{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-163",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-163.json",
  "legislation": "nia/2016/18",
  "legislation_title": "Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016",
  "path": "section/163",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "163",
  "heading": "Section 162: meaning of “an accused person”",
  "text": "(1) In section 162 “an accused person” has the following meaning.\n(2) In relation to the Crown Court, “an accused person” means—\n(a) a person who is awaiting trial before the court for an offence punishable with imprisonment, or\n(b) a person who has been arraigned before the court for an offence punishable with imprisonment and has not yet been sentenced or otherwise dealt with for that offence,\nbut does not include a person who has been convicted before the Crown Court of an offence for which the sentence is fixed by law.\n(3) In relation to a court of summary jurisdiction, “an accused person” means—\n(a) a person who has been convicted by the court of an offence punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment; or\n(b) a person charged with such an offence if the court is satisfied that the person did the act or made the omission charged.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": "prospective",
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2016/18/section/163",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:19:54.781348+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."
}