{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/magistrates-courts-rules-northern-ireland-1984/rule-149M",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/magistrates-courts-rules-northern-ireland-1984/rule-149M.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/1984/225",
  "legislation_title": "Magistrates’ Courts Rules (Northern Ireland) 1984",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/magistrates-courts-rules-northern-ireland-1984",
  "path": "rule/149M",
  "kind": "rule",
  "number": "149M",
  "heading": "Application to make the summons issued on application ineffective",
  "text": "(1) This rule applies to an application under Article 118C of the Order.\n(2) The application shall be made in writing, be served on the clerk of petty sessions, and shall—\n(a) state that the applicant was not served with notice of the application to issue the summons and that he was neither present nor represented at any hearing of that application; and\n(b) set out the reasons why the applicant considers that he cannot give evidence likely to be material evidence or, as the case may be, produce any document or thing likely to be material evidence.\n(3) On receiving the application the clerk of petty sessions shall—\n(a) serve notice of the application on the person on whose application the witness summons was issued; and\n(b) refer the application—\n(i) to the district judge (magistrates’ courts) who will hear and determine the complaint; or\n(ii) to the district judge (magistrates’ courts) or lay magistrate who issued the witness summons or, the district judge (magistrates’ courts) who will hear the complaint, if the hearing of the complaint has not yet begun.\n(4) The court shall not grant or, as the case may be, refuse the application unless the applicant and the person on whose application the witness summons was issued have been given an opportunity of making representations, whether at a hearing or (where they agree to do so) in writing without a hearing.\n(5) In a case where the witness summons to which the application relates imposed a requirement to produce any document or thing, then if—\n(a) the applicant can produce that document or thing; but\n(b) he seeks to satisfy the court that the document or thing is not likely to be material evidence or that is not in the interests of justice for it to be produced, the applicant must, unless the court directs otherwise, arrange for the document or thing to be available at the hearing of the application.\n(6) A hearing under this rule may, if the court so directs, take place in private and the reasons for granting or refusing the application shall be recorded in the Order Book.\n(7) The clerk of the petty sessions shall notify the applicant and the person on whose application the witness summons was issued of the decision of the court in relation to the application.",
  "extent": "N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/1984/225/rule/149M",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T03:32:12.928261+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."
}