7A—Constitution of Court
(1) Subject to this
section, the Court, when sitting to adjudicate on any matter, must be
constituted of a Magistrate.
(1a) Subject to the
regulations, Judicial Registrars may exercise such jurisdiction of the Court
as assigned by the Chief Magistrate or the rules.
(2) The Court may be
constituted of a special justice—
(a) in
its Petty Sessions Division; or
(b) to
hear and determine uncontested applications of a class prescribed by the
regulations; or
(ba) to
hear and determine appeals under section 23 of the Fines Enforcement and
Debt Recovery Act 2017 ; or
(c) in
any other case—if there is no Magistrate or Judicial Registrar
available.
(2aa) If the Court is
constituted of a Judicial Registrar or special justice in criminal
proceedings, the Court—
(a) may
not impose a sentence of imprisonment; and
(b) if
of the opinion that the limitation on its powers imposed under this subsection
prevents it from imposing an appropriate sentence—may adjourn the
question of sentence for hearing and determination by a Magistrate.
(2a) If there is no
Magistrate, Judicial Registrar or special justice available to constitute the
Court as a bail authority, the Court may be constituted of 2 justices for the
purposes of an application under the Bail Act 1985 .
(3) The Court may, at
any one time, be separately constituted in accordance with this section for
the hearing and determination of any number of separate matters.