2023 No. 44 (L. 1)
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023
Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee makes the following Rules under section 69 of the Courts Act 20031, after consulting in accordance with section 72(1)(a) of the 2003 Act.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1
These Rules may be cited as the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023 and come into force on 3rd April 2023.
2
In these Rules a reference to a Part or rule by number alone means the Part or rule so numbered in the Criminal Procedure Rules 20202.
Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules
3
In Part 2 (Understanding and applying the rules; powers of authorised court officers), in rule 2.1 (When the Rules apply)—
a
after paragraph (3) insert—
4
The amendments to Part 14 of these Rules (Bail and custody time limits) made by rule 7(a) and (b) of the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023 do not apply in relation to a defendant arrested before 28th October, 2022, for an offence, or in relation to such a defendant who on or after that date is arrested again in relation to that offence under―
a
section 46A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 19843 (arrest for failure to attend at a police station as required by police bail, or failure to comply with a condition of such bail); or
b
section 24A of the Criminal Justice Act 20034 (arrest for failure to comply with a condition attached to a conditional caution).
b
at the end of the note to the rule insert—
Amendments made by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 20225to the pre-charge bail provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 came into force on 28th October, 20226. Under section 45(3) of the 2022 Act, those amendments do not apply in the circumstances described in paragraph (4) of this rule.
4
In Part 4 (Service of documents)—
a
in rule 4.6 (Service by electronic means), for paragraph (3) substitute—
3
Where the person to be served under this rule is the court officer—
a
the address for service is the relevant court office; and
b
if service is by deposit under paragraph (2)(b), notice of that deposit—
i
must be given only where arrangements for use of the electronic address advertised under rule 4.1(3) so require, and
ii
if so required, must be given in accordance with those arrangements.
b
in rule 4.11 (Date of service)—
i
at the end of paragraph (2)(d)(ii) omit “or”,
ii
renumber paragraph (2)(d)(iii) as (2)(d)(iv),
iii
in paragraph (2)(d)(iv) as thus renumbered after “sent” insert “, deposited”
, and
iv
after paragraph (2)(d)(ii) insert—
iii
on the day of its deposit under rule 4.6(2)(b), if that day is a business day and if under rule 4.6(3)(b) no notice of deposit is required, or
5
In Part 5 (Forms and court records)—
a
in rule 5.8 (Request for information about a case)—
i
for paragraph (1) substitute—
1
This rule—
a
applies where anyone, including a member of the public or a reporter, requests information about a case including information contained in materials kept by the court officer for the purposes of the case; but
b
does not apply if rule 5.12 applies (Request for written certificate or extract for use in evidence, etc.).
ii
in paragraph (4)(c)(ii) for “about bail” substitute “to grant or withhold bail, or to impose or vary a bail condition”
,
iii
at the end of paragraph (4)(g) omit “and”,
iv
at the end of paragraph (4)(h) insert “; and”
, and
v
after paragraph (4)(h) insert—
i
notice that reporting restrictions may apply to the publication of information supplied under this rule.
b
in rule 5.12 (Request for written certificate or extract for use in evidence, etc.)—
i
in paragraph (1), in the words before sub-paragraph (a), after “legislation” insert “other than these Rules”
,
ii
in paragraph (1)(b) for “such a certificate or extract” substitute “information about a case, including information contained in materials kept by the court officer for the purposes of the case,”
,
iii
in paragraph (2), in the words before sub-paragraph (a), after “extract” insert “, or such information,”
,
iv
in paragraph (2)(b) and in paragraph (3) for “or extract” in each place it occurs substitute “, extract or information”
, and
v
for the second paragraph of the note to the rule substitute—
Examples of legislation to which paragraph (1)(b) of this rule applies include (this is not a complete list)—
a
section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 19957, under which information may be required by the Criminal Cases Review Commission;
b
section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act 19988, under which information may be supplied to specified authorities for the purposes of that Act; and
c
article 7 of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 20219, under which information may be required to assist in a review of Scottish criminal records concerning a time at which the subject of those records was under 12 years old.]
6
In Part 7 (Starting a prosecution in a magistrates’ court), in rule 7.2 (Application for summons, etc.) for the second paragraph of the note to the rule substitute—
Where an offence can be tried only in a magistrates’ court the general time limit for serving or presenting an application for a summons or warrant, and for issuing a written charge, is prescribed by section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 198010and section 30(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 200311. However, the legislation that creates the offence may prescribe a different time limit, which may be calculated by reference to the date of the offence or by reference to another event specified by that legislation. If the application contains insufficient information to show that it is in time the court may refuse to issue a summons or warrant.
7
In Part 14 (Bail and custody time limits)—
a
in rule 14.18 (Exercise of court’s powers: extension of pre-charge bail)—
i
in paragraph (2) for “12 months” in each place it occurs substitute “24 months”
, and
ii
for the second, third, fourth and fifth paragraphs of the note to the rule substitute—
Sections 47ZA and 47ZB of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 198412limit the period during which a defendant who has been arrested for an offence may be on bail after being released without being charged. That period (‘the applicable bail period’) is—
a
6 months from the day after the day on which the defendant was arrested (the defendant’s ‘bail start date’) in an ‘FCA’, ‘HMRC’, ‘NCA’ or ‘SFO’ case (that is, a case, as defined by section 47ZB, being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority, an officer of Revenue and Customs, the National Crime Agency or the Serious Fraud Office, as applicable); and
b
3 months from the defendant’s bail start date in any other case (‘a standard case’).
Under section 47ZDB of the 1984 Act13, in an FCA, HMRC, NCA or SFO case the applicable bail period may be extended on the authority of the appropriate decision maker until the end of 12 months from the bail start date. ‘Appropriate decision maker’ is defined as, in summary, a senior officer of the relevant authority.
Under sections 47ZC and 47ZD of the 1984 Act14, in a standard case the applicable bail period may be extended on the authority of a police officer of the rank of inspector or above until the end of 6 months from the bail start date. Under section 47ZDA15 the applicable bail period may be further extended on the authority of a police officer of the rank of superintendent or above until the end of 9 months from the bail start date.
Under sections 47ZC and 47ZE of the 1984 Act16, if the case is designated by the Director of Public Prosecutions as exceptionally complex (a ‘designated case’) the applicable bail period may be further extended on the authority of one of the senior officers listed in section 47ZE until the end of 12 months from the bail start date.
Under section 47ZF of the 1984 Act17, on an application made before the date on which the applicable bail period ends by a constable, a member of staff of the Financial Conduct Authority of the description designated by its Chief Executive, an officer of Revenue and Customs, a National Crime Agency officer, a member of the Serious Fraud Office or a Crown Prosecutor, a magistrates’ court may authorise an extension of that period—
a
from a previous total of 9 months to a new total of 12 months or, if the investigation is unlikely to be completed or a police charging decision made within a lesser period, a new total of 18 months (following extension under section 47ZDA of the Act);
b
from a previous total of 12 months to a new total of 18 months or, if the investigation is unlikely to be completed or a police charging decision made within a lesser period, a new total of 24 months (following extension under section 47ZDB or 47ZE of the Act),
where the conditions listed in that section are met.
b
in rule 14.19 (Application to authorise extension of pre-charge bail), in paragraph (2)(b) after “constable” insert “, an officer of Revenue and Customs, a National Crime Agency officer”
; and
c
in rule 14.18 (Exercise of court’s powers: extension of pre-charge bail), in paragraph (2)(a) omit “less than” and after “months” insert “or less”
.
8
In Part 17 (Witness summonses, warrants and orders)—
a
in rule 17.7 (Application to withdraw a summons, warrant or order)—
i
in paragraph (1)(b), in the words before sub-paragraph (b)(i), for “he was not aware of any application for it” substitute “the court received no representations by the witness before the summons, warrant or order was issued and, in the Crown Court, the witness had had no notice of any application for a summons,”
,
ii
in paragraph (1)(b)(i) for “he” substitute “the witness”
,
iii
in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) for “he can, his duties or rights” substitute “the witness could do so, the witness’ duties or rights”
,
iv
in paragraph (1)(c), in the words before sub-paragraph (c)(i), for “he was not aware of any application for it” substitute “the court received no representations by that person before the summons, warrant or order was issued”
,
v
in paragraph (1)(c)(ii) for “his” substitute “that person’s”
,
vi
in paragraph (2), in the words before sub-paragraph (a), for “the rule” substitute “this rule”
,
vii
in paragraph (2)(a) for “he wants” substitute “the court should withdraw”
and omit “to be withdrawn”,
viii
in paragraph (2)(b)(ii) after “the party” insert “(if any)”
, and
ix
in paragraph (2)(b)(iii) omit “he knows” and after “application” insert “(if any)”
; and
b
in rule 17.8 (Court’s power to vary requirements under this Part), in paragraph (2)(a) for “his” substitute “the”
and for “he would otherwise have served an application in writing” substitute “the application otherwise should be served”
.
9
In Part 31 (Behaviour orders)—
a
in rule 31.3 (Application for behaviour order and notice of terms of proposed order: special rules)—
i
in paragraph (5)(b) after “prohibitions” insert “or requirements”
,
ii
omit paragraph (8), and
iii
renumber paragraph (9) as (8); and
b
in rule 31.10 (Notice to supervisor of requirement for supervision or monitoring) for the note to the rule substitute—
[Note. The legislation that gives the court power to make a behaviour order may specify circumstances in which a requirement for supervision or electronic monitoring may be imposed.
Under section 347A of the Sentencing Act 202018and under section 36 of the Domestic Abuse Act 202119a sexual harm prevention order or a domestic abuse protection order, respectively, which imposes a requirement, other than an electronic monitoring requirement, on the defendant must specify the person or organisation responsible for supervising compliance with that requirement. Before including such a requirement in an order the court must receive evidence from that supervisor about the requirement’s suitability and enforceability.
Under section 348A of the Sentencing Act 202020and under section 37 of the Domestic Abuse Act 202121a sexual harm prevention order or a domestic abuse protection order, respectively, which imposes an electronic monitoring requirement on the defendant must specify the person responsible for that monitoring. If there is a person other than the defendant without whose co-operation it would be impracticable to secure that monitoring, the requirement may not be imposed without that person’s consent.]
10
In Part 45 (Costs), in rule 45.4 (Costs out of central funds) in paragraph (4)(a) omit “that person” in each place it occurs.
11
In Part 47 (Investigation orders and warrants)—
a
in rule 47.3 (Documents served on the court officer) in paragraph (1)(a)(i) for “may keep” substitute “must either keep”
; and
b
in rule 47.25 (Exercise of court’s powers) in paragraph (2) omit “or telephone”.
I allow these Rules, which shall come into force on 3rd April 2023.
Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor
(This note is not part of the Rules)