| 释义 |
absence
n. (in court procedure) The nonappearance of a party to litigation or a person summoned to attend as a witness. Part 39 of the Civil Procedure Rules sets out the consequences of a party’s failure to attend the trial in civil proceedings. In criminal proceedings a summary trial may take place in the absence of the accused or in the absence of the prosecutor under the Magistrate Courts Act 1980. A Crown Court judge’s discretion to commence a trial on indictment in the absence of the accused should be exercised with the utmost care and caution (R v Jones [2002] UKHL 5, [2003] 1 AC 1). |