Help if you are going to court as a defendant

Judge sitting at a desk writing with books and a gavel in the foreground.

Help if you are going to court as a defendant

Supporting you if you must go to court because you are accused of a crime.

A defendant is "a person in a law case who is accused of having done something illegal". This is the definition from the Cambridge Dictionary.

Court appearances

If you need to attend court, you can ask for a duty solicitor. To arrange this, speak to the usher when you arrive at court. Your personal advisor (PA) will attend court with you if they can.

GOV.UK has more information about what to expect when you are going to court.

You can also find out about:

  • which courts deal with different types of cases
  • sentencing guidelines

You can see this on The Sentencing Council website.

Probation

There are probation officers based in court. Depending on the outcome and instruction of the judge, they may want to speak to you.

You can find our more about this on our about probation page.