{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-36.3",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-36.3.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2025/909",
  "legislation_title": "The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025",
  "path": "rule/36.3",
  "kind": "rule",
  "number": "36.3",
  "heading": "Power to vary requirements",
  "text": "The court or the Registrar may—\n(a) shorten a time limit or extend it (even after it has expired) unless that is inconsistent with other legislation;\n(b) allow a party to vary any notice that that party has served;\n(c) direct that a notice or application be served on any person; and\n(d) allow a notice or application to be in a different form, or presented orally.\n[Note. The time limit for serving an appeal notice—\n(a) under section 18 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 on an appeal against conviction or sentence, and\n(b) under section 18A of that Act on an appeal against a finding of contempt of court\nmay be extended but not shortened: see rule 39.2.\nThe time limit for serving an application for permission to refer a sentencing case under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 may be neither extended nor shortened: see rule 41.2(4).\nThe time limits in rule 43.2 for applying to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal or refer a case to the Supreme Court may be extended or shortened only as explained in the note to that rule.]",
  "extent": "E+W",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "Rule 36.3 in force at 6.10.2025, see Preamble"
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "1968 c. 19."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "1968 c. 19; section 18A was inserted by section 170 of, and paragraphs 20 and 25 of Schedule 15 to, the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (c. 33)."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "1988 c. 33; section 36 was amended by sections 272, 304, 331 and 336 of, and paragraph 46 of Schedule 32 and paragraph 96 of Schedule 36 to, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), sections 40 and 148 of, and paragraph 48 of Schedule 9 to, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), section 46 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (c. 4) and section 416 of, and paragraph 89 of Schedule 24 to, the Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "word inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/721",
      "affecting_title": "The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2026"
    },
    {
      "type": "word omitted",
      "affecting": "uksi/2026/721",
      "affecting_title": "The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2026"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/36.3",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T21:12:44.140935+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}