Criminal Justice Act 1972

66 Citation, interpretation, commencement and extent. E+W+S+N.I.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Justice Act 1972.

(2) In this Act “court” does not include a court-martial; “sentence of imprisonment” does not include a committal in default of payment of any sum of money, or for want of sufficient distress to satisfy any sum of money, or for failure to do or abstain from doing anything required to be done or left undone or a committal or attachment for contempt of court, and “sentence to imprisonment” shall be construed accordingly.

(3), (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

(5) Except where the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, and as including a reference thereto as extended or applied, by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

(6) This Act shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may appoint by order made by statutory instrument, and different days may be so appointed for different provisions:

Provided that—

(a) sections 28, 30, 31 and 32 shall not affect the punishment for an offence completed before those sections come into force; and

(b) neither section 36 [F2 nor the corresponding section referred to in section 63(3)] shall come into force until provision has been made by rules of court with a view to preventing or restricting the disclosure of the identity of the acquitted person in references under that section.

(7) In this Act—

(a) sections 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 33, 35, 51 and this section, section 31 so far as it relates to section 67(5) of the M1 Shops Act 1950, section 64(1) and Schedule 5 so far as they relate to the M2 Road Traffic Act 1972 and section 64(2) and Schedule 6 so far as they relate to the M3 Summary Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1908 and the M4 Firearms Act 1968, extend to Scotland;

(b) section 63 and this section extend to Northern Ireland;

(c) section 64(1) and Schedule 5 so far as they relate to the M5 Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 extend to Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man;

but, save as aforesaid, this Act extends to England and Wales only.

Annotations:

Annotations are used to give authority for changes and other effects on the legislation you are viewing and to convey editorial information. They appear at the foot of the relevant provision or under the associated heading. Annotations are categorised by annotation type, such as F-notes for textual amendments and I-notes for commencement information (a full list can be found in the Editorial Practice Guide). Each annotation is identified by a sequential reference number. For F-notes, M-notes and X-notes, the number also appears in bold superscript at the relevant location in the text. All annotations contain links to the affecting legislation.

Amendments (Textual)

F1 S. 66(3)(4) and Schedule 1 repealed by Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 (c. 62), Sch. 6

F2 Words repealed (N.I.) by Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980 (c. 47, SIF 38), Sch. 5

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 66(6): power conferred by s. 66(6) partly exercised: 1972/1763, 1973/272, 1472, 1995, 1976/299 (s. 49 and certain repeals in Sch. 6 Pt. I not yet brought into force)

Marginal Citations

M1 1950 c. 28.

M2 1972 c. 20.

M3 1908 c. 65.

M4 1968 c. 27.

M5 1851 c. 93.