(1)This section applies where—
(a)a calling of criminal proceedings has come before a sheriff court by virtue of section 5B(1), and
(b)the proceedings are in respect of an accused person’s failure to attend a diet in summary proceedings or proceedings on indictment (“the principal proceedings”).
(2)If the principal proceedings are proceedings on indictment, the court may deal with them until the end of the diet in which the calling mentioned in subsection (1)(a) takes place.
(3)If the principal proceedings are summary proceedings, they may be dealt with—
(a)in the same sheriff court, and
(b)by a sheriff of any sheriffdom,
unless, and until the end of the diet at which, a plea of not guilty is rejected.
(4)Despite subsections (2) and (3), the court may pass a sentence or otherwise dispose of the principal proceedings only where—
(a)evidence has not been led in the principal proceedings, or
(b)the court considers that for it to pass a sentence or otherwise dispose of the case would be in the interests of justice.
(5)For the purposes of subsection (3), a plea of not guilty is rejected where—
(a)the accused person—
(i)tenders a plea of not guilty, or
(ii)confirms that the person is adhering to a previously tendered plea of not guilty, and
(b)that plea is not accepted by the prosecutor.]