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Section 23: Power of court, with consent of legally represented accused, to proceed in his absence.

Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 · 1980 c. 43View on legislation.gov.uk

Part I: Criminal Jurisdiction and Procedure

Where—

the accused is represented by a legal representativewho in his absence signifies to the court the accused's consent to the proceedings for determining how he is to be tried for the offence being conducted in his absence; and
the court is satisfied that there is good reason for proceeding in the absence of the accused,

the following provisions of this section shall apply.

Subject to the following provisions of this section, the court may proceed in the absence of the accused in accordance with such of the provisions of sections 19 to 22 above as are applicable in the circumstances.

If, in a case where subsection (1) of section 22 above applies, it appears to the court as mentioned in subsection (4) of that section, subsections (5) and (6) of that section shall not apply and the court—

if the accused's consent to be tried summarily has been or is signified by the person representing him, shall proceed in accordance with subsection (2) of that section as if that subsection applied; or
if that consent has not been and is not so signified, shall proceed in accordance with subsection (3) of that section as if that subsection applied.

If the court decides under section 19 above that the offence appears to it more suitable for for summary trial then—

if the accused's consent to be tried summarily has been or is signified by the person representing him, section 20 above shall not apply, and the court shall proceed to the summary trial of the information; or
if that consent has not been and is not so signified, section 20 above shall not apply and the court shall proceed in relation to the offence in accordance with section 51(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

If the court decides under section 19 above that the offence appears to it more suitable for trial on indictment, section 21 above shall not apply and the court shall proceed in relation to the offence in accordance with section 51(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.