The Disappearing Trial 92. In other jurisdictions such as China and Spain, lawyers reported that prosecutors often offered a reduced sentence in exchange for an accelerated procedure just moments before trial, leaving the defendant little time to consider it. In response to this practice, the Madrid Bar has circulated amongst its lawyers a sample request for additional time for consideration of trial waiver offers (known either as “conformidad” or “accelerated procedure” depending on the type of mechanism used). 93. Some jurisdictions provide a more relaxed timeline in which trial waivers can take place, for example by delaying the trial waiver until after the pre-trial period or by mandating timelines for filing documents and setting down hearings necessary to ratify a trial waiver (as in Argentina and Chile). Although this is often simply a function of the procedure available (often in abbreviated trial systems) rather than an intended safeguard against abuse, in practice it may allow defendants to better exercise their rights before agreeing to a trial waiver. There were some examples of timelines for trial waivers being relaxed on a case-by-case basis where the interests of justice demanded it. In Singapore, for example, a judge responding to the survey indicated that unrepresented defendants were provided additional time so that they could seek legal advice prior to deciding whether or not to accept trial waivers (known as “plea bargaining”). 94.  It is worth noting, however, that in some systems, such as in Germany, in which the trial waiver is not entered until the (abbreviated) trial begins and where sentence discounts are strictly limited, practitioners sometimes complain that there are not sufficient time and resource savings to incentivise optimum use of the procedure. Similarly, the resource assessment report produced in relation to guidelines in England and Wales encouraging early trial waivers (known as “guilty pleas”) considered that over-incentivising early pleading, and under-incentivising later trial waivers, may result in fewer defendants choosing to waive their right to a trial later in the proceedings, as the benefit to doing so later in the process would be so minimal.100 100. “Consultation Stage Resource Assessment: Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea”, the Sentencing Council, supra at n. 77, para. 2.2. 53.