# The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, Rule 9.2: Exercise of magistrates’ court’s powers

Extent: E+W

(1) This rule applies to the exercise of a magistrates’ court’s powers to which this Part applies.
(2) The general rule is that the court must exercise its powers at a hearing in public, but it may exercise any power it has to—
(a) withhold information from the public; or
(b) order a hearing in private.
(3) The general rule is that the court must exercise its powers in the defendant’s presence, but it may exercise the powers to which the following rules apply in the defendant’s absence on the conditions specified—
(a) where rule 9.7 (Sending for Crown Court trial) applies, if the defendant is represented;
(b) where rule 9.8 (Adult defendant: request for plea), rule 9.9 (Adult defendant: guilty plea) or rule 9.13 (Young defendant) applies, if—
(i) the defendant is represented, and
(ii) the defendant’s disorderly conduct makes his or her presence in the courtroom impracticable;
(c) where rule 9.10 (Adult defendant: not guilty plea) or rule 9.11 (Adult defendant: allocation for magistrates’ court trial) applies, if—
(i) the defendant is represented and waives the right to be present, or
(ii) the defendant’s disorderly conduct makes his or her presence in the courtroom impracticable; and
(d) where rule 9.15 (Committal for sentence for offence related to an offence sent for trial) applies, unless—
(i) it appears to the court to be contrary to the interests of justice to do so, and
(ii) the court considers that there is an acceptable reason for the defendant’s absence.
(4) The court may exercise its power to adjourn—
(a) if either party asks; or
(b) on its own initiative.
(5) Where the court on the same occasion deals with two or more offences alleged against the same defendant, the court must deal with those offences in the following sequence—
(a) any to which rule 9.6 applies (Prosecutor’s notice requiring Crown Court trial);
(b) any to which rule 9.7 applies (sending for Crown Court trial, without allocation there), in this sequence—
(i) any the court must send for trial, then
(ii) any the court can send for trial; and
(c) any to which rule 9.14 applies (Allocation and sending for Crown Court trial).
(6) Where the court on the same occasion deals with two or more defendants charged jointly with an offence that can be tried in the Crown Court then in the following sequence—
(a) the court must explain, in terms each defendant can understand (with help, if necessary), that if the court sends one of them to the Crown Court for trial then the court must send for trial in the Crown Court, too, any other of them—
(i) who is charged with the same offence as the defendant sent for trial, or with an offence which the court decides is related to that offence,
(ii) who does not wish to plead guilty to each offence with which he or she is charged, and
(iii) (if that other defendant is under 18, and the court would not otherwise have sent him or her for Crown Court trial) where the court decides that sending is necessary in the interests of justice
even if the court by then has decided to allocate that other defendant for magistrates’ court trial; and
(b) the court may ask the defendants questions to help it decide in what order to deal with them.
(7) After following paragraph (5), if it applies, where the court on the same occasion—
(a) deals with two or more defendants charged jointly with an offence that can be tried in the Crown Court;
(b) allocates any of them to a magistrates’ court for trial; and
(c) then sends another one of them to the Crown Court for trial,
the court must deal again with each one whom, on that occasion, it has allocated for magistrates’ court trial.
[Note. See sections 50A, 51, 51A and 52 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and sections 17A, 17B, 17C, 18, 23, 24A, 24B and 24C of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
Under sections 57A to 57E of the 1998 Act, the court may require a defendant to attend by live link a hearing to which this Part applies.
Where a defendant waives the right to be present then the court may nonetheless require his or her attendance by summons or warrant: see section 26 of the 1980 Act.
Under section 52A of the 1998 Act, reporting restrictions apply to the proceedings to which rules 9.6 to 9.14 apply.
Part 46 contains rules allowing a representative to act on a defendant’s behalf for the purposes of these Rules.
Part 3 contains rules about the court’s powers of case management.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/9.2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-9.2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.