# The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 28 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order brings into force provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) (“the 2003 Act”).
Article 2 brings into force provisions of the 2003 Act on the day after the day on which the Order is made. These provisions relate to the Attorney General’s power to make regulations under paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37) (“the 1998 Act”) on the service of prosecution evidence where persons are sent for trial.
Article 3 brings into force provisions of the 2003 Act on 18th June 2012. These provisions—
repeal the restriction on justices of the peace sitting after dealing with bail (see paragraph 14 of Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act);
set out reporting restrictions concerning allocation or sending proceedings (see paragraphs 19 and 53 of Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act);
make minor and consequential amendments relating to bail (see paragraph 4 of Schedule 36 to the 2003 Act).
Article 4 brings into force most of the remaining paragraphs in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act on 18th June 2012 in relation to certain local justice areas and the Crown Court for certain purposes. These paragraphs in particular—
amend the provisions by which a magistrates’ court decides on the mode of trial for adults charged with an offence which is triable either on indictment or summarily (“either-way offences”) (paragraphs 5 to 8);
modify the provisions by which children and young persons are ordinarily tried summarily for an offence which is triable on indictment, subject to certain exceptions (paragraph 9);
introduce provisions by which children and young persons may indicate intention as to plea in certain cases (paragraph 10);
substitute for the provisions in the 1998 Act which deal with the sending to the Crown Court of adults charged with offences triable only on indictment (“indictable-only offences”) and certain related offences, new provisions which permit sending to the Crown Court in a wider range of circumstances, including either-way offences (which generally, at present, reach the Crown Court by way of committal proceedings), certain offences involving children and young persons and certain cases involving serious or complex fraud or which involve children as witnesses (paragraph 18);
make amendments which concern magistrates’ courts’ powers to commit for sentence on summary trial of either-way offences (paragraphs 21 to 28);
make minor and consequential amendments, including repealing the provisions in the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) relating to committal proceedings for either-way offences (paragraph 51).
Article 5 contains saving provisions concerning the provisions brought into force by article 4. The saving provisions provide rules for circumstances in which a person appears or is brought before a magistrates’ court when he or she had a first appearance concerning that offence before commencement or where someone first appeared on a related indictable-only offence before commencement.
Article 6 contains other saving provisions. These relate to the Attorney General’s power to make regulations relating to the service of prosecution evidence and to preserve the effect of section 4(3)(b) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (c. 49), as it was in force before commencement, where this is still needed for reports of committal proceedings.
A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this Order as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1320/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-justice-act-2003-commencement-no-28-and-saving-provisions-order-2012/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.