Being charged in court
When you are charged in Court, a charge setting out the offence alleged to be committed by you will be read or interpreted to you. The charge must contain sufficient details of the date, time, place, names of the victims and/or the property involved in the offence alleged.

Each offence will be listed as a separate charge. You can be charged with more than one offence. One or more persons can also be charged together with you if they are accused of the same offence. However, separate charges may be preferred against you.

You must tell the Court if the charge is not clear to you. If you need an interpreter, ask for one.

After the charge is read and explained to you, you will be asked how you wish to plead to the charge, for example, "Do you wish to plead guilty?" (i.e. admit to the charge) or "Do you wish to claim trial?" (i.e. contest the charge).

Adjournment
If you are unable to decide whether to plead guilty or claim trial to the charge, or you wish to consult or be represented by a lawyer, you can request for a short adjournment.

When in doubt, always consult a lawyer. You may be required to furnish Court bail during the adjournment. proceedings in court.

Pleading guilty
If you plead guilty to the charge, you must admit fully the offence alleged to have been committed by you. You must also understand the nature and the consequences of your plea i.e. you must be aware of the minimum and maximum punishments you face under the charge and be prepared to accept whatever punishment the Court may give.

The Prosecutor will then ask that the Statement of Facts be read to you. If you do not agree with what is stated in the Statement of Facts, you must tell the Court. The Court will ask you whether you disagree with the Statement of Facts totally or in part. If you disagree with the Statement of Facts (unless what you disagree with is not important), the Court will not accept your plea of guilt and will direct you to claim trial to the charge.

Previous convictions
After you have pleaded guilty to the charge and admitted the Statement of Facts, the Prosecutor will tell the Court if you have any previous convictions. You will be asked whether you admit to those convictions. Those convictions may be considered by the Court when sentencing you.

Mitigation
You will then be asked by the Court if you wish to state any facts or circumstances to explain the reason/s why you committed the offence and why the Court should be lenient to you. For example; family background, education, medical background, employment, recovery of all or some of the property and compensation given to the victim.

Victim Impact Statement
Before the Court decides on a sentence, the Prosecutor may apply to read to the Court a Victim Impact Statement. This is a recently introduced procedure by which the Court may assess the effect of the offences on the victim and then considers an appropriate sentence.

Claiming trial
If you decide to claim trial to the charge, the Court will set aside a date for trial. Your trial may be fixed in another Court on a separate occasion. You may be required to furnish Court bail to ensure your attendance in Court. (Please see ARREST & BAIL.)

On the day of the trial, you may be required by the Court to state your defence after the Prosecution has completed its case against you. If you are unable to do so, you will be found guilty and convicted.

If you are able to raise a reasonable doubt in the Prosecution's case, then you will be acquitted and released immediately.

Appeal
If you are not satisfied either with your sentence or conviction or both, you can file an appeal to the High Court. You have 10 days from the date of the conviction or sentence to file the appeal.

As a general rule, if you have already pleaded guilty to the charge, you can only appeal against the sentence.

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