5: Get the judge’s decision

The judge at your preliminary inquiry decides whether there’s enough evidence to have a trial. If they think there’s enough evidence, the judge says you’ve been “committed to stand trial”. Your trial will be held at the Superior Court of Justice.

If the judge thinks that there’s not enough evidence, you’re discharged. In most cases, being discharged means your case is over. But in rare situations, if new evidence is found after the preliminary inquiry, you could have to go to court again.

The judge could also decide to discharge you on some of the criminal offences you’ve been charged with, but commit you to trial on other offences.

In most cases, you’re committed and have to go to trial. This is because at a preliminary inquiry, the Crown doesn’t have to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They only need to convince the judge that there’s some evidence that they can present in court that can be used to find you guilty.