CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2004 - SECT 126
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2004 - SECT 126
126 . Pleas available to charges
(1) If under this Act
an accused may or must plead to a charge, the accused may —
(a)
plead that the court does not have jurisdiction to deal with the accused or
the charge;
(b)
plead that the offence charged is not an offence under any of the provisions
referred to in the Criminal Code Act 1913 section 4;
(c)
plead that the accused has a defence to the charge under The Criminal Code
section 17;
(d)
plead not guilty of the charge on account of unsoundness of mind under The
Criminal Code section 27;
(e)
plead not guilty to the charge;
(f)
plead guilty to the charge or, with the prosecutor’s consent, to some
other offence of which the accused might be convicted instead of the charge.
(2) An accused may
enter a plea under subsection (1)(b) to a charge at any time before a judgment
on the charge is entered against the accused under section 147.
(3) For the purposes
of entering a plea under subsection (1)(c), it is sufficient for the accused
to describe the offence of which the accused has been convicted or acquitted
in any way in which it is commonly known.
(4) Unless the accused
pleads guilty, 2 or more of the pleas in subsection (1) may be made together.
(5) If an accused, on
being required by a court to plead to a charge —
(a)
enters a plea other than one permitted by subsection (1); or
(b) does
not plead in accordance with subsection (4); or
(c) does
not plead,
the court must enter a
plea of not guilty on behalf of the accused, unless —
(d) the
court, under section 99(4) or (5), enters a plea on behalf of the accused; or
(e) the
accused is not mentally fit to stand trial under the Criminal Law (Mentally
Impaired Accused) Act 1996 .
(6) A plea entered by
a court under this Act on behalf of an accused has the same effect as if it
had been entered by the accused.