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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Procedure before trial - Pleas - Entering plea

42: Defendant may change plea of not guilty

You could also call this:

"You can change your 'not guilty' plea to 'guilty' in court if you want to."

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you are a defendant and you have already pleaded not guilty, you can ask to go to court to change your plea. You can change your plea to guilty or to a special plea, which is a different type of plea related to the charge against you. The court will then deal with your new plea.

When you go to court to change your plea, the court will make sure you understand the charge against you. If you do not have a lawyer, the court will read out the charge to you. You will then be asked to say what your new plea is.

You can find more information about this by looking at the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 and similar laws, such as the one from 1957 No 87.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3865723.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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41: Defendant who refuses or fails to plead under section 39 or 49(3), or

"What happens if you don't say if you're guilty or not guilty in court"

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43: Procedure if defendant indicates intention to plead guilty but does not do so, or

"What happens if you say you'll plead guilty but then don't"

Part 3Procedure before trial
Pleas: Entering plea

42Defendant may change plea of not guilty

  1. A defendant may ask to be brought before the court (or, if the defendant is at that time before the court, ask to be permitted) to change a plea of not guilty to a plea of guilty or to a special plea to the offence with which he or she is charged.

  2. When the defendant attends before a court for the purposes of this section,—

  3. if the defendant is not represented by a lawyer, the substance of the charge must be read to the defendant; and
    1. the defendant must be called on to plead.

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