Where a person is charged with a major indictable offence or a minor indictable offence and has elected to have the matter dealt with in a superior court (see minor indictable offences), a magistrate conducts a preliminary examination sometimes called a committal hearing. At this hearing the prosecution must present to the court what evidence they have to indicate that the defendant is guilty of the charge. The prosecution must persuade the magistrate that there is a sufficiently strong case against the defendant to put the defendant on trial before a jury (committed for trial). This is generally achieved by filing prosecution witness statements (declarations) in court prior to the committal date and the magistrate reading the witness statements prior to the hearing. Witnesses are not personally called to give evidence before the court, unless the court can be convinced that special reasons exist.

Committal hearings are held in the Magistrates Court to ensure that only those defendants against whom a reasonably arguable case can be mounted will be subjected to the stress and expense of a full scale jury trial in the District or Supreme Court.