The first priority is the representation of people in custody who have been recently arrested and who wish to apply for bail. They have usually been arrested that day, or the day/night or weekend before they are brought to the Court. This category of people requiring assistance is referred to as overnight arrests or overnight custodies [see Bail chapter].

Another category of people in custody who require assistance are those who have previously appeared on the matter(s) now before the Court but who have remained in custody and are unrepresented.

When people who are in custody appear before the Court, the court file is endorsed with DAXC for defendant appears ex-custody.

These defendants usually need the help of the duty solicitor to:

The second priority is representing people who are not in custody but need help to apply for a remand/adjournment or to enter a plea of guilty in a simple matter [see Guilty Pleas and Sentencing chapters]. Considerations relevant to the duty solicitor deciding whether to assist such a person are discussed in more detail later in this chapter (see below).

The third and last priority is advising people who are not in custody and are to appear in court that day. The people to help in this category are:

Unrepresented defendants generally

These defendants often need advice as to:

Unrepresented defendants who are able to conduct their own guilty plea

These defendants need the assistance described above for unrepresented defendants generally, as well as advice about court procedures and the material they should put to the Magistrate in mitigation of penalty [see Guilty Pleas and Sentencing chapters].