Proceedings in absence of defendant
62C Proceedings in absence of defendant
If a defendant fails to appear in obedience to a summons and is convicted (whether on a plea of guilty under section 57A or after a hearing in the defendant's absence)—
the
Magistrates Court may not disqualify the defendant from holding or obtaining a licence to drive a motor vehicle unless—
the summons was given personally to the defendant; or
the
Court has first adjourned the hearing to a specified time and place in order to enable the defendant to appear for the purpose of making submissions on the question of penalty; and
the
Court must not sentence the defendant to imprisonment unless the
Court has first adjourned the hearing to a specified time and place in order to enable the defendant to appear for the purpose of making submissions on the question of penalty.
The
Registrar must, as soon as practicable after an adjournment under subsection (1)(a)(ii) or (b), give written notice to the defendant on the form prescribed by the rules, informing the defendant of the purpose for which the hearing was adjourned and of the defendant's right to be heard at the adjourned hearing.
If at the time and place so appointed—
the defendant appears; or
the defendant fails to appear and it is proved that the notice in writing was served on the defendant, the
Magistrates Court may, according to the circumstances, order that the defendant be imprisoned or disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence to drive a motor vehicle, or both.
If it appears to the Magistrates Court that, after making due inquiry and exercising reasonable diligence, the Registrar was unable to give a defendant the notice referred to in subsection (2), the Court may, despite any other provision of this section, proceed to determine the question of penalty and make an order as fully and effectually as if the defendant had been duly given the notice.
The contents of a notice may be proved by the production of a document purporting to be a copy of the notice certified by the Registrar to the effect that the document is a true copy of the notice served on the defendant in the manner or at the address, and on the day stated, in the certificate.
If a hearing is adjourned under subsection (1), the Magistrates Court need not be constituted at the adjourned hearing of the same judicial officer as ordered the adjournment.
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