The Justice (2015 Act) (Commencement No. 5) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings into operation certain provisions of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (c.9 (N.I.)) (“the Act”).

The provisions of the Act set out in Article 2 come into operation on 14th March 2016.

Section 48 amends the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 to allow for the introduction of Child Protection Disclosures to Northern Ireland. These provisions allow for the consideration of disclosure of conviction information to members of the public in relation to any offender who falls within the public protection arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Schedule 6 contains amendments consequential to the provisions in section 96 on serious physical harm to a child or vulnerable adult, which were commenced on 29th January 2016. The Schedule 6 provisions were inadvertently omitted from that commencement order (2015 No. 418 (C.36)).

The provisions of the Act set out in Article 3 come into operation on 1st April 2016.

Section 88 requires a court, in certain circumstances when passing sentence, to indicate the sentence that it would have passed had the defendant entered a guilty plea at the earliest reasonable opportunity. This section is intended to increase awareness of the availability of sentencing credit for an early plea and add some clarity around the level of credit that may be available in particular circumstances.

Section 93 enables a prosecutor from the Public Prosecution Service to issue a summons to an accused person without first having to get a lay magistrate to sign the summons, provided that a complaint has been made to a lay magistrate.

The provisions of the Act set out in Article 4 come into operation on 29th April 2016.

Section 49 allows for the accused to appear and give evidence by live link in committal proceedings in magistrates’ courts, if the accused is likely to be held in custody or detained in hospital during the proceedings.

Section 51 allows for live links to be used in proceedings where a person, already being held in custody, has to be brought before the court for failing to comply with a specified court order or with conditions under which a sexual offender is released on licence.

Section 54 extends the use of live links in certain court proceedings to include patients detained in hospital under Part 2 of the Mental Health (NI) Order 1986 – patients compulsorily admitted to hospital for psychiatric assessment or treatment. Currently only Part 3 psychiatric patients – those compulsorily admitted to hospital via the criminal justice system – are able to appear by live link.