Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980

[F1 16G The automatic online conviction option E+W

(1) In this Act a reference to a person being offered the automatic online conviction option in respect of an offence is a reference to the person being given an electronic notification which explains that if the person intends to plead guilty the person may agree—

(a) to be convicted of the offence under section 16H, and

(b) to be penalised for the offence under section 16I.

(2) In this Act a reference to a person accepting the automatic online conviction option in respect of an offence is a reference to the person giving an electronic notification which indicates that the person—

(a) pleads guilty to the offence,

(b) agrees to be convicted of the offence under section 16H, and

(c) agrees to be penalised for the offence under section 16I.

(3) A notification purporting to be given by a person (or the person’s legal representative) is to be treated for the purposes of subsection (2) as a notification given by that person.

(4) In this section “electronic notification” means a written notification given—

(a) by electronic means,

(b) under such arrangements as are put in place by the Lord Chancellor for the purposes of this section and sections 16H to 16L, and

(c) in accordance with such provision as may be made by Criminal Procedure Rules.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 16G-16M and cross-heading inserted (7.11.2023) by Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (c. 35), ss. 3, 51(4); S.I. 2023/1194, reg. 2(a)