How a criminal charge begins in New South Wales: the court attendance notice, the field CAN, and your first day in court.

One notice, one date, and a decision to make.

People often think a criminal case begins with an arrest. Most do not. In New South Wales the ordinary way a case starts is quiet: a police officer prepares a court attendance notice, and either hands it to the person or posts it. From that moment the person is charged and has a date to be in court. There is no dock, no cell, and no drama, just a piece of paper that carries real weight. What the person does in the days after receiving it can decide the outcome of the whole matter.

None of this is about any particular person now before the courts. The matters on the wire this weekend involve people who have not been tried, and who are presumed innocent. What follows is the framework that applies to every charge in New South Wales, whoever is named and whatever the result.

What is a court attendance notice in NSW?

A court attendance notice, almost always shortened to CAN, is the document that commences a criminal case. It is provided for in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), which requires proceedings for an offence to be started by a court attendance notice served on the accused and filed with the court. The notice names the person, sets out the offence charged with a short statement of what is alleged, and tells the person which court to attend and when. Almost every criminal matter in the State begins this way, from a low-range drink driving charge in the Local Court to a strictly indictable matter that will end up in the District or Supreme Court.

Being served with a CAN means you have been charged. It does not mean you have been convicted, and it does not mean the case is strong. The notice records the prosecution's allegation, not a finding. The presumption of innocence stays with you until a court is satisfied of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, or until you plead guilty on advice. Treat the CAN as the start of a process you can shape, not as a verdict handed down in advance.

What is the difference between a field CAN and a future CAN?

Both are court attendance notices. The difference is in how and when they reach you. A field court attendance notice is written out and handed to the person at the time, often at the roadside or before they leave the police station, with the court and date already entered. Police use a field CAN when they can identify the person, the matter does not call for holding them, and there is no reason to arrest. It lets police start the case and let the person go on their way in the same encounter.

A future court attendance notice is served later, either in person or by post, once police have finished putting the charge together. It is used where the investigation needs more time, where a decision on charging is made after the event, or where the person was not present to be served on the spot. The label does not change your obligation. Whether the notice was handed to you in the street or arrived in the letterbox weeks later, it fixes a court and a date, and you must attend. If a CAN has not arrived when you expect one, or the date has passed and you never received it, that is a matter to raise with the court registry rather than to leave alone.

Can police arrest you instead of issuing a court attendance notice?

They can, but arrest is not supposed to be the routine way of laying a charge. The power to arrest without a warrant sits in section 99 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW), known as LEPRA. It lets an officer arrest where the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person is committing or has committed an offence, and is satisfied that the arrest is reasonably necessary for one of a list of reasons. Those reasons include stopping the person fleeing, working out who they are, stopping them destroying evidence, protecting a victim or witness, and making sure they turn up in court.

Where none of those reasons is present, a court attendance notice is the proper course. The Supreme Court made the point in DPP v Carr, holding that arrest should not be used where a summons or court attendance notice would do, particularly for less serious offences. Arrest is a significant power, and an arrest carried out when it was not reasonably necessary can be challenged, sometimes with consequences for the evidence that flows from it. If you were arrested rather than issued a CAN, whether that arrest was lawful is a question worth putting to a lawyer, because the answer can affect the whole case. What you say after any arrest matters just as much, and our note on the police interview and the ERISP explains why.

What happens if you do not go to court after a CAN?

Ignoring the date is one of the worst things a person can do with a CAN. If you do not appear, the Local Court has two options, and neither helps you. It can hear the matter in your absence and convict you on the police version, without you there to challenge anything or to put your circumstances. Or it can issue a warrant for your arrest, so that police can find you and bring you before the court. A warrant hangs over a person until it is dealt with, and it can turn up at the worst moment, such as a random traffic stop.

The answer is simple: do not stay away. If you have a genuine reason you cannot attend, contact the court registry before the date and ask for the matter to be put over, or arrange for a lawyer to appear for you, which a lawyer can do without you being present for a first mention. Courts deal far more kindly with a person who makes contact than with one who simply fails to show. If a warrant has already issued, a lawyer can help you have it dealt with and the matter relisted.

What happens at your first court date?

The date on the CAN is the first mention, and it is held in the Local Court. It is a short and procedural hearing, and it is often over in a few minutes. You are not expected to run your defence that day, and you should not try to. The court confirms that you have the charge and the police facts, asks whether you have legal advice, and asks whether you intend to plead guilty or not guilty. If the matter is an indictable one, the first mention is also where the timetable for the brief of evidence is set. Our note on the Local Court mention walks through what to expect step by step.

You do not have to enter a plea before you are ready. If you need time to get advice, to read the brief, or to apply for Legal Aid, you can ask the magistrate for an adjournment, and first mentions are routinely adjourned for exactly that reason. There is no penalty for taking a sensible amount of time to get advice. The mistake is the opposite: turning up unrepresented, feeling the pressure of the room, and entering a plea on the spot to a charge you have not had checked.

What should you do when you receive a court attendance notice?

Read it carefully, note the court and the date, and get advice before you decide anything about plea. The most common trap is the early guilty plea entered without advice. New South Wales rewards an early plea with a sentence discount, up to 25 per cent for a plea entered in the Local Court before an indictable matter is committed for trial, and that discount is a genuine benefit. Our note on the early plea discount sets out how it works. But the discount only helps if you are guilty of the offence charged, and if the charge is the right one.

Police do not always lay the charge the evidence supports. Sometimes the charge is heavier than the facts justify, sometimes there are more charges than the incident warrants, and sometimes a charge cannot be made out at all. A lawyer reads the CAN and the facts, tests whether each element can be proved, and negotiates with the prosecution before any plea is entered. A plea entered at the first mention, before that work is done, can fix you to a charge that would otherwise have been reduced or withdrawn. The early plea discount will still be there once you have advice, so there is no reason to rush it. If you are on bail, or the notice comes with bail conditions, our guide to bail conditions explains what you must comply with in the meantime.

The first days do the heavy lifting.

A court attendance notice looks like a small thing. It is a single page. But it is the door through which every criminal case in New South Wales passes, and the choices made in the first days after it arrives carry more weight than almost anything that comes later. Whether the charge is right, whether the arrest was lawful, whether a plea should be entered and to what, whether the discount is worth taking now or after negotiation, these are the questions that shape the result, and they are best answered before the first mention, not after. Our note on the first thirty days of a serious matter explains why the early work counts for the most.

Primary sources: proceedings for offences are commenced by court attendance notice under the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW), which also sets out the form and service of a CAN and the court's powers when an accused does not appear. The power to arrest without a warrant is in section 99 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW). The principle that arrest should not be used where a court attendance notice would serve the purpose is set out in DPP v Carr [2002] NSWSC 194, searchable on JADE. The guilty plea discount is governed by section 25D of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW).

Common questions

What is a court attendance notice in NSW?

A court attendance notice, or CAN, is the document that starts a criminal case in New South Wales under the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW). It names the person, sets out the offence and a short account of the facts alleged, and tells the person which court to attend and when. Almost every matter begins with a CAN. Being served with one means you have been charged. It does not mean you have been found guilty, and you are presumed innocent until the case is proved.

What is the difference between a field CAN and a future CAN?

Both are court attendance notices. A field court attendance notice is written out and handed to the person on the spot, often at the roadside or the station, with the court date filled in. A future court attendance notice is served later, in person or by post, once police have finished preparing the charge. A field CAN is common where police can identify the person and need not hold them; a future CAN is used where the charge is served after the event. Either way, you must attend the court named on the notice, on the date named on the notice.

Can police arrest you instead of issuing a court attendance notice?

Yes, but arrest is not the default for minor matters. Section 99 of LEPRA lets an officer arrest without a warrant where they suspect on reasonable grounds that the person committed an offence and are satisfied arrest is reasonably necessary, for example to establish identity, preserve evidence, or ensure the person attends court. In DPP v Carr the Supreme Court held that arrest should not be used where a court attendance notice or summons would do, particularly for less serious offences. Where those reasons are absent, a CAN is the proper course.

What happens if you do not go to court after a CAN?

The Local Court can deal with the matter in your absence and convict you on the police version, or issue a warrant for your arrest so police can bring you to court. A warrant can also affect any bail you are on. If you cannot attend for a genuine reason, contact the registry before the date to seek an adjournment, or arrange for a lawyer to appear for you. Do not simply stay away; the court is far more willing to help a person who makes contact.

What happens at your first court date?

The first date is the first mention, in the Local Court. You are not expected to run your case that day. The court checks you have the charge and the police facts, asks if you have legal advice, and asks whether you will plead guilty or not guilty. If you need time to get advice or read the brief, you can ask for an adjournment, and first mentions are routinely adjourned for that reason. You do not have to enter a plea before you are ready.

Should you plead guilty at the first mention to get the discount?

Not before you have advice. NSW gives a sentence discount for a guilty plea, up to 25 per cent for a plea in the Local Court before committal for an indictable offence. That is a real benefit, but it only helps if you are guilty of the offence charged and the charge is the right one. Police sometimes lay a heavier or wider charge than the evidence supports. Pleading guilty at the first mention can lock you into a charge a lawyer would have had reduced or withdrawn, and the discount is still available after you get advice.

To speak to a criminal defence lawyer, call Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019.

This article is written by Aaron Kernaghan, criminal defence lawyer at Good Legal Lawyers, as at 30 August 2026. It is commentary and reflects the personal opinion of the author only. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own matter, and it does not purport to be accurate or complete. Any matter referred to may be before the court and any person charged is presumed innocent. For advice on a specific matter, contact Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019 or contact the firm.

More criminal-law commentary by Aaron Kernaghan.

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