Northern Territory Consolidated Regulations Northern Territory Consolidated Regulations(1) A notice in accordance with this regulation is to be served on the defendant in any proceedings referred to in regulation 19.
(2) The notice is to inform the defendant that he or she may:
(a) attend the court and answer the charges in person; or
(b) at any time not less than 7 days before the date fixed for the hearing, lodge with or send by post to the prosecuting officer a statutory declaration setting out any matter he or she wants to set out in answer to the charge.
(3) A notice referred to in subregulation (1) may be written on the summons or may be a separate document served with the summons.
(4) If a statutory declaration is received by the prosecuting officer, he or she must, as far as it is practicable to do, inquire into the truth of its contents and must, unless the prosecution is withdrawn, bring the declaration to the notice of the court.
(5) The court must consider the statutory declaration as if its contents were given in evidence before it, whether or not the defendant is present.
(6) If the defendant attends the court and sets up a defence different in substance from the statement contained in the declaration, the court must, if it dismisses the prosecution, do so without awarding the defendant the costs of his or her defence.
(7) On the application of the prosecuting officer, the court may adjourn the hearing for any period it thinks fit to enable the officer to answer the declaration of the defendant.