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Criminal Justice (Committal Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022

Consolidated Text As Enacted Cited authorities 19 Cited in Amendments 11 Related
JurisdictionNorthern Ireland
Citation2022 NI c 4
Year2022
  • Article 30 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (which enables a magistrates’ court to conduct a preliminary investigation of an indictable offence) is repealed; and accordingly all committal proceedings in a magistrates’ court shall be by way of preliminary inquiry under that Order.
  • Article 34(2) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (which enables witnesses to give evidence on oath at a preliminary inquiry) is repealed.
  • The Schedule (which contains amendments and repeals consequential on sections 1 and 2) has effect.
    • (1) Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (direct committal for trial) is amended as follows.(2) For section 9 substitute—
      (9⁠) Application of this Chapter
    • “(1) Subject to subsection (3) , this Chapter applies where a person (“the accused”) appears or is brought before a magistrates’ court charged with an offence and one of the conditions mentioned in subsection (2) is satisfied.
    • (2) Those conditions are—
    • (a) that the offence is an offence triable only on indictment;
    • (b) that the offence is an indictable offence to which Article 45 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 applies (summary trial of certain indictable offences) , and the court has decided under that Article not to deal summarily with the offence;
    • (c) that the offence is an indictable offence to which Article 17 of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 applies (summary trial of child charged with indictable offence) , and the court has decided under that Article not to deal summarily with the offence;
    • (d) that the offence is a summary offence and—
    • (i) the accused claims, in accordance with Article 29 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 or any other statutory provision, to be tried on indictment;
    • (ii) the prosecutor exercises any right conferred by any statutory provision to claim that the accused is to be tried on indictment; or
    • (iii) it is otherwise determined that the accused is to be tried on indictment.
    Subject to subsection (3) , this Chapter applies where a person (“the accused”) appears or is brought before a magistrates’ court charged with an offence and one of the conditions mentioned in subsection (2) is satisfied.that the offence is an offence triable only on indictment;that the offence is an indictable offence to which Article 45 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 applies (summary trial of certain indictable offences) , and the court has decided under that Article not to deal summarily with the offence;that the offence is an indictable offence to which Article 17 of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 applies (summary trial of child charged with indictable offence) , and the court has decided under that Article not to deal summarily with the offence;the accused claims, in accordance with Article 29 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 or any other statutory provision, to be tried on indictment;the prosecutor exercises any right conferred by any statutory provision to claim that the accused is to be tried on indictment; orit is otherwise determined that the accused is to be tried on indictment.But this Chapter does not apply where notice has been given in relation to the offence under Article 3 of the Criminal Justice (Serious Fraud) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 or Article 4 of the Children’s Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.references to an offence triable only on indictment are to be construed without reference to Article 29(5) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (certain summary offences to be treated as if they were triable on indictment only) ;“summary offence” has the meaning given by Article 2(3) of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.(3) Section 10 (direct committal where indication by accused of intention to plead guilty) and the cross-heading immediately before it are repealed.(4) For sections 11 and 12 (direct committal for specified and related offences) and the cross-headings immediately before each of those sections substitute—
      Direct committal for trial of certain offences
      (11⁠) Direct committal of certain offences
    • “(1) Where—
    • (a) this Chapter applies in relation to an accused charged with an offence, and
    • (b) the offence is—
    • (i) an offence which, in the case of an adult, is triable only on indictment, or
    • (ii) any other offence which is for the time being designated for the purposes of this subsection by an order made by the Department,
    this Chapter applies in relation to an accused charged with an offence, andan offence which, in the case of an adult, is triable only on indictment, orany other offence which is for the time being designated for the purposes of this subsection by an order made by the Department,“a relevant offence” is an offence mentioned in subsection (1) (b) ;an offence is related to a relevant offence if a count charging the offence could be included in the same indictment as a count charging the relevant offence.Where the court commits a person for trial under subsection (1) for a relevant offence, it shall at the same time commit that person to the Crown Court for trial for any other offence with which that person is charged and which appears to the court to be related to the relevant offence.is charged with an offence (“offence A”) which is not a relevant offence, andis not also charged with a relevant offence,A appears or is brought before the court on the same occasion as another person (“B”) charged with a relevant offence,the court commits B for trial for the relevant offence under subsection (1) , andoffence A appears to the court to be related to the relevant offence for which the court commits B for trial,is charged with an offence (“offence A”) which is not a relevant offence, andis not also charged with a relevant offence,on a previous occasion another person (“B”) has appeared or been brought before the court charged with a relevant offence,the court has on that occasion committed B for trial for the relevant offence under subsection (1) , andoffence A appears to the court to be related to the relevant offence for which the court committed B for trial,it shall accordingly not conduct committal proceedings in relation to that offence; andsection 13; orArticle 29(2) (a) of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 or any regulations under Article 26(3) of the Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.(5) In section 13 (direct committal: procedures) for subsection (2) insert—
    • “(2) Magistrates’ court rules—
    • (a) shall provide that, where a person is committed for trial under this Chapter on any charge or charges, a copy of the notice of committal is given to that person and to the Crown Court sitting at the specified place of trial;
    • (b) may make such further provision in relation to notices of committal, including provision as to the matters to be included in such notices and the duties of a court in relation to such notices.
    shall provide that, where a person is committed for trial under this Chapter on any charge or charges, a copy of the notice of committal is given to that person and to the Crown Court sitting at the specified place of trial;may make such further provision in relation to notices of committal, including provision as to the matters to be included in such notices and the duties of a court in relation to such notices.Magistrates’ court rules and Crown Court Rules shall make provision to ensure that, where a person is committed for trial under this Chapter on any charge or charges, copies of the documents containing the evidence on which the charge or charges are based are given to that person and to

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