Rule 2.2 DefinitionsI1
England and Wales
In these Rules, unless the context makes it clear that something different is meant:
‘advocate’ means a person who is entitled to exercise a right of audience in the court under section 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007f1;
‘authorised court officer’ has the meaning given by rule 2.4;
‘business day’ means any day except Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday or a bank holiday;
‘court’ means a tribunal with jurisdiction over criminal cases. It includes a judge, recorder, District Judge (Magistrates’ Court), lay justice and, when exercising their judicial powers, the Registrar of Criminal Appeals and an authorised court officer;
‘court officer’ means the appropriate member of the staff of a court;
‘justices’ legal adviser’ means a person authorised under section 28 of the Courts Act 2003f2 to give advice about law to justices of the peace;
‘legal representative’ means:
- (i)
the person for the time being named as a party’s representative in any legal aid representation order made under section 16 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012f3, or
- (ii)
subject to that, the person named as a party’s representative in any notice for the time being given under rule 46.2 (Notice of appointment, etc. of legal representative: general rules), provided that person is entitled to conduct litigation in the court under section 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007;
- (i)
‘live link’ means a live audio link or a live video link and:
- (i)
‘live audio link’ means a live telephone link or other arrangement by which a person taking part in a hearing can hear, and be heard by, everyone else who is taking part and who is not in the same place as that person,
- (ii)
‘live video link’ means a live television link or other arrangement by which a person taking part in a hearing can see and hear, and be seen and heard by, everyone else who is taking part and who is not in the same place as that person;
- (i)
‘live link direction’ means a direction that:
- (i)
under section 51(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003f4 requires or permits a person to take part through a live audio link or a live video link in the proceedings listed in section 51(3) of that Act, or
- (ii)
under section 206A of the Extradition Act 2003f5 requires a person to take part through a live link in a hearing in proceedings under Part 1 or Part 2 of that Act;
- (i)
‘Practice Direction’ means the Lord Chief Justice’s Criminal Practice Directions, as amended, and ‘Criminal Costs Practice Direction’ means the Lord Chief Justice’s Practice Direction (Costs in Criminal Proceedings), as amended;
‘public interest ruling’ means a ruling about whether it is in the public interest to disclose prosecution material under sections 3(6), 7A(8) or 8(5) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996f6; and
‘Registrar’ means the Registrar of Criminal Appeals or a court officer exercising a function of the Registrar.
Special definitions and definitions of some other expressions are in the rules in which they apply.
F1...
Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
Rule 2.2 Note omitted (23.2.2026) by virtue of The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2026 (S.I. 2026/47), rule 2, Sch. para. 1
Commencement
Footnotes
- f1
- f2
2003 c. 39; section 28 is substituted by section 3 of, and paragraph 26 of the Schedule to, the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Act 2018 (c. 33).
- f3
- f4
2003 c. 44; section 51 was substituted by section 200 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32).
- f5
2003 c. 41; section 206A was inserted by section 78 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 (c. 26) and amended by section 208 of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 20 to, the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32).
- f6
1996 c. 25; section 7A was inserted by section 37 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44).