{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-scotland-act-1995/section-7B",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-scotland-act-1995/section-7B.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1995/46",
  "legislation_title": "Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-scotland-act-1995",
  "path": "section/7B",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "7B",
  "heading": "National jurisdiction for cases in a JP court after failure to appear",
  "text": "(1) This section applies where—\n(a) a calling of proceedings has come before a JP court by virtue of section 7A(1), and\n(b) the proceedings are in respect of an accused person’s failure to attend a diet in criminal proceedings (“the principal proceedings”).\n(2) The principal proceedings may be dealt with—\n(a) in the same JP court, and\n(b) by a justice of the peace, summary sheriff or sheriff of any sheriffdom,\nunless, and until the end of the diet at which, a plea of not guilty is rejected.\n(3) Despite subsection (2), the court may pass a sentence or otherwise dispose of the principal proceedings only where—\n(a) evidence has not been led in the principal proceedings, or\n(b) the court considers that for it to pass a sentence or otherwise dispose of the case would be in the interests of justice.\n(4) For the purposes of subsection (2), a plea of not guilty is rejected where—\n(a) the accused person—\n(i) tenders a plea of not guilty, or\n(ii) confirms that the person is adhering to a previously tendered plea of not guilty, and\n(b) that plea is not accepted by the procurator fiscal.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ss. 7A-7D inserted (26.2.2026) by Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025 (asp 14), ss. 9(3), 34(4); S.S.I. 2026/85, reg. 2(1)(2), sch."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/46/section/7B",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-05T03:43:46.035735+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}