- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
This version of this provision is prospective.
The term provision is used to describe a definable element in a piece of legislation that has legislative effect – such as a Part, Chapter or section. A version of a provision is prospective either:
Commencement Orders listed in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ box as not yet applied may bring this prospective version into force.
Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, Section 15 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 11 December 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
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.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
Prospective
15—(1) Except as provided by this section—
(a)no written report of an application under section 14(1) shall be published in Northern Ireland;
(b)no report of such an application shall be included in a relevant programme for reception in Northern Ireland.
(2) The judge dealing with an application under section 14(1) may order that subsection (1) shall not apply, or shall not apply to a specified extent, to a report of the application.
(3) Where an accused objects to the making of an order under subsection (2), the judge shall make the order if (and only if) satisfied after hearing the representations of the accused that it is in the interests of justice to do so; and if the order is made it shall not apply to the extent that a report deals with any such objection or representations.
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply where the application is successful.
(5) Where—
(a)two or more persons are jointly charged, and
(b)applications under section 14(1) are made by more than one of them,
subsection (4) shall have effect as if for the words “the application is” there were substituted “ all the applications are ”.
(6) Subsection (1) does not apply to—
(a)the publication of a report of an unsuccessful application made under section 14(1),
(b)the inclusion in a relevant programme of a report of an unsuccessful application made under section 14(1),
at the conclusion of the trial of the accused or of the last of the accused to be tried.
(7) Subsection (1) does not apply to a report which contains only one or more of the following matters—
(a)the identity of the court and the name of the judge;
(b)the names, ages, home addresses and occupations of the accused and witnesses;
(c)the offence or offences, or a summary of them, with which the accused is or are charged;
(d)the names of counsel and solicitors in the proceedings;
(e)where the proceedings are adjourned, the date and place to which they are adjourned;
(f)any arrangements as to bail;
(g)whether legal aid was granted to the accused or any of the accused.
(8) The addresses that may be published or included in a relevant programme under subsection (7) are addresses—
(a)at any relevant time, and
(b)at the time of their publication or inclusion in a relevant programme;
and “relevant time” here means a time when events giving rise to the charges to which the proceedings relate occurred.
(9) Nothing in this section affects any prohibition or restriction imposed by virtue of any other statutory provision on a publication or on matter included in a programme.
(10) If a report is published or included in a relevant programme in contravention of this section each of the following persons is guilty of an offence—
(a)in the case of a publication of a written report as part of a newspaper or periodical, any proprietor, editor or publisher of the newspaper or periodical;
(b)in the case of a publication of a written report otherwise than as part of a newspaper or periodical, the person who publishes it;
(c)in the case of the inclusion of a report in a relevant programme, any body corporate which is engaged in providing the service in which the programme is included and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of an editor of a newspaper.
(11) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(12) Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not be instituted otherwise than by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(13) In this section—
(a)“publish”, in relation to a report, means publish the report, either by itself or as part of a newspaper or periodical, for distribution to the public;
(b)“relevant programme” means a programme included in a programme service, within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990.
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?
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
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?
The Schedules 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?
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.
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.
Text created by the Northern Ireland Assembly 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 accompany all Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: