{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/standing-civilian-courts-order-1997/article-42",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/standing-civilian-courts-order-1997/article-42.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1997/172",
  "legislation_title": "The Standing Civilian Courts Order 1997",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/standing-civilian-courts-order-1997",
  "path": "article/42",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "42",
  "heading": "Guilty plea",
  "text": "(1) If an accused pleads guilty to a charge, the court may, if it appears necessary to the magistrate and before the court decides to accept the plea, explain to the accused—\n(a) the nature of the charge;\n(b) the general effect of the plea; and\n(c) the difference in procedure following pleas of guilty and not guilty.\n(2) The court shall not accept a plea of guilty if, having regard to all the circumstances, it considers that it should not accept the plea.\n(3) Where a plea of guilty is not accepted by the court, the court shall enter a plea of not guilty.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/172/article/42",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T12:27:04.339831+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."
}