The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 introduced the Single Justice Procedure which applies only to cases involving adults charged with summary-only non-imprisonable offences. The single justice procedure took effect from 13 April 2015. It will enable such cases to be dealt with by a single magistrate sitting with a legal adviser on the papers without the attendance of either a prosecutor or the defendant. The defendant will instead be able to engage with the court online (or in writing) and the case will not be heard in a traditional courtroom.
It will be for prosecutors to identify cases which might be suitable for the single justice procedure. These will be commenced by a written charge and a new type of document called a ‘single justice procedure notice.'
The single justice procedure notice will be sent to the defendant explaining the offence which has given rise to the proceedings, the options available to the defendant, and the consequences of not responding to the notice. It will be accompanied by the evidence upon which the prosecutor will be relying to prove the case.
The notice will give the defendant a date to respond in writing to the allegation - rather than a date to attend court. However, the defendant will have the right to request a traditional hearing in open court. If he wishes to plead not guilty, or otherwise wants to have a hearing in a traditional courtroom, the defendant can indicate these wishes in the response to the single justice procedure notice. In such circumstances the case will be referred to a traditional court and the case will be managed in the normal way.
In cases where a defendant pleads guilty and indicates that he would like to have the matter dealt with in his absence, or fails to respond to the notice at all, a single magistrate will consider the case on the basis of the evidence submitted in writing by the prosecutor, and any written mitigation from the defendant. The single magistrate can convict and sentence, or dismiss the charge as appropriate.
If a single justice considers at any point that it would be inappropriate to conduct the case under the single justice procedure, the justice can refer it to a traditional magistrates’ court.
Court clerk (legal adviser) shown here advising a Justice of the Peace (Magistrate). Photo credit: Law Society Gazette.
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