He has been in the Crown Court, on 10 October, Mr Justice Griffith-Williams presiding.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/10/mark-bridger-remanded-court-april-jones
'Mr Justice Griffith-Williams said any decision about where any future trial would be held would be made after consultation with the victim's family.
The case was adjourned until 11 January while investigations continue, the court was told. Bridger was remanded into custody and no application for bail was made.
On Monday Bridger made his first appearance in public since his arrest, when he was taken before magistrates in Aberystwyth. A crowd gathered outside court and the van in which he was travelling was attacked as it arrived and departed. Bridger's eyes filled with tears as the charges were read out.
Magistrates said the charges were so serious that the case would have to be dealt with in a crown court. He was remanded into custody and driven to HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways.
At that point it was made clear he did not need to appear in person for his first crown court appearance at Caernarfon, which is 60 miles north-west of Machynlleth and 100 miles from Manchester.'
www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au
'Until 1968 there was only one form of committal proceedings in England and Wales. This procedure, which is still used in some cases, requires that the justices hear the witnesses for the prosecution, whose evidence is recorded in the form of written depositions. The accused must be present and he may be legally represented. The defence may cross-examine witnesses. The accused may give evidence and he may call witnesses, but he need not say anything or produce any evidence. Usually the defence is reserved; that is to say, no indication is given of whether the case will be defended or what the defence may be at the trial. The justices then decide whether the accused ought to be committed for trial and whether he ought to be released on bail or kept in custody to await his trial.
In England and Wales the Criminal Justice Act 1967 (U.K.) introduced substantial changes in respect to committal proceedings. The relevant sections of the Act came into force on I January, 1968. Basically, the Act introduced a procedure whereby the accused can be committed for trial upon evidence contained only in written statements, without consideration of the evidence by the magistrates,
provided that he is legally represented and consents to this procedure being followed. The Act also introduced substantial changes in regard to public access to, and publication of, committal proceedings.
Section I of the Act empowers the examining justices, or a magistrate, to commit the accused for trial, not only on the basis of written statements without oral evidence, but also without the justices or magistrate having considered the contents of the statements
unless: (1) the accused, or one of several accused persons, is not represented; or (2) the legal representative of the accused, or of one of several accused persons, has requested the court to consider a submission that the statements disclose insufficient evidence to support a committal. The section provides a number of safeguards for the accused - for example, the written statements must comply with a prescribed form; all the evidence of the prosecution and defence (if any) before the court must consist of written statements; and all accused persons must be legally represented. The procedure cannot be used if the accused is a person under 17 years of age.
