(1)Where an accused, who has pleaded not guilty at the first diet, shall thereafter, at any time before the date appointed for the second diet in the High Court, give written notice to the Crown Agent through his own procurator that he intends to plead guilty to the charge in whole or in part, and the Lord Advocate shall intimate to the Clerk of Justiciary that he is prepared to accept such plea, section 116 of this Act shall apply to the case of the accused in like manner as if he had pleaded guilty at the first diet, and where the accused shall at the second diet tender a plea not in accordance with the notice, and such plea shall not be accepted by the prosecutor, section 122 of this Act shall apply in like manner as it applies to the case where the High Court allows a plea of guilty to be withdrawn or modified.
(2)Sections 115 and 117 of this Act shall apply wherever the number of persons indicted for any sitting of the High Court, who have neither pleaded guilty nor in whose cases such notice and intimation as are mentioned in the foregoing subsection have been given, is such as to render the holding of a special or separate court inexpedient or unnecessary.