Her trial over her handling of the disastrous multi-billion baht rice-pledging scheme starts today.
Ms Yingluck is required to enter a plea at the court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders, said Surasak Trirattrakul, the deputy head of the prosecution team.
She was indicted for allegedly neglecting and failing to prevent more than B500 billion in losses in the rice-pledging scheme implemented by her Pheu Thai government.
The former prime minister is charged with dereliction of duty and abuse of authority in failing to stop graft and losses in the rice scheme which violated Section 157 of the Criminal Code and Section 123/1 of the 1999 Counter Corruption Act.
If Ms Yingluck appears in court today, the charges will be read out and she will be asked to enter a plea. She is expected to plead not guilty. No estimate was available of how long the trial is likely to last.
The judge will then schedule hearings for witness testimony and the examination of evidence submitted by her and prosecutors, Mr Surasak said. More than 10 witnesses are expected to testify during the trial, he said.
Mr Surasak said he understands that Ms Yingluck intends to appear before the court today, but if she fails to do so or does not appoint anyone to appear on her behalf, the court will consider whether to issue an arrest warrant.
"Even if she has someone appear in court on her behalf, she should come up with a reasonable excuse for not turning up.
"Saying she needs more time to prepare her defence is unlikely to be good enough for the court," he said.
She is allowed to miss the first hearing if she has a sound reason such as an illness, he said.
Norawich Lhalaeng, a lawyer representing Ms Yingluck, meanwhile, confirmed his client would appear in court in person and she is prepared to fight the case.
Ms Yingluck and her lawyers are confident they can defend the charges against her.
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