Rule 3.24 Application for non-jury trial containing information withheld from a defendantI1

England and Wales

(1)

This rule applies where—

(a)

the prosecutor applies for an order for a trial without a jury because of a danger of jury tampering; and

(b)

the application includes information that the prosecutor thinks ought not be revealed to a defendant.

(2)

The prosecutor must—

(a)

omit that information from the part of the application that is served on that defendant;

(b)

mark the other part to show that, unless the court otherwise directs, it is only for the court; and

(c)

in that other part, explain why the prosecutor has withheld that information from that defendant.

(3)

The hearing of an application to which this rule applies—

(a)

must be in private, unless the court otherwise directs; and

(b)

if the court so directs, may be, wholly or in part, in the absence of a defendant from whom information has been withheld.

(4)

At the hearing of an application to which this rule applies—

(a)

the general rule is that the court will receive, in the following sequence—

(i)

representations first by the prosecutor and then by each defendant, in all the parties’ presence, and then

(ii)

further representations by the prosecutor, in the absence of a defendant from whom information has been withheld; but

(b)

the court may direct other arrangements for the hearing.

(5)

Where, on an application to which this rule applies, the court orders a trial without a jury—

(a)

the general rule is that the trial will be before a judge other than the judge who made the order; but

(b)

the court may direct other arrangements.

Annotations