{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/contempt-of-court-act-1981/schedule-4/paragraph-14",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/contempt-of-court-act-1981/schedule-4/paragraph-14.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1981/49",
  "legislation_title": "Contempt of Court Act 1981",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/contempt-of-court-act-1981",
  "path": "schedule/4/paragraph/14",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "14",
  "heading": "Proceedings in Northern Ireland.",
  "text": "(1) In any case where a court has power to commit a person to prison for contempt of court and (apart from this provision) no limitation applies to the period of committal, the committal shall (without prejudice to the power of the court to order his earlier discharge) be for a fixed term, and that term shall not on any occasion exceed two years in the case of committal by a superior court, or one month in the case of committal by an inferior court.\n(2) In any case where an inferior court has power to fine a person for contempt of court and (apart from this provision) no limit applies to the amount of the fine, the fine shall not on any occasion exceed £2500.\n(2A) A fine imposed under subsection (2) above shall be deemed, for the purposes of any enactment, to be a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction.\n(3) . . . . . ..\n(4) Each of the superior courts shall have the like power to make a hospital order or guardianship order under Article 44 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 or an interim hospital order under article 45 of that order, in the case of a person suffering from mental disorder who could otherwise be committed to prison for contempt of court as the Crown Court has under that Article in the case of a person convicted of an offence.\n(4A) Each of the superior courts shall have the like power to make an order under Article 42 of the said Order of 1986 where there is reason to suspect that a person who could be committed to prison for contempt of court is suffering from mental illness or severe mental impairment as the Crown Court has under that Article in the case of an accused person within the meaning of that Article.\n(4A) For the purposes of the preceding provisions of this section a county court shall be treated as a superior court and not as an inferior court.\n(5) In subsections (1) and (2) of section 20 of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, for the words “ten pounds” there shall be substituted “£200” and in section 34 of that Act for the words “twenty-five pounds” there shall be substituted “£500”.\n(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(7) In Article 55 of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, in paragraph (2), for the words “not exceeding £50” there shall be substituted “not exceeding £500” and for the words “any period” there shall be substituted “a specified period”.",
  "extent": "E+W+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Sch. 4: amount in s. 14(2) substituted (9.1.1995) by S.I. 1994/2795 (N.I. 15), art. 3(5), Sch. 1; S.R. 1994/446, art. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Sch. 4: s. 14(2A) inserted (1.1.1998) by S.I. 1996/3160 (N.I. 24), art. 29(6), Sch. 3 para. 4; S.R. 1997/523, art. 2(K)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Sch. 4: para. 14(3) repealed (31.1.1999) by S.I. 1998/1504 (N.I. 9), art. 65(2), Sch. 6; S.R. 1999/25, art. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Sch. 4: words in s. 14(3) repealed (1.1.1998) by S.I. 1996/3160 (N.I. 24), art. 58(3), Sch.7; S.R. 1997/523, art. 2(h)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words substituted by S.I. 1986/595 (N.I. 4), art. 136(1), Sch. 5 Pt. II"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Sch. 4: first s. 14(4A) inserted by S.I. 1986/595 (N.I. 4), art. 136(1), Sch. 5 Pt. II"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "Sch. 4: second s. 14(4A) inserted by County Courts (Penalties for Contempt) Act 1983 (c. 45, SIF 39:3), s. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "Sch. 4 s. 14(6) repealed by S.I. 1981/1675 (N.I. 26), Sch. 7"
    },
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M1",
      "text": "1959 c. 15 (N.I.)"
    },
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M2",
      "text": "S.I. 1980/397 (N.I. 3)."
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "Power to amend conferred by S.I. 1984/703 (N.I. 3), art. 17(2)(c), Sch. 5"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/49/schedule/4/paragraph/14",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T10:13:52.160059+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}