What exactly is a "for mention" hearing as a court procedure and practice? The objective of a "for mention" hearing is to deal with the administrative matters of an action in court eg whether the case is ready for hearing. But what are the respective roles of the prosecutor, the defendant and the court, and whether an interested party such as the victim should attend to see how justice is administered in the case?
When a (fresh) criminal case is listed "for mention" in a magistracy in Hong Kong, it is a short (within minutes) court appearance where the prosecutor, the defendant and the magistrate meet in court generally for the first time. While the prosecutor might ask the magistrate to allow the defendant to take plea, the defendant may ask the magistrate to adjourn the case for full disclosure of the prosecution evidence and time for the defendant to consider the plea. As time for discretionary sentencing discount begins to run from the plea day, a reasonable application for adjournment would be accepted and a later date to plea would be fixed.
At the next "plea" hearing, the prosecutor would ask via the court to take plea, read out the charge to the defendant, and if understood, to plead "guilty" or "not guilty". If the defendant pleads "not guilty", the magistrate would ask the number of witnesses for the prosecution and for the defendant, the availability of documentary proofs etc. The magistrate would then fix a later date for the trial hearing, extend the defendant's bail on the same terms or remand the defendant in police or gaol custody for good reasons.
If the defendant pleads "guilty" as charged, the prosecution would pass a copy of the summary of facts to the magistrate, read it out in Chinese and ask for the defendant's confirmation. If the defendant does not raise any issue that might negative the guilty plea, the magistrate would convict the defendant as charged. What follows would be for the prosecutor to disclose to the court if the defendant has any previous convictions, the defendant to do his or her mitigation, the magistrate to sentence, the execution of the sentence (eg the defendant be taken away) and finally, the prosecutor's application and the court's order regarding the disposal of exhibits.
Such small court administrative matters, particularly in magistracies, are often not mentioned in any literature on practice and procedure. A first-timer defendant or victim, and even an inexperienced prosecutor or defence lawyer might be perplexed with the literal expression "for mention" as if the court case is literally "not serious" at all. I believe documenting the for "mention" or "plea" hearings helps resolve an unnecessary mystery and is conducive to open justice!