Article 3 Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015

In Part 3 (Case management)—

(a)

in rule 3.2 (The duty of the court), after paragraph (3) insert—

“(4)
Where appropriate live links are available, making use of technology for the purposes of this rule includes directing the use of such facilities, whether an application for such a direction is made or not―

(a)
for the conduct of a pre-trial hearing, including a pre-trial case management hearing;

(b)
for the defendant’s attendance at such a hearing―

(i)
where the defendant is in custody, or where the defendant is not in custody and wants to attend by live link, but

(ii)
only if the court is satisfied that the defendant can participate effectively by such means, having regard to all the circumstances including whether the defendant is represented or not; and

(c)
for receiving evidence under one of the powers to which the rules in Part 18 apply (Measures to assist a witness or defendant to give evidence).

(5)
Where appropriate telephone facilities are available, making use of technology for the purposes of this rule includes directing the use of such facilities, whether an application for such a direction is made or not, for the conduct of a pre-trial case management hearing―

(a)
if telephone facilities are more convenient for that purpose than live links;

(b)
unless at that hearing the court expects to take the defendant’s plea; and

(c)
only if―

(i)
the defendant is represented, or

(ii)
exceptionally, the court is satisfied that the defendant can participate effectively by such means without a representative.

[Note. In relation to the defendant’s attendance by live link at a pre-trial hearing, see sections 46ZA and 47 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984^f1 and sections 57A to 57D and 57F of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998^f2.

In relation to the giving of evidence by a witness and the giving of evidence by the defendant, see section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988^f3, sections 19, 24 and 33A of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999^f4 and section 51 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003^f5. Part 18 (Measures to assist a witness or defendant to give evidence) contains relevant rules.]”;

(b)

in rule 3.3 (The duty of the parties)—

(i)

at the end of paragraph (2)(c) omit ‘and’,

(ii)

at the end of paragraph (2)(d) insert ‘; and’, and

(iii)

after paragraph (2)(d) insert—

“(e)
alerting the court to any reason why―

(i)
a direction should not be made in any of the circumstances listed in rule 3.2(4) or (5) (The duty of the court: use of live link or telephone facilities), or

(ii)
such a direction should be varied or revoked.”;

(c)

in rule 3.5 (The court’s case management powers), for paragraph (2)(d) substitute—

“(d)
receive applications, notices, representations and information by letter, by telephone, by live link, by email or by any other means of electronic communication, and conduct a hearing by live link, telephone or other such electronic means;”;

(d)

in rule 3.21 (Application for joint or separate trials, etc.)—

(i)

after paragraph (3) insert—

“(4)
Where the same indictment charges more than one offence, the court—

(a)
must exercise its power to order separate trials of those offences unless the offences to be tried together—

(i)
are founded on the same facts, or

(ii)
form or are part of a series of offences of the same or a similar character;

(b)
may exercise its power to order separate trials of those offences if of the opinion that—

(i)
the defendant otherwise may be prejudiced or embarrassed in his or her defence, or

(ii)
for any other reason it is desirable that the defendant should be tried separately for any one or more of those offences.”; and

(ii)

in the note to the rule, after ‘Rule 10.2’ insert ‘(The indictment: general rules)’;

(e)

in rule 3.24 (Arraigning the defendant on the indictment)—

(i)

renumber paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) as (1)(b) and (c) respectively,

(ii)

before paragraph (1)(b), as so renumbered, insert—

“(a)
obtain the prosecutor’s confirmation, in writing or orally—

(i)
that the indictment (or draft indictment, as the case may be) sets out a statement of each offence that the prosecutor wants the court to try and such particulars of the conduct constituting the commission of each such offence as the prosecutor relies upon to make clear what is alleged, and

(ii)
of the order in which the prosecutor wants the defendants’ names to be listed in the indictment, if the prosecutor proposes that more than one defendant should be tried at the same time;”,

(iii)

in paragraph (1)(b), as so renumbered, after ‘indictment’ insert ‘or draft indictment’,

(iv)

in paragraph (1)(c), as so renumbered, for ‘in respect of each count in the indictment’ substitute ‘in respect of each count’, and

(v)

in the note to the rule, at the end of the first paragraph insert ‘: see in particular rule 10.2 (The indictment: general rules)’.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1984 c. 60; section 46ZA was inserted by section 46 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 (c. 48) and amended by section 107 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25). Section 47 was amended by sections 27, 29 and 168 of, and Schedule 11 to, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c. 33), section 46 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37), section 109 of, and paragraph 283 of Schedule 8 to, the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39), sections 12 and 28 of, and paragraphs 1 and 10 of Schedule 1 and paragraphs 1 and 6 of Schedule 2 to, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), sections 10 and 46 of, and paragraphs 1, 6 and 11 of Schedule 6 to, the Police and Justice Act 2006 (c. 48) and section 1 of the Police (Detention and Bail) Act 2011 (c. 9).
f2: 1998 c. 37; sections 57A to 57E were substituted for section 57 as originally enacted by section 45 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 (c. 48). Section 57A was amended by section 109 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25) and section 105 of, and paragraphs 36 and 39 of Schedule 12 to, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10). Sections 57B, 57C and 57D were amended by section 106 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25). Section 57F was inserted by section 109 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25).
f3: 1988 c. 33; section 32 was amended by section 55 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53), section 29 of, and paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to, the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 (c. 35), section 62 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (c. 25), section 67 of, and Schedule 6 and paragraph 3 of Schedule 7 to, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 (c. 23) and article 3 of, and paragraphs 24 and 26 of the Schedule to S.I. 2004/2035.
f4: 1999 c. 23; section 24 was amended by paragraph 385 of Schedule 8 to, and Schedule 10 to, the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39) and section 102(1) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25). Section 33A was inserted by section 47 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 (c. 48).
f5: 2003 c. 44.