Schedules Schedule 2: Criminal Procedure: consequential and related amendments Amendments in connection with sections 6 to 8
Paragraph 6 amends sections 17A, 18, 22 and 23 of the MCA 1980 to take account of the new ‘plea before venue’ procedures which enable a defendant in an either-way case to indicate a plea (new section 17ZA) and decide allocation (new section 17ZC) in writing or online without the need for a court hearing; and which enable the magistrates’ court to "invite" a defendant, who does not indicate a guilty plea, to indicate whether they would refuse summary trial if this was later offered to them, before the court proceeds with the pending "allocation decision" procedure under sections 19 to 23 of the MCA 1980 (new section 17BA).
	Paragraph 6(8) amends section 20 of the MCA 1980 which deals with allocation procedures where a summary hearing is deemed suitable. An indication of guilty plea in writing/online must be confirmed by the defendant at his or her first appearance in person at court. New subsection (7B) provides that, in circumstances where a defendant has indicated a guilty plea online/in writing but then goes on to plead not-guilty at trial, the plea and hearing become void. The court must revisit the allocation decision and ask the defendant whether they would consent to a summary trial. If the defendant consents the court must adjourn and make arrangements for a summary trial. If the defendant does not consent, the court must send the case to the Crown Court for jury trial.
	Paragraph 6(11) inserts new subsection (1A) of section 24A of the MCA 1980, which sets out the court process for taking an indication of plea from a child or young person under 18 years appearing before a magistrates’ court and deciding whether the defendant should be sent to the Crown Court. New subsection (1A) means that no allocation process is needed at a hearing where allocation has been determined in writing/online, unless the defendant withdraws the written indication on which the written/online allocation proceedings were based in time.
	Paragraph 6(12) amends section 27A of the MCA 1980 to enable a magistrates’ court to transfer a case at any time before or at the beginning of the trial to another magistrates’ court.
	Paragraph 8 amends section 50A of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ("the CDA 1998") which sets out the process for allocating either-way cases where a defendant appears before the magistrates’ court. It inserts new subsection (6) to disapply this procedure in cases where an adult, or child or young person under 18 years old, chooses to engage with the plea-before-venue process in writing/on-line.