Statutory Instruments

2002 No. 2782 (L. 12)

MAGISTRATES' COURTS, ENGLAND AND WALES

PROCEDURE

The Magistrates' Courts (Sex Offender Orders) Rules 2002

Made

7th November 2002

Laid before Parliament

11th November 2002

Coming into force

2nd December 2002

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the power conferred on him by section 144 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980(1), after consultation with the rule committee appointed under the said section 144, hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.  These Rules may be cited as the Magistrates' Courts (Sex Offender Orders) Rules 2002 and shall come into force on 2nd December 2002.

2.  In these Rules—

(a) a reference to a numbered section is a reference to the section so numbered in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998(2); and

(b) a reference to a Schedule is a reference to a Schedule to these Rules.

Revocation

3.  These Rules hereby revoke—the Magistrates' Courts (Sex Offender and Anti-social Behaviour Orders) Rules 1998(3).

Transitional provision

4.  These Rules apply to applications for sex offender orders made under section 2 before, as well as after, the commencement of these Rules.

Sex offender orders and interim sex offender orders

5.—(1) An application for—

(a) a sex offender order made under section 2, or

(b) an interim sex offender order made under section 2A,

shall be in the form set out in Schedule 1.

(2) A summons directed to the defendant requiring him to appear before a magistrates' court to answer an application referred to in paragraph (1) shall be in the form set out in Schedule 2.

(3) A sex offender order shall be in the form set out in Schedule 3.

(4) An interim sex offender order shall be in the form set out in Schedule 4.

Variation and discharge of sex offender orders and interim sex offender orders

6.—(1) This rule applies to the making of an application for the variation or discharge of a sex offender order or an interim sex offender order.

(2) The application shall be made in writing to the appropriate court and shall specify the reason why the applicant believes the court should vary or discharge the order, as the case may be.

(3) Where the court considers that there are no grounds on which it might conclude that the order should be varied or discharged, as the case may be, it may determine the application without hearing representations from the applicant or any other person.

(4) In all other circumstances, the Justices' Chief Executive shall, unless the application is withdrawn, fix a date for the hearing of the application which shall not be earlier than fourteen days from the date on which it is fixed, and he shall issue a summons notifying the parties in writing of that date.

(5) The Justices' Chief Executive shall send with the summons a copy of the application to the recipients of that summons, apart from the applicant.

(6) Where, after a hearing of the application, the court either dismisses the application, varies the order or discharges it by further order, the Justices' Chief Executive shall send a copy of the order containing its decision to each of the recipients of the summons under paragraph (4).

(7) In this rule—

(a) “the application” means an application referred to in paragraph (1) and “the applicant” shall be construed accordingly;

(b) “the appropriate court” means—

(i) the court which made the order; or

(ii) in the case of a sex offender order only, any magistrates' court whose commission area includes any part of the police area of the applicant or of any other relevant chief officer of police; and

(c) “relevant chief officer of police” means a chief officer of police who believes that the defendant is in, or is intending to come to, his police area.

Service of documents on the defendant

7.  Any summons or copy of an order required to be sent under these Rules to the defendant shall be either given to him in person or sent by post to his last known address and, if so given or sent, shall be deemed to have been received by him, unless the defendant proves that it was not received by him.

Irvine of Lairg, C

7th November 2002

Rule 5(1)

SCHEDULE 1

FORM Application for [Sex Offender Order] [and] [Interim Sex Offender Order] (Crime and Disorder Act 1998, [s.2(1)] [and] [2A(2)])

Rule 5(2)

SCHEDULE 2

FORM Summons on Application for [Sex Offender Order] [and] [Interim Sex Offender Order] (Crime and Disorder Act 1998, [s.2] [and] [s.2A])

Rule 5(3)

SCHEDULE 3

FORM Sex Offender Order (Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s.2)

Rule 5(4)

SCHEDULE 4

FORM Interim Sex Offender Order (Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s.2A)

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules revoke the Magistrates' Courts (Sex Offender and Anti-social Behaviour Orders) Rules 1998 and replace the part of those Rules relating to sex offender orders. They prescribe the procedure to be followed for applications for sex offender orders and interim sex offender orders, and for discharge and variation of such orders. The provisions on interim sex offender orders are new, and result from an amendment to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 made by section 68 of the Police Reform Act 2002.

(1)

1980 c. 43.

(2)

1998 c. 37. Relevant amendments were made by sections 67 and 68 of the Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30).

(3)

S.I. 1998/2682 (L. 10).