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Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015

Section 49: Trial by single justice on the papers: sentencing etc

458.Section 49 amends the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 to specify the range of sentencing powers available to a single justice acting under this procedure, and also provides for a single magistrate to have the power to make certain ancillary orders to enable them to effectively deal with all the cases in scope. These powers enable a single justice to deal with summary-only non-imprisonable offences in a similar way to a traditional bench of magistrates dealing with a prosecution instituted by a written charge and requisition. This includes the ability to: endorse a driving licence; disqualify a driver, and order compensation to be paid to a victim.

459.The new powers will also include the imposition of a fine (without regard to limit), for example to allow a single magistrate to impose the appropriate level of financial penalty for speeding, as guided by existing sentencing guidelines about taking into consideration an offender’s financial means.

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