10. When a defendant says they are guilty
Defendants who do a crime can tell the truth and say they did it.
This is called 'pleading guilty'.
Defendants may want to plead guilty to some of the charges against them, but not all of them.
Or they may want to plead guilty to a different charge because they say they only did part of the crime.
Should the prosecutor accept the guilty plea?
Prosecutors should only accept the guilty plea if they think the court can still give a sentence that matches the crime.
Prosecutors must never accept a guilty plea just because it makes life easier.
Prosecutors should think about the views of the victim and the victim's family but, in the end, it is the prosecutor's decision.
Things the prosecutor must look out for
Prosecutors should tell the court why they have agreed to the guilty plea.
If the defendant says the facts are different to what the prosecutor is saying, then the court can listen to all the evidence. The court will then give a sentence.
Sometimes a defendant agrees to tell the court about a past crime and then changes their mind. If this happens, the prosecutor can decide to charge the defendant for that past crime.
Prosecutors must be very careful when accepting a guilty plea about a crime if this would allow the defendant to avoid a compulsory minimum sentence or a certain order being made.
More guidance
There is more guidance to help prosecutors decide about guilty pleas.
The guidance is called the Attorney General's Guidelines on the Acceptance of Pleas and the Prosecutor's Role in the Sentencing Exercise.
Difficult words
- Charge/ Charging
The charge is the name of the crime that someone does and the law that makes it wrong. The prosecutor normally decides what to charge someone with after the police have arrested them.- Compulsory Minimum Sentence
The law sets the lowest possible sentence for some serious crimes. The judge has to follow this and can't give a sentence less than the compulsory minimum sentence.- Defendant
A defendant is someone who has been charged with a crime.- Guilty/ Guilty Plea/ Guilty Verdict
Someone is guilty if they do a crime. Sometimes people say they did the crime - this is called a 'confession'. If they say this in court it is called a 'guilty plea'. If a jury or a magistrate finds the defendant guilty in court, this is called a 'guilty verdict'.
