Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Rules.)
These Rules amend the Crown Court Rules (Northern Ireland) 1979 to:
allow evidence of a surety’s means to be sought;
insert a new rule 44D to make provision for the procedure to be followed on an application for leave, under Article 28(2) of the Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, to introduce evidence or to ask questions in cross-examination about the sexual behaviour of the complainant, at a trial of a person charged with a sexual offence;
insert a new Part X to make provision concerning applications under sections 51A, 51C, 51D and 51F of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (inserted by section 66 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996) which introduce a new statutory system for summoning a witness to attend the Crown Court; and
correct existing numbering errors in the Rules.