Section 1 Preliminary enquiry into scheduled offences.

Where in any proceedings before a magistrates’ court for a scheduled offence (not being an extra-territorial offence as defined in section 1(3) of the M1Criminal Jurisdiction Act 1975) the prosecutor requests the court to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the offence under the F1M2Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, the court shall, notwithstanding anything in F2Article 31 of that Order of 1981, conduct a preliminary enquiry into the offence unless the court is of opinion that in the interests of justice a preliminary investigation should be conducted into the offence under F3that Order of 1981.

Where in any proceedings a person charged with a scheduled offence is also charged with another offence which is not a scheduled offence, that other offence shall be treated as a scheduled offence for the purposes of subsection (1) above.