Part III Criminal justice system

Functions of courts etc.

49 Powers of magistrates’ courts exercisable by single justice etc.

(1)

The following powers of a magistrates’ court for any area may be exercised by a single justice of the peace for that area, namely—

(a)

to extend bail or to impose or vary conditions of bail;

(b)

to mark an information as withdrawn;

(c)

to dismiss an information, or to discharge an accused in respect of an information, where no evidence is offered by the prosecution;

(d)

to make an order for the payment of defence costs out of central funds;

(e)

to request a pre-sentence report following a plea of guilty and, for that purpose, to give an indication of the seriousness of the offence;

(f)

to request a medical report and, for that purpose, to remand the accused in custody or on bail;

(g)

to remit an offender to another court for sentence;

(h)

where a person has been granted police bail to appear at a magistrates’ court, to appoint an earlier time for his appearance;

(i)

to extend, with the consent of the accused, a custody time limit or an overall time limit;

F1(j)

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(k)

where an accused has been convicted of an offence, to order him to produce his driving licence;

(l)

to give a direction prohibiting the publication of matters disclosed or exempted from disclosure in court;

(m)

to give, vary or revoke directions for the conduct of a trial, including directions as to the following matters, namely—

(i)

the timetable for the proceedings;

(ii)

the attendance of the parties;

(iii)

the service of documents (including summaries of any legal arguments relied on by the parties);

(iv)

the manner in which evidence is to be given; and

(n)

to give, vary or revoke orders for separate or joint trials in the case of two or more accused or two or more informations.

F2(2)

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F2(3)

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F2(4)

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F2(5)

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