A Guide to Character References for Court

When preparing for court, there are various reasons to consider obtaining supporting material for your case. In the Local Court, this is often in the form of letters and/or references.

A character reference is a letter written by a person who knows you, and who can refer to your good character. When prepared for the purposes of court, there are specific characteristics which should be addressed subject to the nature of your court appearance.

There are other reasons to produce letters to the court, and understanding the purpose of character references is essential to preparing effective supporting material.

We have prepared a brief outline which is intended as a guide to preparing effective character references and letters in support for the Local Court.

What does ‘good character’ mean?

In the context of criminal proceedings, ‘good character’ is the absence of prior convictions. If you are a person with a clean criminal history, (or a clean driving record in the context of traffic related matters) you are likely a person of good character. Conversely, if you have been charged with an offence, and you have offences of a similar kind on your record, you may safely assume you cannot rely on good character.

There are, however, circumstances where the issue of good character is not easily determined and you should seek proper legal advice before proceeding.

It is a well-established principle at common law that a person’s prior good character must be taken into account as a mitigating factor in sentencing proceedings.¹ It is important to note that the weight to be afforded to prior good character will vary in the circumstances.

Should I gather character references?

The purpose of obtaining character references for court is to produce evidence of your good qualities as a person. That evidence is best provided by a person who knows you well and in Local Court proceedings you should limit your references to the strongest two.

When considering who to approach to write on your behalf, it is worth first considering whether it is appropriate and/or useful in the circumstances.

The Local Court deals with a considerable number of matters, and it is arguably more beneficial to the outcome of your case not to be seen to be wasting the courts time. Letters which are poorly prepared or not well thought out can do more harm than good.

Additionally, there is limited utility in producing references unless they are fit for purpose and they meet certain requirements.

The perfect referee

The perfect referee is a person with whom you have, or have had some form of relationship for a sufficient period of time. The referee may be a close personal or family friend, a neighbour, a current or former employer or colleague. It may also be a pastor, a coach, a sponsor or other associate.

Your referee should be over the age of 18 years and should be a person of good standing in the community (no criminal record). It is rarely useful to produce a character reference written by a relative.

Additionally, you must be prepared to disclose the nature of the offence (as well as your history) to your referee and they should specifically state that they are aware of the matter(s) in their letter to the court.

The writer should be a person who can give specific examples or instances which speak to your credit rather than simply stating this is ‘out of character’. If the content of the reference resembles a template found on Google, it is not worth the paper it is written on. Approach only those whom you trust to take pleasure in writing on your behalf.

It should be noted that character references written by serving, or retired police officers will rarely be tendered without opposition.

Writing a Character Reference

If you have been approached to write a character reference, you may wish to start by briefly introducing yourself. You might include your name, occupation, any community involvement and/or volunteer work. Do not exceed a short paragraph.

You may then address the nature of your relationship to the accused, including how you met and how long you have known them.

Importantly, you must specifically state that you are aware of the offence, as well as any prior offences, however, you should avoid going into detail about the circumstances of the offence.

Give an outline of how you became aware, your conversations with the accused, your thoughts and feelings about this and the accused’s attitude towards the offence. Are they remorseful? And if so, what steps/actions have they taken to rectify their offending.

If it is your opinion that the offence is out of character, be prepared to explain why. What is your personal experience with the accused? Why are you surprised by this news?

You may comment on any potential hardship imposed on the accused as a result of the offence, but you should not comment on the type of penalty you think is appropriate.

Conclude with a statement of support and/or guidance for the accused moving forward.

Writing a Reference as an Employer

There are circumstances in which it is helpful to produce evidence of employment.

If you are writing on behalf of an employee, you may focus your attention on the accused’s professional characteristics and day-to-day responsibilities.

Open with a short paragraph introducing yourself, your role and the role of the accused. If you are not a direct supervisor, say that. Include the period of employment, as well as the period of your experience with the accused.

You must state that you are aware of the offence, and if applicable, any prior offending.

Given an outline of the accused’s job description, and how the outcome may impact on the accused. Importantly, address how the outcome may impact on your day-to-day operations.

You might include comment of the accused’s remorse and/or attitude towards the offending.

Structure of letters to the Court

All letters to the Local Court should be addressed ‘to the Presiding Magistrate’. They must also be signed and dated and include sufficient contact information.

It is important that all letters are as concise as possible, using appropriate margins (2.54) and font size (12) and must not exceed one page.

Ideally, a copy should be sent to your solicitor for review before they are signed and printed.

---

¹ Ryan v R [2001] HCA 21, 206 CLR 267