Inserted section 7B – Jurisdiction for cases in a JP court after failure to appear
116.This section allows a JP court to deal with prosecution proceedings for which it would not normally have jurisdiction where the accused has come before it having been arrested for a failure to appear in those prosecution proceedings.
117.When an accused person fails to appear in court, the court can grant a warrant for the accused’s arrest. On arrest the person will be brought before a court as soon as is practicable. That court appearance will be a form of “ancillary proceedings” within the meaning of section 7D(1) and therefore any JP court can deal with it by virtue of section 7A(1). The ancillary proceedings for failing to appear are separate from the main prosecution proceedings. If the person had been brought before the court that had normal territorial jurisdiction for the main prosecution proceedings, the court might have dealt with those main prosecution proceedings as well as the proceedings for the person’s failure to appear. Section 7C allows a court that has jurisdiction to deal with the ancillary proceedings to deal with the prosecution proceedings in the same way that the court with normal territorial jurisdiction would. In most cases that will mean rescheduling diets in light of a hearing having been missed when the accused failed to attend, and if the accused pleads guilty it may include sentencing the accused or ordering reports ahead of sentencing. The national jurisdiction granted in respect of a person’s failure to appear applies regardless of whether the main prosecution proceedings are taking place under the national jurisdiction or whether they are taking place under normal jurisdictional rules.
118.Subsection (2) provides that the principal proceedings can continue to be dealt with in the same JP court and by any justice of the peace, summary sheriff or sheriff. In a similar manner to section 7A(6), this continuing jurisdiction will cease at the end of the diet at which the accused either tenders a plea of not guilty or adheres to a previously tendered plea of not guilty, and that plea is not accepted by the prosecutor (see paragraph 114 of these Notes). Subsection (4) confirms the circumstances in which a plea of not guilty is rejected for the purposes of subsection (2).
119.However, subsection (3) provides that despite subsection (2) permitting a court to continue to deal with the proceedings, the court may only pass a sentence or otherwise dispose of the principal proceedings where—
evidence has not been led in the principal proceedings, or
the court considers that it would be in the interests of justice.
120.On that basis, if evidence has been led in the principal proceedings and the court does not consider that it would be in the interests of justice for it to dispose of the case, then the court’s non-territorial jurisdiction will come to an end.
