Plea Negotiations and Agreements Act, 2010

This section gives the Act’s short title and says it starts on a date appointed by the Minister by statutory instrument.

This section defines key terms used in the provision, including court, legal practitioner, plea agreement, plea negotiation, public prosecutor, and victim.

An accused person may plead guilty without entering plea negotiations or a plea agreement. The public prosecutor’s powers are preserved, unless expressly agreed otherwise in a plea agreement.

Section heading: Declaration of certain existing rights in Part II (Plea Negotiations).

A public prosecutor or an accused person may enter into plea negotiations before judgment, subject to the Act and section six.

This extract begins a rule about the powers of a public prosecutor, but the actual powers are not shown here.

The public prosecutor must notify the court that a plea agreement exists.

This section is titled “Victim to be informed of plea agreement.”

This section concerns the matters a court considers before accepting a plea agreement.

Section 12 concerns a court’s refusal to accept a plea agreement.

An accepted plea agreement forms part of the record.

This section concerns the admissibility of plea agreements and related matters.

This section concerns the sealing of records of plea negotiations.

This section is titled “Grant of legal aid.”

The text says copies of the Act can be obtained from the Government Printer for K5000 each, and includes a fragment about plea negotiations allowing withdrawal of the original charge or acceptance of a plea to a lesser offence.

Before any plea negotiation, a public prosecutor must tell the accused person about the right to a lawyer of choice and the right to apply for legal aid. Negotiations must go through the accused person's legal representative.

The Agreement must include specified court, case, counsel, accused, and document details, and certain documents may need to be attached.

The provision lists rights of the accused person that must be explained and may be waived.

This provision states that the Agreement’s provisions are not binding on the court.

The accused person has the right under the Agreement to keep a plea of not guilty.

This section concerns the accused person’s obligations under the Agreement.

Section heading: the State’s obligations under the Agreement.

The State may prosecute the accused person for other unlawful conduct not covered by the Agreement, conduct not already acquitted or convicted, and unlawful conduct occurring after the Agreement date.

The Director of Public Prosecutions may discontinue criminal proceedings before judgment if it is considered desirable.

Section heading: grounds on which an accused person may withdraw from the Agreement.

This section concerns the consequences of breaching the Agreement.

This section concerns provisions relating to a right of appeal.

The Agreement applies only to the offence charged against the accused person and does not affect other proceedings not expressly mentioned in it.

The Agreement becomes effective only after it is signed by the accused person, the accused person's legal counsel, and the public prosecutor before a court.

This provision contains a statement for an accused person to sign confirming a guilty plea, consultation with legal counsel, and understanding of the agreement and its consequences.

A legal practitioner signing this statement says they have read and discussed the agreement with the accused person and advised them about their rights, possible defences, penalties, and the consequences of entering the agreement.

A statement must indicate whether the accused person communicated with a prosecutor through an interpreter; if so, an interpreter’s certificate on the accuracy of the interpretation must be attached to the agreement.

The Director of Public Prosecutions may consider whether other provisions are necessary or desirable.

A plea agreement brought before a court must be in writing, include the Schedule information, and be signed in each other's presence by the public prosecutor, the accused person, and the accused person's legal representative.

A public prosecutor must tell the victim about a plea agreement and its reasons, and the victim may be present when the court considers it.

A prosecutor must inform the court when a plea agreement exists, and the court may question the accused person about that agreement if needed.

A court does not have to accept a plea agreement, unless refusing it would go against the interests of justice and public interest.

Before accepting a plea agreement, a court must make certain findings in open court.

If the court rejects a plea agreement, it must refuse it, notify the public prosecutor with reasons, and try the accused on the original charge.

If a court accepts a plea agreement, the accused person must be asked to plead to the new charge.

If a plea agreement has been accepted by the court, its contents must be entered on the record, subject to section 17.

The court may let an accused person withdraw from a plea agreement or appeal a conviction based on it before sentence, and a public prosecutor may withdraw from a plea agreement before sentence in certain cases.

Certain plea-related statements and withdrawn guilty pleas are not admissible against an accused person in civil or criminal proceedings.

The court may order plea negotiation or plea agreement records sealed if someone applies and the court is satisfied that sealing serves the effective administration of justice.

People exercising functions under the Act must keep plea-agreement information confidential, and further disclosure by covered persons can be an offence.

Legal aid may be granted to people detained in custody settings or to an accused person for plea negotiations; the Minister may also make regulations and amend the Schedule by statutory instrument.