Applications to Vacate Trial Dates
The implementation at Manchester City Magistrates Court of the Standard Operating Procedure relating to applications to vacate trial dates, requires the defence solicitors to be informed of the following:-
1) Any application / response to vacate a trial date should be in writing to the court.
2) Any defence application to vacate a trial date should also be forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service for them to respond to.
3) Any CPS application to vacate a trial date received by the defence, should be responded to in writing to the court.
4) The application / response should address the issues identified in the guidance on vacating trials, and also to prompt the Legal Adviser exercising their judicial powers or the court considering the application, to address those issues in their decision.
5) The application should also enclose availability of the defence solicitor, defendant and defence witnesses. This is because if the trial date is vacated by the Legal Adviser exercising their judicial powers without a court hearing, he/she will then go on to relist the trial date if deemed appropriate.
6) If the application is one which is not dealt with by the Legal Adviser exercising their judicial powers, it will be listed for a hearing in court. The defence solicitor will be notified of the hearing date which is when they should attend court in relation to the application to vacate the trial date.