Act of Adjournal (Criminal Procedure Rules 1996 Amendment) (Miscellaneous) (No. 2) 2026

This Act of Adjournal may be cited as the Act of Adjournal (Criminal Procedure Rules 1996 Amendment) (Miscellaneous) (No. 2) 2026.

It comes into force on 7th December 2026.

A certified copy is to be inserted in the Books of Adjournal.

The Criminal Procedure Rules 1996^f1 are amended in accordance with this paragraph.

In Chapter 6 (proceedings involving children)^f2, in rule 6.1 (interpretation of this chapter) omit the definition of “UNCRC requirements”.

After Chapter 73 (Sexual Harm Prevention Orders under the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016)^f3 insert—

“CHAPTER 74

INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS AND DOMAIN NAME SUSPENSION ORDERS

Interpretation of this Chapter

74.1.

In this Chapter—

• “the 2026 Act” means the Crime and Policing Act 2026^f4 and references to terms defined in paragraph 21 (further interpretation) of schedule 18 of that Act have the same meaning here as given there;

• “appropriate officer” has the meaning given by paragraph 14(1)(c) (“appropriate officer” and “senior officer”) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act;

• “non-disclosure order” has the meaning given by paragraph 9(2) (discharge and variation of non-disclosure orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act;

• “relevant persons” means the persons who may apply for discharge or variation of a suspension order under paragraph 7(1) (discharge and variation of suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act and the persons who may apply for discharge or variation of a non-disclosure order under paragraph 9(1) (discharge and variation of non-disclosure orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act.

Application for an IP address suspension order

74.2.

(1)

An application under paragraph 1 (applications for IP address suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.2.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court may—

(a)

dispense with intimation to any other person and proceed to consider the application; or

(b)

fix a date for hearing the application and order intimation of the diet and application to the person against whom the IP address suspension order is sought.

(3)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.

Application for a domain name suspension order

74.3.

(1)

An application under paragraph 3 (applications for domain name suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.3.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court may—

(a)

dispense with intimation to any other person and proceed to consider the application; or

(b)

fix a date for hearing the application and order intimation of the diet and application to the person against whom the domain name suspension order is sought.

(3)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.

Disapplication of non-disclosure duty in applications for suspension orders or in suspension orders

74.4.

(1)

An application under paragraphs 5(2)(a) (applications for suspension orders: non-disclosure duty) or 6(2)(a) (inclusion of non-disclosure requirements in suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.4.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court must order intimation of the application to the appropriate officer.

(3)

The appropriate officer must, within seven days of intimation of the application, notify the clerk of court in writing whether or not the application is opposed.

(4)

Where the appropriate officer notifies the clerk of court that the application is not opposed, the court must proceed to consider the application and may do so in the absence of the applicant.

(5)

Where the appropriate officer notifies the clerk of court that the application will be opposed, the clerk of court must arrange a hearing at which the parties may appear or be represented.

(6)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.

(7)

The clerk of court must give notice in writing of the decision of the court on an application referred to in paragraph (1) to the applicant and the appropriate officer.

(8)

An application under paragraph 5(4) (applications for suspension orders: non-disclosure duty) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be made by incidental application in Form 16.4-A.

Discharge and variation of suspension orders

74.5.

(1)

An application under paragraph 7(1) (discharge and variation of suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.5.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court may—

(a)

if the application is made by an appropriate officer, dispense with intimation to any relevant persons and proceed to consider the application; or

(b)

if no such dispensation is made or the application is made by a person affected by the order, fix a date for hearing the application and order intimation of the diet and application to—

(i)

an appropriate officer, where a person affected by the suspension order is seeking to discharge or vary it;

(ii)

a person affected by the suspension order, where an appropriate officer is seeking to discharge or vary it.

(3)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.

Extension of suspension orders

74.6.

(1)

An application under paragraph 8(1) (extension of suspension orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.6.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court may—

(a)

dispense with intimation to any other person and proceed to consider the application; or

(b)

fix a date for hearing the application and order intimation of the diet and application to the person affected by the suspension order.

(3)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.

Discharge and variation of non-disclosure orders

74.7.

(1)

An application under paragraph 9(1) (discharge and variation of non-disclosure orders) of schedule 18 of the 2026 Act is to be in Form 74.7.

(2)

When an application mentioned in paragraph (1) is lodged, the court may—

(a)

dispense with intimation to any relevant persons and proceed to consider the application; or

(b)

fix a date for hearing the application and order intimation of the diet and application to—

(i)

an appropriate officer, where the person against whom the non-disclosure order was made is seeking to discharge or vary it;

(ii)

the person against whom the non-disclosure order was made, where an appropriate officer is seeking to discharge or vary it.

(3)

The proceedings must be in private unless the court otherwise directs.”

In the appendix, after Form 73.3 (form of application for variation, renewal or discharge of a sexual harm prevention order)^f5 insert Forms 74.2, 74.3, 74.4, 74.5, 74.6 and 74.7 as set out in the schedule of this Act of Adjournal.