South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts62B—Powers of court on written plea of guilty
(1) Where a defendant
fails to appear in obedience to the summons but serves a form pleading guilty
which complies with section 57A, the court shall not have power to issue
a warrant for the apprehension of the defendant, on the ground of
non-appearance, but may upon proof of service of the complaint and summons and
upon production of the form duly completed, convict, and subject to this
section, adjudicate thereon as fully and effectually to all intents and
purposes as if the defendant had personally appeared before it in obedience to
the summons and had pleaded guilty and made the same submissions as to penalty
as are set out in the form.
(2) Where the
completed form is apparently a genuine document purporting to be signed by the
defendant before a justice of the peace, or a solicitor, or a police officer,
proof of any of the signatures, or of the official capacity of any witness of
the defendant's signature, shall not be required and the court may receive and
act upon such document.
(3) The prosecutor may
recite to the court any relevant matters alleged against the defendant in the
same way as if the defendant had personally appeared and pleaded guilty.
(4) Nothing herein
contained shall prejudice any application by a defendant to withdraw his plea
of guilty at any time prior to the hearing and determination of the complaint
made against him and the court before whom the defendant appears to answer the
complaint may permit a withdrawal of the plea upon such terms as may be just.
(5) Where a defendant
in a form under section 57A states matters which, if true, would indicate
that he has a valid defence to the complaint, or which differ substantially in
relevant particulars from the matters recited to the court by the prosecutor,
the court may strike out the plea of guilty, adjourn the hearing of the
complaint to a time and place appointed and order that the defendant be served
with a summons as provided by section 57. Thereupon the complaint shall
be dealt with as though the previous summons had not been issued, and the
provisions of this section and section 57A shall no longer apply.
(6) Where a defendant
who has served a form pleading guilty which complies with section 57A, is
convicted, the court shall not—
(a)
impose any sentence of imprisonment on the defendant; or
(b)
disqualify the defendant from holding or obtaining a licence to drive a motor
vehicle, unless the procedure prescribed in section 62C is followed; or
(c)
treat the offence as other than a first offence unless the complainant proves
that the defendant has been previously convicted; or
(e)
subject to subsection (7) hereof, order the defendant to pay witness
fees.
(7) Where a defendant
serves a form pleading guilty which complies with the provisions of
section 57A with one exception, namely that the form is served less than
three clear days before the date of hearing, the form shall be deemed to
comply with section 57A, and the provisions of this section shall apply,
except that the court may order the defendant to pay witness fees.
(8) Where a defendant
is convicted under this section, the Principal Registrar must forthwith,
either personally or by post, give the defendant written notice of the
conviction and of any fine or other monetary sum to be paid and of the time
and manner of payment. Service by post under this section may be effected by
notice addressed to the defendant at the address shown on the form pleading
guilty and shall be deemed to be effected at the time at which such notice
would in the ordinary course of post be delivered at the address of the
defendant.