Western Australian Numbered Acts Western Australian Numbered Acts (1) This section
applies if on a court date for a charge the prosecutor appears and the accused
does not and the accused has not pleaded guilty to the charge, whether orally
or by means of a written plea.
(2) If on the court
date the court is satisfied that the accused has been served under this Part
with the prosecution notice containing the charge and either a summons, a
court hearing notice, or an approved notice, notifying the accused of the
court date, the court may —
(a)
adjourn the charge; or
(b) hear
and determine the charge in the accused’s absence.
(3) If the court
adjourns the charge, the court may exercise any of its powers in
section 139 or 155 in order to compel the accused to appear on the
new court date.
(4) If under
subsection (2) or section 51(8)(a) the court decides to hear and
determine the charge in the accused’s absence and the prosecution notice
is signed by a person who in the notice purports to be an authorised
investigator, the court —
(a) must
presume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary —
(i)
that the prosecution notice was signed by an authorised
investigator who was acting in the course of his or her duties as such; and
(ii)
that the authorised investigator had the authority to
sign the prosecution notice;
and
(b) may
take as proved any allegation in the prosecution notice containing the charge
that was served on the accused.
(5) If under
subsection (4) the court convicts the accused —
(a) the
prosecutor must state aloud to the court the material facts of the charge;
(b)
section 129(4) applies; and
(c) in
the absence of evidence to the contrary, the court must take as proved any
facts so stated.