- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002
You are here:
- 2002 c. 26
- Part 2
- Public Prosecution Service
- Section 31
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
Changes to legislation:
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. Any changes that have already been made by the team appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act, associated Parts and Chapters:
Changes and effects
This section lists the changes and effects yet to be applied to the whole Act, associated Parts and Chapters where applicable. This includes any insertions of whole new Parts, Chapters or provisions yet to be inserted into this Act. These effects are included in this view as they may be (but won’t necessarily be) relevant to the specific provision that you are viewing.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
- s. 9A(2) transfer of functions by S.I. 2010/976 Sch. 17 para. 17
- s. 9F(2)(a)(b) substituted by S.I. 2010/976 Sch. 18 para. 62(a)
- s. 9F(3)(a) words substituted by S.I. 2010/976 Sch. 18 para. 62(b)
- s. 9F(5) words substituted by S.I. 2010/976 Sch. 18 para. 62(c)
Commencement Orders yet to be applied to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002:
Commencement Orders
This section lists the commencement orders yet to be applied to the whole Act. These effects are included in this view as they may be (but won’t necessarily be) relevant to the specific provision that you are viewing. Where applicable the commencement orders are listed under two headings, firstly those that bring some part of the Act you are viewing into force and secondly, those that bring into force legislation that affects some part of the legislation you are viewing. If you are viewing a prospective version or there is a prospective version available there may be commencement orders listed here that are relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Commencement Orders bringing provisions within this Act into force:
- S.R. 2010/113 art. 2 commences (2002 c. 26)
Commencement Orders bringing legislation that affects this Act into force:
- S.I. 2003/3103 art. 2 commences (2003 c. 41)
- S.I. 2005/910 art. 3(aa) commences (2003 c. 39)
- S.I. 2006/1014 art. 2(a) Sch. 1 para. 6 commences (2005 c. 4)
- S.I. 2009/812 art. 3(a)(b) commences (2006 c. 52)
- S.I. 2009/1604 art. 2 commences (2005 c. 4)
- S.I. 2010/812 art. 2 commences (2009 c. 3)
- S.I. 2010/883 art. 2 commences (2005 c. 4)
- S.I. 2011/1418 art. 2 commences (2010 c. 23)
- S.S.I. 2010/413 art. 2 Sch. commences (2010 asp 13)
- S.R. 2010/52 art. 2 commences (2008 c. 26)
- S.R. 2010/114 art. 2 commences (2004 c. 4)
- S.R. 2011/224 art. 2 commences (2011 c. 24 (N.I.))
- S.R. 2012/142 art. 2 commences (2011 c. 24 (N.I.))
31 Conduct of prosecutionsN.I.
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)The Director must take over the conduct of all criminal proceedings which are instituted in Northern Ireland on behalf of any police force (whether by a member of that force or any other person).
(2)The Director may institute, and have the conduct of, criminal proceedings in any other case where it appears appropriate for him to do so.
(3)This section does not preclude any person other than the Director from—
(a)instituting any criminal proceedings, or
(b)conducting any criminal proceedings to which the Director’s duty to conduct proceedings does not apply.
(4)The Director may at any stage take over the conduct of any criminal proceedings which are instituted in circumstances in which he is not under a duty to take over their conduct, other than any proceedings of which the Director of the Serious Fraud Office has conduct.
(5)The Director must give to police forces such advice as appears to him appropriate on matters relating to the prosecution of offences.
(6)“Police force” means—
(a)the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve,
(b)the Ministry of Defence Police,
(c)any body of constables appointed under Article 19 of the Airports (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I 1994/426 (N.I. 1)), or
(d)any body of special constables appointed in Northern Ireland under section 79 of the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847 (c. 27) or section 57 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (c. 16).
Options/Help
Print Options
Print The Whole Act
Print The Whole Part
Print The Whole Cross Heading
Print This Section only
You have chosen to open The Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open the Whole Act
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
You have chosen to open Schedules only
The Schedules only you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made):The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources