Part 2: Courts, tribunals and coroners Chapter 1: Criminal procedure Section 4: Guilty plea in writing: extension to proceedings following police charge
Section 12 of the MCA 1980 currently sets out the procedure that is commonly known as "pleading guilty by post", which enables prosecutors to provide a defendant who is prosecuted for a summary-only offence and is aged 16 years and over (or under 16 years when jointly charged with an adult) with the option to indicate a guilty plea in writing (including online) and opt that a magistrates’ court may proceed to try, convict, and sentence them at a court hearing in their absence, without the need for the defendant or other parties in the case to make a court appearance at any stage of the proceedings. 1 This procedure can currently only be applied to the prosecution of summary-only offences that have been initiated against a defendant away from a police station in writing by either a postal requisition or summons.
	Section 4, subsection (1), introduces amendments to section 12 of the MCA 1980 that will enable prosecutors to also apply the procedure for pleading guilty by post to the prosecution of a summary-only offence against a defendant aged 16 years and over that has been initiated by charging them in person at a police station and granting them police bail to appear at a magistrates’ court for a first hearing.
	Section 4, subsection (2), amends section 12(1)(a) of the MCA 1980 to remove the power that currently enables the Secretary of State to order the exclusion of a specific summary offence from the pleading guilty by post procedure. This power has never been exercised and is considered to be unnecessary; if a case is identified as being unsuitable for the procedure (because for example, the defendant is likely to receive a custodial sentence), the relevant prosecutor need not apply the procedure. Existing section 12(6) of MCA 1980 also retains the safeguard that if the court receives a notification withdrawing an indicated guilty plea on behalf of the defendant prior to a trial hearing, the court shall proceed to deal with the summary offence as if the indication had not been given.
	Section 4, subsection (3), inserts new section 12(2A) of the MCA 1980 to enable prosecutors to apply the procedure for pleading guilty by post to cases where a defendant aged 16 years and over has been charged with a summary-only offence at a police station and bailed to appear at magistrates’ court under Part 4 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ("the PACE Act 1984").
	Section 4, subsection (4), amends section 12(3) of the MCA 1980 to provide details about the documents which must be served upon the defendant by the prosecutor in order to apply the pleading guilty by post procedure for a defendant who has been charged and bailed from a police station; which includes a notice as to the possible effects of procedure, details of the charge against them, and any information relating to them that may be supplied to the court by the prosecutor.
	Section 4, subsection (5), amends section 12(5) of the MCA 1980 so that a magistrates’ court can proceed to try, convict, and sentence a defendant who has opted to proceed with the pleading guilty by post procedure subsequent to being charged and bailed from a police station at a court hearing in their absence.
	Section 4, subsection (6), inserts new section 12(5A) of the MCA 1980 to give a magistrates’ court the power to discharge a defendant from their duty to surrender to the custody of the court where they have opted to proceed with the pleading guilty by post procedure having been charged and bailed from a police station. This will enable the court to proceed to deal with and dispose of the case without the need for the defendant to appear at court for the hearing. New section 12(5B) enables the function under new section 12(5A) to be carried out by a single justice.
	Section 4, subsection (6), also inserts new subsections (5C) to (5F) of section 12 of the MCA 1980 to retain the current prohibitions on sentencing a defendant in absence having proceeded with the case through the pleading guilty by post procedure, no matter how the prosecution was initiated. New subsection (5D) states that having tried and convicted a defendant in absence under the procedure, a magistrates’ court will not have the power to impose a custodial sentence or other type of detention without first bringing the defendant before the court for a sentencing hearing. New subsection (5E) states that where a magistrates’ court intends to impose a driving disqualification, the court must first adjourn the case to the give the defendant the opportunity to appear at court but can then disqualify them in absence at the next hearing. New subsection (5F) states that where a trial is adjourned with a view to its resumption for the purpose of new subsection (5E), the notice required by existing section 10(2) of the MCA 1980 must include notice of the reason for the adjournment.
	Section 4, subsection, (7) amends section 12(7) of the MCA 1980 so that section 12(7)(a) and (aa), which state details of what information that was served on the defendant must be read out at court prior to accepting a guilty plea and convicting them in absence, also apply to prosecutions initiated by charge and bail from a police station.
	Section 4, subsection (8), repeals section 12(12) and (13) of the MCA 1980, which deal with service of documents in Scotland. Accordingly, this repeal only extends and applies to England, Wales and Scotland. Section 12(13) is a superfluous provision given that equivalent provision is made in section 39 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 (as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003).