Section 122A of the Justices Act (NT) requires a prospective assessment of questions of law 'likely to arise at the trial'; once a summary trial has commenced, the actual emergence of difficult questions of law during the trial does not retrospectively deprive the Magistrate of jurisdiction. The question whether a Magistrate may lose jurisdiction mid-trial on other s 122A grounds (such as seriousness or other relevant circumstances) was expressly left open.
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