10. Plea

Abstract

This chapter examines the law and practice on plea negotiation. After looking at the percentage of defendants who plead guilty, it then considers some of the principal reasons for changes of plea, looking at charge bargains (where the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for the prosecution reducing the level of the charge or the number of charges); at fact bargains (where the defendant agrees to plead guilty only on the basis that the prosecution will put forward a particular version of the facts); and at plea negotiation (where the change of plea is motivated by considerations of sentence). The tendencies evident in the English system are then evaluated in the light of defendants’ rights and the supposed advantages to the public.