Editing Plea bargain (section)

===England and Wales===
In England and Wales, plea bargaining, in the sense of seeking a particular sentence in exchange for dropping some charges, is not permitted; only the judge or magistrates have the power to determine sentence, and an agreement between the prosecution and defence cannot bind the court. The [[Crown Prosecution Service]] is required to prosecute an offence only where there is a realistic prospect of conviction, so greater charges cannot lawfully be used in bad faith to intimidate the defendant into accepting the charge actually sought.

A defendant is permitted to plead guilty to some charges listed on the charge sheet or indictment and deny others, and the prosecution may agree to accept this plea and drop the denied charges; such an agreement will generally be accepted by the court as it serves the public interest, as well as the defendant's and victims' interests, to avoid the expense and stress of a trial. The defendant may also plead guilty on the basis of accepted facts that may affect sentencing while denying others, but the Sentencing Council stresses that the prosecution should accept such a plea only if it enables the court to impose a sentence and make other ancillary orders that are appropriate for the seriousness of the offence, and never merely for the sake of convenience. The prosecution must also take the victims' views into account.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/code_for_crown_prosecutors/guiltypleas.html |title=Code for Crown Prosecutors – Accepting Guilty Pleas |publisher=Crown Prosecution Service |access-date=2013-11-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828213532/http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/code_for_crown_prosecutors/guiltypleas.html |archive-date=2013-08-28 }}</ref>

In cases before the Crown Court, the defendant can request an indication from the judge of the likely maximum sentence that would be imposed should the defendant decide to plead guilty. Following the rule in ''[[R v Goodyear]]'', it is only appropriate to give such an indication if requested by the defence with the defendant's written authorization; such indication is treated as binding on the court, but only if the defendant actually pleads guilty, and cannot prevent the sentence being [[Criminal Justice Act 1988#Unduly lenient sentences|appealed as unduly lenient]].<ref>{{cite BAILII |litigants=R v Goodyear |year=2005 |court=EWCA |division=Crim |courtname=auto |juris=auto |num=888 |date=19 April 2005 |access-date=2013-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/enforcementguide/court/crown-court.htm |title=At the Crown Court – Court Stage – Enforcement Guide (England & Wales) |publisher=Health and Safety Executive |access-date=2012-07-31 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709015904/http://www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/enforcementguide/court/crown-court.htm |archive-date=2012-07-09 }}</ref>

In the case of [[Hybrid offence|either way offences]], the decision whether to deal with a case in a magistrates' court or the Crown Court is not made by magistrates until after a plea has been entered. A defendant is thus unable to plead guilty in exchange for having a case dealt with in magistrates' court (which has lesser sentencing powers).

Where the defendant pleads guilty or indicates an intention to do so, the guidelines set by the [[Sentencing Council]] typically require that they receive a discount on the sentence, with the amount of discount depending on the timing:
*Indicating a guilty plea at the first opportunity (typically the committal hearing in the magistrates' court): one third
*Pleading guilty at a later hearing in the magistrates' court, or at the first hearing in crown court (typically the plea and case management hearing): one quarter
*Pleading guilty on the first day of trial: one tenth

The discount can sometimes involve changing the type of punishment, such as substituting a prison sentence for [[Community service#Court ordered service|community service]].<ref name="SentencingCouncil"/> For some offences where a mandatory minimum sentence applies, section 73 of the [[Sentencing Act 2020]] permits the sentence to be reduced this way up to 20 percent below the minimum.<ref name="2020c17s73"/>

Section 73 requires the court to take into account the circumstances under which an indication to plead guilty was made in addition to its timing.<ref name="2020c17s73">{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2020 |chapter=17 |section=73 |act=Sentencing Act 2020}}</ref>