South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts113—Conduct of answer charge hearing
(1) In cases where the
defendant does not appear at the answer charge hearing, the Magistrates Court
will proceed as follows:
(a) if
the defendant has, in accordance with the rules, returned a written plea of
guilty, the Court may, subject to section 116(1)—
(i)
determine and impose sentence on the defendant; or
(ii)
commit the defendant to a superior court for sentence;
(b) if
the defendant neither returns a written plea in accordance with the rules nor
appears to answer the charge, the Court may—
(i)
issue a summons requiring the defendant to appear at a
nominated time and place to answer the charge (and if the defendant then fails
to appear, issue a warrant to have the defendant arrested and brought before
the Court); or
(ii)
issue a warrant to have the defendant arrested and
brought before the Court to answer the charge; or
(iii)
if there is reason to believe that the defendant has
absconded, or there is some other good reason for proceeding in the absence of
the defendant—proceed with the committal proceedings as if the defendant
had appeared and denied the charge.
(2) In cases where the
defendant appears to answer the charge, the Magistrates Court will proceed as
follows:
(a) the
charge will be read and the defendant will be asked how the defendant pleads
to it;
(b) the
defendant may then—
(i)
plead guilty; or
(ii)
deny the charge; or
(iii)
assert previous conviction or acquittal of the charge,
and if the defendant refuses or fails to plead to the charge, the defendant
will be taken to have denied the charge;
(c) the
Court will then proceed as follows:
(i)
if the defendant pleads guilty—the Court may
(subject to section 116(1))—
(A) determine and impose sentence on the
defendant; or
(B) commit the defendant to a superior
court for sentence;
(ii)
if the defendant denies the charge—subject to
subsection (3), the Court will consider the evidence for the purpose of
determining whether it is sufficient to put the defendant on trial for an
offence;
(iii)
if the defendant asserts previous conviction or
acquittal, the Court will reserve the questions raised by the plea for
consideration by the court of trial and proceed with the committal proceedings
as if the defendant had denied the charge.
(3) If a defendant who
is represented by a legal practitioner concedes that there is a case to answer
in relation to an offence, the Court may act on that basis and need not itself
consider the evidence for the purpose of determining whether it is sufficient
to put the defendant on trial for the offence.