What to Expect at a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing

Preparation for the hearing

Before the hearing takes place, your legal team are required to complete a Plea and Trial Preparation form which requires us to inform the court of the defence, whether that be consent, reasonable belief in age or that the defendant disputes the whole case. This means we must spend time with you thoroughly going through what we know about the case at this early stage, your response to the allegations and your personal background. 

We are also required to gain access to the Crown Court Digital Case System to enable us to register as your legal team, and to see what documentation has been uploaded and to assess whether we are required to respond to any CPS or court requests prior to the hearing. 

You would also be represented by a specialist barrister at the Crown Court. We would be responsible for fully briefing your barrister and ensuring they are aware of the case and your personal background before the hearing. 

Entering Your Plea

Proceedings will usually begin with the defendant being ‘arraigned’. This means they will be asked how they plead in relation to the allegations made against them, this can be guilty or not guilty. The Court clerk will read the charges from a document referred to as the indictment. This is a formal document prepared for a case proceeding to trial in the Crown Court. The indictment lists the offences and the particulars of the offence which is a description of the offence, it will also include the dates on which the offence is alleged to have taken place, or a range of dates if one particular date has not been able to be established. The defendant will confirm their name and enter their plea to each charge, similar to what took place in the Magistrates Court. 

Time Tabling of the Case

The defendant will not be required to speak again during the hearing, but important matters will be discussed between the barristers and judge. 

The judge will confirm a date for trial which is often many months in advance some cases are now taking 12-18 months to reach trial.  

The judge will then direct for the parties to meet deadlines by way of service of material by certain dates, referred to as stage dates. There are usually at least 3 stage dates, sometimes 4. 

Stage 1

This is a stage whereby the prosecution are required to serve all material they are relying on to bring the case to court. It also includes unused material; this is material gathered during the investigation which the CPS are not relying on but must provide the defence with a list detailing it in the event the defence find it helpful for their case. 

Stage 1 can also include any applications for special measures that the CPS may want to make for their witnesses, including the complainant. Special measures can include screens for when a witness is giving evidence, evidence via a live link or for evidence to be given by the complainant via a section 28 hearing. 

Stage 2 

The defence must respond by way of a Defence Case Statement to the evidence served in stage 1. A Defence Case Statement is a mandatory document for a Crown Court trial and its purpose is to outline the defence case, raise issues that the defendant takes with the prosecution case and to also make requests for disclosure which may not have yet been provided. 

The defence will also be required to respond to any applications the CPS may have made as part of stage 1. 

Stage 3 

Stage 3 requires the CPS to respond to stage This may include disclosure of further material, or they may explain why they will not be disclosing material that the defence have requested. 

The judge may also include within the timetable dates for Case Management Hearings or Pre Trial Reviews, particularly where trial is a long way off and there is the requirement to appropriately manage the preparation and that parties are going to be ready for trial. 

Bail

Once case time tabling has completed, unless there are further matters that require input from the judge, the defendant will be released on bail, usually with conditions such as not to contact prosecution witnesses, to abide by a curfew or to not go within a certain area. 

If the defendant has been brought to court on remand, which means from prison then the judge can remand the defendant back to prison to wait for their trial, or their legal representative may make an application for bail. If bail is granted the defendant will be released from custody. 

It is important to be aware that if a defendant is remanded into custody to wait for their trial, then custody time limits will apply which means their trial must be heard within 182 days from the date they appeared before the Magistrates Court, or 182 days from when the case was sent to the Crown Court.