Guide to Courts

We have various information on different aspects of going to Court on our website and would re-direct you as follows:

For information on specific offences please go to our “Offence Guides“;

If you are looking for information in relation to the court you are to attend then please click the following link to go to the Court Service website ‘CourtFinder‘ page.

If you have already been to Court and wish to appeal a decision then please go to our appeals guide.

The most important thing about a case is preparation. The following are important guidelines:

DO…

• Treat the police and the Court with respect.
• Speak to a lawyer as soon as possible after receiving a notice of intended prosecution to enable them to help you fully. Delay and you may find yourself convicted when this could have been avoided or punished more harshly.
• Make sure that you will have a properly instructed representative at Court who will show up 30 minutes in advance of the hearing time to have a proper discussion with you before going into Court and arguing your case.
• Dress smartly when going to Court, to show you take the matter seriously.
• Ring the Court if you are running late to let them know.

DO NOT…

• Turn up at Court late, looking scruffy or without the right paperwork. Your approach affects their perceptions of you and the wrong paperwork could mean you have to pay additional costs or a worst case scenario would be either immediate prison or a refusal of an adjournment, meaning you would be convicted.
• Think that you can show up at Court, have a 2 minute conversation with your lawyer and then expect them to be able to do the best job possible. Sometimes even lawyers have to check the law and the evidence!
• Assume that you are entitled to Legal Aid or that you can get a lawyer when you turn up at Court.
• Fail to attend or ring if you are running late. They have a serious sense of humour failure and may send a police officer round to lock you up.

Read our Offence Guides if you are going to court for speeding or going to court for drink driving