As a last resort you may be issued with a witness summons, which means you are legally required to go to court. If you are unable to persuade your employer to give you time off you should let the PPS or defence know as soon as possible. You can show your employer the letter that you received from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) or defence solicitor as proof that you are required to go to court. It is not your choice whether to go to court or not so your employer should normally give you time off work. If you are worried about getting time off work to go to court you should let your employer know with as much notice as possible. If you are ill and your illness stops you from going to court you should also get a medical certificate from your GP. If you are not able to go to court on the date given, you must let the person who asked you to come to court know as soon as possible. Although this may be inconvenient, you will be expected to go to court as it is very difficult to change court dates. You should receive enough notice of the date of the trial, but there may be times when this is not possible and only short notice can be given. what facilities are available at the courtįind contact details for the Courts Service and courthouses across Northern Ireland.Once the court has fixed the trial date you will be advised in writing of: In the Crown Court, a jury of men and women (up to 12 members of the public) decide if the defendant is guilty. In a magistrates’ court or youth court (for defendants aged 17 and under), the District Judge listens to the evidence and decides if the defendant is guilty.Īlthough many cases are dealt with by a magistrates’ court or youth court, the more serious cases are usually sent to a Crown Court for hearing. Magistrates’ courts hear and decide on less serious criminal cases, cases involving young people and some civil and domestic cases. If the case does go to court and you're required to give evidence, you will be contacted. In such cases, the court will need to hear evidence from witnesses in order to decide if the defendant is guilty or not. On some occasions your evidence will be agreed by both the prosecution and the defence, which means that your statement will be read out in court without you having to give evidence.Ī defendant may plead not guilty, or plead guilty, but deny an important part of the offence, which would make a difference to the sentence they could receive. If the defendant pleads guilty to the offence you will not have to go to court or give evidence. It may be some time before you know whether you'll need to go to court, as cases can take a long time to prepare. If you report a crime to the police you will be asked to give a statement about what happened which may be used as evidence in court.
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