CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2004 - SECT 55
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 2004 - SECT 55
55 . No appearance by accused and no plea of guilty
(1) This section
applies if on a court date for a charge the prosecutor appears and the accused
does not and the accused has not pleaded guilty to the charge, whether orally
or by means of a written plea.
(2) If on the court
date the court is satisfied that the accused has been served under this Part
with the prosecution notice containing the charge and a court hearing notice,
or an approved notice, notifying the accused of that date and that the court
may deal with the charge in the accused’s absence if the accused does
not appear on that date, the court may —
(a)
adjourn the charge; or
(b) hear
and determine the charge in the accused’s absence.
[(3) deleted]
(4) If under
subsection (2) or section 51(8)(a) the court decides to hear and determine the
charge in the accused’s absence and the prosecution notice is signed by
a person who in the notice purports to be a person acting under section 20(3),
the court —
(a) must
presume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary —
(i)
that the prosecution notice was signed by a person who
was acting under section 20(3); and
(ii)
that the person had the authority to sign the prosecution
notice;
and
(b) may
take as proved any allegation in the prosecution notice containing the charge
that was served on the accused.
(5) If under
subsection (4) the court convicts the accused —
(a) the
prosecutor must state aloud to the court the material facts of the charge; and
(b)
section 129(4) applies; and
(c) in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, the court must take as proved any
facts so stated.
[Section 55 amended: No. 2 of 2008 s. 16.]