Summary Trial of Indictable Offences: Should Depositions Be Taken?
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834701100110 |
| Published date | 01 January 1947 |
| Date | 01 January 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Summary Trial of Indictable Offences:
Should Despositions be
taken?
Asubject of considerable
interest
upon
which
there
appears
to
be
some divergence of opinion is
that
of
the
procedure in
the
summary
trial
of indictable offences,
and
more especially
the
exact
point
at
which
the
court
should assume jurisdiction
to
deal with such offences
and
whether
it
is necessary
to
take
depositions.
In
order
to
deal
with
the
matter
substantially,
it
is
necessary
to
deal
with
a
number
of
statutory
provisions.
Before, however, doing so,
it
may
be mentioned
that
in
some courts
the
practice still obtains of
taking
the
evidence
for
the
prosecution in
order
to
see
whether
it
established a
prima facie case before calling upon
the
accused, reading
the
caution
and
enquiring whether he desires
to
be dealt
with,
and
if
so
taking
his plea. On
the
other
hand,
it
is
said generally,
and
especially in simple cases such as
petty
theft,
that
it
saves a
great
deal of
time
to
enquire
at
the
outset,
after
reading
the
charge, whether
the
accused
desires
to
have
the
case dealt with summarily,
and
then
and
there
to
take
his plea.
The
main
authority
quoted
for this
procedure is section 24 of
the
Criminal
Justice
Act
1925,
which provides as follows
:-
(1)
"Where
aperson who is an
adult
is charged before acourt of
summary jurisdiction
with
an indictable offence, being one
of
the
offences specified in
the
2nd schedule
to
this
Act,
the
court,
if
it
thinks
it
expedient so to do, having regard to
any
representation made in
the
presence of
the
accused
by
or on
behalf
of
the
prosecutor,
the
character
and
antecedents of
the
accused,
the
nature
of
the
offence,
the
absence of circum-
stances which would render
the
offence one of a grave or
serious character,
and
all
the
other
circumstances
....
and
if
the
accused when informed
by
the
court of his
right
to
be
tried
by
ajury, consents
to
be
dealt
with
summarily, may,
subject
to
the
provisions of
this
section, deal summarily
with
the
offence . . . .
1011
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