Changing your plea
Can you change your plea?
If you entered a plea of not guilty, you can change your plea to guilty. You do not need the permission of the court to do this.
You can change your plea to guilty any time before or during the hearing, but if you are considering changing your plea, get
legal advice as soon as possible.
You should notify the court and the prosecutor as soon as you can after deciding to change your plea. If you change your plea on the day of the hearing you may be ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution attending the hearing.
For more information, see
Paying costs.
How to change your plea
You should tell the prosecutor or the police officer in charge of your case as soon as possible after you know you want to change your plea to guilty.
You should also tell the court. You can tell the court that you want to change your plea:
- by telling the magistrate when your case is 'in for reply' or mention (if the magistrate set a reply date or further mention), or
- by filing an Application to Vacate a Hearing Date (if the reply date has already passed or no reply date was set), or
- by telling the magistrate on the date of the hearing.
What happens after you change your plea
If you change your plea on the reply date, mention or the hearing date, the magistrate may want to finalise the matter and sentence you on the same day.
If you file an Application to Vacate a Hearing Date, the court may ask you to come to court on a date earlier than the hearing date, to allow you to enter your guilty plea and make submissions to the court.
You should be ready with information that you want the court to consider when sentencing you. For more information, see
Pleading guilty.
How to file an Application to Vacate a Hearing Date
An Application to Vacate a Hearing Date must be filed at least 21 days before the hearing date.
You can get copies of the form from:
Before you apply to vacate a hearing date, you should get
legal advice.