Article 17 Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015

In Part 41 (Reference to the Court of Appeal of point of law or unduly lenient sentencing)—

(a)

for rule 41.2 (Service of notice of reference and application for permission) substitute—

“41.2.

(1)
The Attorney General must serve any notice of reference and any application for permission to refer a sentencing case on—
(a)
the Registrar; and

(b)
the defendant.

(2)
Where the Attorney General refers a point of law—

(a)
the Attorney must give the Registrar details of—

(i)
the defendant affected,

(ii)
the date and place of the relevant Crown Court decision, and

(iii)
the relevant verdict and sentencing; and

(b)
the Attorney must give the defendant notice that—

(i)
the outcome of the reference will not make any difference to the outcome of the trial, and

(ii)
the defendant may serve a respondent’s notice.

(3)
Where the Attorney General applies for permission to refer a sentencing case, the Attorney must give the defendant notice that—

(a)
the outcome of the reference may make a difference to that sentencing, and in particular may result in a more severe sentence; and

(b)
the defendant may serve a respondent’s notice.

(4)
The Attorney General must serve an application for permission to refer a sentencing case on the Registrar not more than 28 days after the last of the sentences in that case.

[Note. The time limit for serving an application for permission to refer a sentencing case is prescribed by paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Criminal Justice Act 1988^f1. It may be neither extended nor shortened.]”;

(b)

in rule 41.3 (Form of notice of reference and application for permission) for paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1)
A notice of reference and an application for permission to refer a sentencing case must give the year and number of that reference or that case.”;

(c)

omit rule 41.4 (Registrar’s notice to defendant);

(d)

renumber rule 41.5 (Respondent’s notice), rule 41.6 (Variation or withdrawal of notice of reference or application for permission), rule 41.7 (Right to attend hearing) and rule 41.8 (Anonymity of defendant on reference of point of law) as rules 41.4 to 41.7 respectively;

(e)

in rule 41.4, as thus renumbered—

(i)

in paragraph (1), for “A defendant on whom the Registrar serves a reference” substitute “A defendant on whom the Attorney General serves a notice of reference”,

(ii)

in paragraph (3), for “Registrar” substitute “Attorney” in each place it occurs,

(iii)

in paragraph (4), renumber sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) as (b) to (e) respectively,

(iv)

in paragraph (4), before sub-paragraph (b), as thus renumbered, insert—

“(a)
give the date on which the respondent was served with the notice of reference;”,

(v)

in paragraph (5), renumber sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) as (b) and (c) respectively, and

(vi)

in paragraph (5), before sub-paragraph (b), as thus renumbered, insert—

“(a)
give the date on which the respondent was served with the application;”; and

(f)

amend the table of contents correspondingly.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1988 c. 33.