1.—(1) The power of the High Court or Court of Appeal to punish for contempt of court may be exercised by an order of committal.
(2) Where contempt of court—
(a)is committed in connection with—
(i)any proceedings in the High Court, or
(ii)criminal proceedings, except where the contempt is committed in the face of the court or consists of disobedience to an order of the court or a breach of an undertaking to the court, or
(iii)proceedings in an inferior court, or
(b)is committed otherwise than in connection with any proceedings,
then, subject to paragraph (3) and rule 5, an order of committal may be made only by a court of the High Court consisting of two or more judges, and in this Order the word “Court” shall be construed accordingly save where the context or paragraph (4) otherwise requires.
(3) Where civil contempt of court is committed in connection with any proceedings in the High Court an order of committal may be made by a single judge.
(4) Where contempt of court is committed in relation to the Court of Appeal or in connection with any proceedings therein, an order of committal may be made by that Court as well as by the Court under paragraph (2).
(5) Every order of committal may be directed to any police-officer or to such other person as the Court may order.
[E.r. 1]
2.—(1) Except under rule 1(3), no application to the Court for an order of committal against any person may be made unless leave to make such an application bas been granted in accordance with this rule.
(2) An application for such leave must be made ex parte to a judge in chambers or to a single judge of the Court of Appeal and must be supported by a statement setting out the name and description of the applicant, the name, description and address of the person sought to be committed and the grounds on which his committal is sought, and by an affidavit, to be filed before the application is made, verifying the facts relied on.
(3) The applicant must give notice of the application for leave not later than the preceding day to the Crown Office and must at the same time lodge in that Office copies of the statement and affidavit.
(4) Where an application for leave under paragraph (2) is refused, the applicant may make a fresh application for such leave to the appropriate court.
(5) An application made by virtue of paragraph (4) must be made within 8 days after the judge's refusal to give leave or, if the appropriate court does not sit within that period, on the first day on which it sits thereafter.
[E.r. 2]
3.—(1) When leave has been granted under rule 2 to apply for an order of committal, the application for the order must be made by motion to the appropriate Court and, unless the Court or judge granting leave has otherwise directed, there must be at least 8 clear days between the service of the notice of motion and the day named therein for the hearing.
(2) Unless within 14 days after such leave was granted the motion is entered for hearing the leave shall lapse.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the notice of motion, accompanied by a copy of the statement and affidavit in support of the application for leave under rule 2, must be served personally on the person sought to be committed.
(4) Without prejudice to the powers of the Court or judge under Order 65, rule 4, the Court or judge may dispense with service of the notice of motion under this rule if it or he thinks it just to do so.
[E.r. 3]
4.—(1) An application for an order of committal under rule 1(3) must be made by motion and be supported by an affidavit.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3); the notice of motion, stating the grounds of the application and accompanied by a copy of the affidavit in support of the application, must be served personally.
(3) Without prejudice to its powers under Order 65 rule 4, the Court may dispense with service of the notice under this rule if it thinks it just to do so.
5. Where on the hearing of the motion the person sought to be committed fails to appear the Court may make an order of committal against him if it thinks it just to do so.
6. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Order shall be taken as affecting the power of the High Court or Court of Appeal to, make an order of committal of its own motion against a person guilty of contempt of court.
[E.r. 5]
7.—(1) Without prejudice to rule 6, any person who, in the presence of a judge sitting in the High Court or Court of Appeal appears to be guilty of contempt of court may immediately be called upon to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against him or he may be ordered to appear on some future date, with or without recognizances, before the High Court or Court of Appeal to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against him.
(2) Where the High Court or Court of Appeal directs that recognizances shall be entered into, the Court shall determine the number of sureties, if any, the amount in which the person who appears to be guilty of contempt and any sureties are to be bound and the conditions to be indorsed on the recognizances with a view to the recognizances being taken subsequently.
(3) Any such recognizance may be entered into before a master who before taking the recognizance of a surety must satisfy himself that the surety is a suitable person to enter into a recognizance.
8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Court hearing an application for an order of committal may sit in private in the following cases, that is to say—
(a)where the application arises out of proceedings relating to the wardship or adoption of a minor or wholly or mainly to the guardianship, custody, maintenance or upbringing of a minor, or rights of access to a minor;
(b)where the application arises out of proceedings relating to a person suffering or appearing to be suffering from mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act (Northern Ireland) 1961(1) or any other incapacitating condition;
(c)where the application arises out of proceedings in which a secret process, discovery or invention was in issue;
(d)where it appears to the Court that in the interests of the administration of justice or for reasons of national security the application should be heard in private;
but, except as aforesaid, the application shall be heard in open court.
(2) If the Court hearing an application in private by virtue of paragraph (1) decides to make an order of committal against the person sought to be committed, it shall in open court state—
(a)the name of that person,
(b)in general terms the nature of the contempt of court in respect of which the order of committal is being made, and
(c)if he is being committed for a fixed period, the length of that period.
(3) Except with the leave of the Court hearing an application for an order of committal, no grounds shall be relied upon at the hearing except the grounds set out in the statement under rule 2.
The foregoing provision is without prejudice to the powers of the Court under Order 20, rule 8.
(4) If on the hearing of the application the person sought to be committed expresses a wish to give or adduce evidence on his own behalf, he shall be entitled to do so.
(5) In this rule references to a court sitting in private include references to a court sitting in camera and a judge in chambers.
[E.r. 6]
9.—(1) The Court by which an order of committal is made may by order direct that the execution of the order of committal shall be suspended for such period or on such terms or conditions as it may specify.
(2) Where execution of an order of committal is suspended by an order under paragraph (1), the applicant for the order of committal must, unless the Court otherwise directs, serve on the person against whom it was made a notice informing him of the making and terms of the order under that paragraph.
[E.r 7]
10.—(1) The Court may, on the application of any person committed to prison until further order for any contempt of court, discharge him.
(2) Where a person has been committed for failing to comply with a judgment or order requiring him to deliver any thing to some other person or to deposit it in court or elsewhere, and an order of sequestration has also been issued to enforce that judgment or order, then, if the thing is in the "custody or power of the person committed, the sequestrators appointed by the order of sequestration may take possession of it as if it were the property of that person and, without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the Court may discharge the person committed and may give such directions for dealing with the thing taken by the sequestrators as it thinks fit.
[E.r. 8]
11. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Order shall be taken as affecting the power of the Court to make an order requiring a person guilty of contempt of court, or a person punishable by virtue of any statutory provision in like manner as if he had been guilty of contempt of the High Court, to pay a fine or to give security for his good behaviour, and those provisions, so far as applicable, and with the necessary modifications, shall apply in relation to an application for such an order as they apply in relation to an application for an order of committal.
[E.r. 9]