# The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, Rule 24.15: Duty of court officer and custodian

Extent: E+W

(1) The court officer must—
(a) serve on each party notice of where and when an adjourned hearing will resume, unless—
(i) the party was present when that was arranged,
(ii) the defendant has served a notice of guilty plea to which rule 24.8 (Written guilty plea: special rules) applies, and the adjournment is for not more than 4 weeks, or
(iii) the court tries a case under rule 24.9 (Single justice procedure: special rules), and the adjourned trial will resume under that rule;
(b) if the reason for the adjournment was to postpone sentence, include that reason in any such notice to the defendant;
(c) unless the court otherwise directs, make available to the parties any written report to which rule 24.11 (Procedure if the court convicts) applies;
(d) where the court has ordered a defendant to provide information under section 25 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, serve on the defendant notice of that order unless the defendant was present when it was made;
(e) serve on the prosecutor—
(i) any notice of guilty plea to which rule 24.8 (Written guilty plea: special rules) applies, and
(ii) any declaration served under rule 44.2 (Statutory declaration of ignorance of proceedings) that the defendant did not know about the case;
(f) serve on the prosecutor notice of any hearing date arranged in consequence of such a declaration, unless—
(i) the prosecutor was present when that was arranged, or
(ii) the court otherwise directs;
(g) serve on the prosecutor—
(i) notice of any hearing date arranged in consequence of the issue of a summons under rule 24.9 (Single justice procedure: special rules), and in that event
(ii) any notice served by the defendant under rule 24.9(4)(c) or (d) (notice of intention to plead guilty at a hearing or notice of intention to plead not guilty);
(h) record the court’s reasons for not proceeding in the defendant’s absence where rule 24.12(3)(a) applies; and
(i) give the court such other assistance as it requires.
(2) Where the court passes a sentence of immediate imprisonment or detention, or orders a suspended sentence of imprisonment to take effect, by this rule—
(a) the court requires the defendant to provide, in writing or orally, his or her nationality; and
(b) the custodian must obtain that information and record it.
[Note. See sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
Under section 25 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, where the court does not know a defendant’s sex or date of birth, then on convicting the defendant of an offence involving obligatory or discretionary disqualification, the court must order the defendant to provide that information.
Under Part 5, the magistrates’ court officer must record details of a case and of the court’s decisions.
Under section 86A of the Courts Act 2003, Criminal Procedure Rules must specify stages of proceedings at which the court must require the information to which rule 24.15(2) refers. A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, that person fails to comply with such a requirement, whether by providing false or incomplete information or by providing no information.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/24.15 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-24.15
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.