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The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Criminal Courts Charge) Regulations 2015

S.I. 2015/796 · Made 19 March 2015 · Extends to England and Wales

Up to date with all changes known to legislation.gov.uk, revised to 1 December 2020.

Criminal Law, England And Wales

Made 19th March 2015

Laid before Parliament 23rd March 2015

Coming into force 13th April 2015

The Lord Chancellor makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 21A(3), 21C(1), 21E(4) and (7) and 29 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985f1:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

1985 c. 23; section 54 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (c. 2) inserted sections 21A to 21F of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement and interpretation
  2. 2Cases in which the duty to order payment of the criminal courts charge does not apply
  3. 3Amount of the criminal courts charge Repealed
  4. 4Remittal of the criminal courts charge
  5. Signature
  6. Schedule Schedule Repealed
  7. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement and interpretationI1

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Criminal Courts Charge) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 13th April 2015.

(2)

In these Regulations—

  • “the CAA 1968” means the Criminal Appeal Act 1968f1;

  • “the MHA 1983” means the Mental Health Act 1983f2;

  • F1...

  • “the CAA 1995” means the Criminal Appeal Act 1995f3.

2Cases in which the duty to order payment of the criminal courts charge does not applyI1

(1)

An order under F1section 46(1) of the Sentencing Code (criminal courts charge) must not be made against a person (“P”) convicted of an offence in the following cases—

(a)

where a court deals with P for the offence by making an order discharging P absolutely under F2section 79 of the Sentencing Code (absolute discharge)f1;

(b)

where a court deals with P for the offence by making in respect of P an order under section 37(1) of the MHA 1983 (power of courts to order hospital admission or guardianship) or a direction under section 45A(3) of the MHA 1983 (power of higher courts to order hospital admission)f2;

(c)

where the Crown Court dismisses an appeal against conviction or sentence for the offence following a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under section 11(1) of the CAA 1995 (cases dealt with summarily in England and Wales);

(d)

where the Court of Appeal dismisses an appeal for the offence under Part 1 of the CAA 1968 following a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under section 9(1) of the CAA 1995 (cases dealt with on indictment in England and Wales).

(2)

Paragraph (3) applies where a court deals with a person in the same proceedings—

(a)

for an offence; and

F3(b)

for a relevant failure.

F4(2A)

In this regulation “relevant failure” means a failure to comply with—

(a)

a requirement of a community order (within the meaning given by section 200 of the Sentencing Code),

(b)

a community requirement of a suspended sentence order (within the meaning given by section 286 of the Sentencing Code), or

(c)

a supervision requirement imposed under section 256AA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

(3)

An order under F5section 46(1) of the Sentencing Code must not be made in respect of F6the relevant failure.

(4)

Paragraph (5) applies where a court deals with a person in the same proceedings F7two or more different kinds of relevant failure.

(5)

An order under section 21A(1) of the POA 1985 must not be made—

(a)

where the court deals with the person for a failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F8paragraph (2A)(a), (b) and (c), in respect of the failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F9paragraph (2A)(b) or (c);

(b)

where the court deals with the person for a failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F10paragraph (2A)(a) and (b), in respect of the failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F11paragraph (2A)(b);

(c)

where the court deals with the person for a failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F12paragraph (2A)(a) and (c), in respect of the failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F13paragraph (2A)(c);

(d)

where the court deals with the person for a failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F14paragraph (2A)(b) and (c), in respect of the failure to comply with requirements mentioned in F15paragraph (2A)(c);

F16(e)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3Amount of the criminal courts chargeF1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4Remittal of the criminal courts chargeI1

The period specified for the purposes of F1section 50(4) of the Sentencing Code (power to remit criminal courts charge) is—

(a)

where the person liable to pay the charge has made the application to a magistrates’ court to remit the charge, two years;

(b)

in any other case, 12 months.

Signature

Shailesh Vara

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Ministry of Justice

19th March 2015

F1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 21A(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (c. 23) (“the POA 1985”) requires a court, at the times listed in section 21B of the POA 1985, to order a person convicted of an offence to pay a charge in respect of relevant court costs (the “criminal courts charge”). This duty does not apply in the cases or classes of case prescribed by the Lord Chancellor (section 21A(3)).

Regulation 2 prescribes the classes of case in which the criminal courts charge must not be ordered: where an offender is dealt with for the offence by being absolutely discharged, or where the offender is given a hospital or guardianship order for the offence, or a direction for hospital admission, under the Mental Health Act 1983 (c. 20); and those cases where the Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the case for appeal. Regulation 2(2) and (3) provide that where a court deals with an offender in the same proceedings for both an offence and for any failure to comply with requirements imposed by a community order, a community requirement of a suspended sentence order or a supervision requirement, the court must not impose a criminal courts charge when dealing with the offender for the breach of a requirement. Regulation 2(4) deals with the unusual situation where a court is dealing with an offender in the same proceedings for multiple breaches of orders mentioned in section 21B of the 1985 Act. Where for example the court deals both with a breach of requirements imposed by a community order and a breach of the community requirements of a suspended sentence order, regulation 2(5) means that a charge must not be imposed in relation to the failure to comply with the community requirements of the suspended sentence order.

Regulation 3 and the associated table in the Schedule specify the amounts payable in respect of different classes of case. Regulation 3(4) and (5) for example, deal with the situation where a court is dealing with an offender for more than one offence in the same proceedings where more than one entry in column 1 of the table is potentially relevant. This may occur where a magistrates’ court at a trial is dealing with an offender for conviction of both a summary offence and an offence triable either way. Article 3(5) explains that the court must order the highest relevant amount corresponding to the class of case with which it is concerned.

Section 21E of the POA 1985 gives a magistrates’ court power to remit the criminal courts charge in certain circumstances. The magistrates’ court may not do so until “a specified period” has elapsed from certain events, such as the day on which a person was last convicted of an offence. Article 4 specifies the relevant periods and makes different provision depending on whether an application for remission is made by the offender (where the specified period is two years) or any other case – a magistrates’ court acting of its own motion or an application by a fines officer – (where the period is 12 months).

A full impact assessment of the effect of the policy implemented by this instrument on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/attachment_data/file/336092/addendum-criminal-courts-charge-ia.pdf.