The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2020/417 |
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 417 (L. 12)
Senior Courts Of England And Wales
Magistrates’ Courts, England And Wales
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020
Made 8th April 2020
Laid before Parliament 9th April 2020
Coming into force 14th April 2020
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee makes the following Rules under section 69 of the Courts Act 20031, after consulting in accordance with section 72(1)(a) of that Act.
Citation, commencement, cessation and interpretation
1. These Rules may be cited as the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020 and shall come into force on 14th April 2020.
2. Rules 5, 6(a) and (b), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 cease to have effect when section 53 (and Schedule 23), section 54 (and Schedule 24) and section 55 (and Schedule 25) of the Coronavirus Act 20202expire.
3. Rules 6(c) and 12 cease to have effect when paragraph 6 of Schedule 8 to the Coronavirus Act 2020 expires.
4. In these Rules a reference to a Part or rule by number alone means the Part or rule so numbered in the Criminal Procedure Rules 20153.
Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules
5. In Part 2 (Understanding and applying the Rules)—
(a) in rule 2.2 (Definitions), for the definition of live link substitute—
“‘live link’ means a live video link or a live audio link and:
(i) ‘live video link’ means a live television link or other arrangement by which a person taking part in a hearing can see and hear, and be seen and heard by, everyone else who is taking part and who is not in the same place as that person,
(ii) ‘live audio link’ means a live telephone link or other arrangement by which a person taking part in a hearing can hear, and be heard by, everyone else who is taking part and who is not in the same place as that person;”;
(b) in rule 2.7 (Exercise of functions of the Crown Court), in paragraph (2)(b) for the words following “Crime and Disorder Act 1998” substitute “(Use of live link at preliminary hearings; Use of live link in sentencing hearings; Use of live link in enforcement hearings)”; and
(c) in rule 2.8 (Exercise of functions of a magistrates’ court), in paragraph (4)(b) for the words following “Crime and Disorder Act 1998” substitute “(Live links in preliminary, sentencing and enforcement hearings)”.
6. In Part 3 (Case management)—
(a) in rule 3.2 (The duty of the court)—
(i) for paragraphs (4) and (5) substitute—
“4. Where appropriate live links are available, making use of technology for the purposes of this rule includes giving a live link direction―
(a) for the conduct of any hearing by live link under a power to which the rules in Part 18 apply (Measures to help a person give evidence or otherwise participate); and
(b) whether an application for such a direction is made or not.”, and
(ii) for the note to the rule substitute—
“[Note. In relation to taking part by live link at a pre-trial hearing, see sections 46ZA and 47 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 19844and section 57B of the Crime and Disorder Act 19985.In relation to taking part by live link at a sentencing or enforcement hearing, see sections 57E and 57F of the 1998 Act6.
In relation to taking part by live link at trial, etc., seesections 19, 24 and 33A of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 19997and section 51 of the Criminal Justice Act 20038.Part 18 (Measures to help a person give evidence or otherwise participate) contains relevant rules.]”;
(b) in rule 3.3 (The duty of the parties), from paragraph (2)(e)(i) omit “or (5)” and “or telephone”;
(c) in rule 3.5 (The court’s case management powers), for paragraph (2)(d) substitute—
“(d)
“(d) receive applications, notices, representations and information by letter, by live link, by email or by any other means of electronic communication, and conduct a hearing by live link or other such electronic means;”;
(d) in rule 3.9 (Case preparation and progression)—
(i) after paragraph (7) insert—
“8. Facilitating the participation of any person includes giving a live link direction under a power to which the rules in Part 18 apply (Measures to help a person give evidence or otherwise participate)―
(a) where appropriate live links are available;
(b) for a witness or the defendant to give evidence by live link, subject to the requirements listed in rule 18.23 (Exercise of court’s powers) and in rule 18.24 (Content of application for a live link direction);
(c) for a person to attend a hearing by live link when not giving evidence, subject to those requirements; and
(d) whether an application for such a direction is made or not.”, and
(ii) for the first paragraph of the note to the rule substitute—
“[Note. Part 18 (Measures to help a person give evidence or otherwise participate) contains rules about applications for special measures directions, defendant’s evidence directions and live link directions.”; and
(e) in rule 3.28 (Directions for commissioning medical reports, other than for sentencing purposes), at the end of the third paragraph of the note to the rule insert—
“The court may act on the evidence of only one such practitioner for the purposes of the legislation listed in (c), (d) and (e) above where section 10 of the Coronavirus Act 20209applies and the court is satisfied that to comply with the requirement for two is impractical or would involve undesirable delay.”.
7. In Part 5 (Forms and court records), in rule 5.4 (Duty to make records)—
(a) at the end of paragraph (1)(l)(v) omit “and”;
(b) at the end of paragraph (1)(l)(vi) insert “; and”; and
(c) after paragraph (1)(l)(vi) insert—
“each person who takes part in a hearing by live link;”.
8. In Part 14 (Bail and custody time limits), in rule 14.20 (Exercise of court’s powers: extension of live link bail) from paragraph (5) omit “or telephone”.
9. In Part 18 (Measures to assist a witness or defendant to give evidence)—
(a) for the heading to the Part substitute “Measures to help a person give evidence or otherwise participate”;
(b) in rule 18.1 (When this Part applies)—
(i) for paragraphs (e) and (f) substitute—
“(e)
“(e) where the court can give, vary or rescind a direction (a ‘live link direction’), on an application or on its own initiative, for a witness, defendant or other person to take part in a hearing by live link under—
section 57B, 57E or 57F of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, or
section 51 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003; and
(f)
(f) where the court can exercise any other power it has to give, make, vary, rescind, discharge or revoke a direction for a measure to help a witness or defendant to give evidence or otherwise participate.”; and
(ii) at the end of the rule insert—
“[Note. At the end of this Part is a summary of—
(a)
(a)the circumstances in which a person may be eligible for the assistance of one of the measures to which this Part applies; and
(b)
(b)the circumstances in which the court may receive evidence and conduct a hearing by live link.]”;
(c) at the end of rule 18.2 (Meaning of ‘witness’) omit the note to the rule;
(d) in rule 18.4 (Decisions and reasons)—
(i) for paragraph (3) substitute—
“3. Where the court can give, make, vary or discharge a special measures direction, a defendant’s evidence direction or a witness anonymity order the court must—
(a) announce the reasons for a decision to do so or not to do so; and
(b) in the case of a special measures direction, make that announcement at a hearing in public before the witness who is the subject of that direction gives evidence.
4. Where the court can give, vary or rescind a live link direction the court must—
(a) announce the reasons for a decision not to give such a direction; and
(b) in the case of a live link direction for a sentencing hearing, announce the reasons for a decision to rescind that direction.
5. Where the court gives a direction for everyone taking part in a hearing to do so by live link the court must announce the reasons for a decision—
(a) not to direct that the proceedings are to be broadcast, within the meaning of section 85A of the Courts Act 200310(Enabling the public to see and hear proceedings); or
(b) not to direct that a recording of the proceedings is to be made, within the meaning of that section of that Act.”,
(ii) for the first paragraph of the note to the rule substitute—
“[Note. See sections 20(5), 33A(8) and 33BB(4) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 199911, sections 57B(6), 57E(8) and 57F(9) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and section 51(8) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.”, and
(iii) after the second paragraph of the note to the rule insert—
“Under section 85A of the Courts Act 2003, if the court directs that proceedings are to be conducted wholly by live video or live audio link the court may direct (i) that the proceedings are to be broadcast for the purpose of enabling members of the public to see and hear, or to hear, those proceedings (as the case may be), and (ii) that a recording of the proceedings is to be made for the purpose of enabling the court to keep an audio-visual, or audio, record of the proceedings (as the case may be).”;
(e) for rule 18.23 (Exercise of court’s powers) substitute—
“1. The court may exercise its power to give, vary or rescind a live link direction—
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