indictment of charges to a higher court for sentence (Code 122), Initial Plea must not be Defended (Codes 20-24).
Collection methods:
This information is taken from court process documentation including court bench sheets etc.
Related metadata:
Is related to the data element concept:
Is related to the data element:
Committal Plea
Method of Initiation
Final Plea
ADMINISTRATIVE ATTRIBUTES
Source document:
Higher Criminal Courts Collection Manual
Source organisation:
Australian Bureau of Statistics
History:
Commenced 2005
Comments:
A defendant's plea on each charge is entered during a court hearing and may change during the course of criminal proceedings.
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