Editing Plea (section)

== United Kingdom ==

=== "Unambiguous plea" ===
A defendant who enters a plea of guilty must do so unequivocally. A guilty plea which is "imperfect, unfinished or otherwise ambiguous"<ref>R v Ingleson [1915] 1 KB 512</ref> will not legitimate and should the court proceed to sentence on such a plea, there exist grounds for ordering a retrial or quashing the conviction.

In ''R v Atkinson'',<ref>R v Atkinson [2021] EWCA Crim 153</ref> the Court of Appeal held that, where a defendant entered a plea of 'Guilty, but I intended to defend myself' this could be held to be an unequivocal plea where the judge had clarified any ambiguity before accepting the plea.

=== Special pleas ===
Three special pleas (though not in the strictest sense of the word) exist in the criminal courts of England and Wales:

Demurrer: Which is an "objection to the form or substance of the indictment".<ref>R v Inner London Quarter Sessions Ex p/ Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [1970] 2 QB 80</ref> It is essentially no different than a motion to quash the indictment, however, it continues to exist in law. Unlike standard pleas, this must be entered in writing in advance of the [[arraignment]].

Plea to jurisdiction:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1348477920 |title=BLACKSTONE'S CRIMINAL PRACTICE 2023. |date=2023 |publisher=OXFORD UNIV PRESS US |isbn=978-0-19-287029-2 |location=[S.l.] |pages=D12.52 |oclc=1348477920}}</ref> Can be entered where the defendant believes the [[Crown Court]] does not have the power to hear the case before it, such a plea is usually entered where the offence being charged is [[Summary offence|summary only]]. Similarly to Demurrer, this plea must be entered in writing in advance.

Pardon:  "It may be relied on where a pardon has been granted by the Crown on the advice of the [[Home Secretary]] in exercise of the [[royal prerogative]] of [[Royal prerogative of mercy|mercy]]. It must be pleaded at the first opportunity (i.e. before arraignment if the pardon has by then been granted). In modern times, the plea has become obsolete."<ref name=":0" />