Section 70 Interpretation.

In this Act, except in so far as the context otherwise requires,—

• F1“capital expenditure” means expenditure for capital purposes (construed in accordance with section 40 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989);

• “commission area” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of this Act;

• F2. . .

• “justices’ clerk” means a clerk to the justices for a petty sessions area;

• “London commission areas”, “inner London area” and “outer London areas” have the meanings assigned to them by section 2 of this Act;

• F3“magistrate”—

  1. (a)

     in relation to a commission area, means a justice of the peace for the commission area, other than a justice whose name is for the time being entered in the supplemental list,

  2. (b)

     in relation to a part of a commission area, means a person who (in accordance with paragraph (a) of this definition) is a magistrate for that area and ordinarily acts in and for that part of it, and

  3. (c)

     in relation to a magistrates’ courts committee area, means a person who (in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this definition) is a magistrate for that area or any part of that area;

• “magistrates’ courts committee area” means the area to which a magistrates’ courts committee relates;

• “officer” includes the holder of any place, situation or employment, and “office” shall be construed accordingly;

• “petty sessional court-house” means any of the following, that is to say—

  1. (a)

     a court-house or place at which justices are accustomed to assemble for holding special or petty sessions or for the time being appointed as a substitute for such a court-house or place (including, where justices are accustomed to assemble for either special or petty sessions at more than one court-house or place in a petty sessional division, any such court-house or place);

  2. (b)

     a court-house or place at which a stipendiary magistrate is authorised by law to do alone any act authorised to be done by more than one justice of the peace;

• “petty sessions area” has the meaning assigned to it by section 4 of this Act;

• “prescribed” in Part II of this Act means prescribed by regulations made by the F4Lord Chancellor by statutory instrument;

• F5“preserved county” has the meaning given by section 64 of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994;

• F6“relevant area” means the area of a non-metropolitan county created by Part I of the Local Government Act 1972 F7, as it stood immediately before 1st April 1995;

• “the Receiver” means the Receiver for the metropolitan police district;

• “stipendiary magistrate” includes a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate;

• “the supplemental list” has the meaning assigned to it by section 8 of this Act.

• F8“unitary district” means a district comprised in an area for which there is no county council.