Commencing criminal proceedings—written charge and requisition or single justice procedure notice


Published by a ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ Corporate Crime expert
Practice notes

Commencing criminal proceedings—written charge and requisition or single justice procedure notice


Published by a ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes
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All criminal cases begin in the magistrates' court regardless of the seriousness of the offence. There are, however, a number of ways of commencing criminal proceedings in England and Wales:

  1. •

    the defendant may be arrested and charged by the police and brought before a magistrates’ court

  2. •

    the prosecution can apply to the magistrates’ court for the issue of a summons (also called ‘laying an information’) requiring the defendant to attend court on a specified date and time

  3. •

    a relevant prosecutor may issue a written charge together with a requisition requiring the defendant to attend court on a specified date and time

  4. •

    a relevant prosecutor may issue a written charge together with a single justice procedure notice requiring the defendant to indicate a plea and if guilty, consent to the disposal of the case by use of the single justice procedure on the papers

This Practice Note explains the procedure which must be followed to commence a criminal prosecution by way of written charge and requisition

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Written charge definition
What does Written charge mean?

A document, issued by a public prosecutor under section 29 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which institutes criminal proceedings by charging a person with an offence.

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