- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Courts Act 2003, Section 85F is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 03 September 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
Commencement Orders bringing provisions within this Act into force:
(1)In civil proceedings, no party to the proceedings who has been convicted of, or given a caution for, a specified offence may cross-examine in person a witness who is the victim of that offence.
(2)In civil proceedings, no party to the proceedings who is the victim of a specified offence may cross-examine in person a witness who has been convicted of, or given a caution for, that offence.
(3)Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a conviction or caution that is spent for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, unless evidence in relation to the conviction or caution is admissible in, or may be required in, the proceedings by virtue of section 7(2), (3) or (4) of that Act.
(4)Cross-examination in breach of subsection (1) or (2) does not affect the validity of a decision of the court in the proceedings if the court was not aware of the conviction or caution when the cross-examination took place.
(5)In this section—
“caution” means—
in the case of England and Wales—
a conditional caution given under section 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003,
a youth conditional caution given under section 66A of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, or
any other caution given to a person in England and Wales in respect of an offence which, at the time the caution is given, the person has admitted;
in the case of Scotland, anything corresponding to a caution falling within paragraph (a) (however described) which is given to a person in respect of an offence under the law of Scotland;
in the case of Northern Ireland—
a conditional caution given under section 71 of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, or
any other caution given to a person in Northern Ireland in respect of an offence which, at the time the caution is given, the person has admitted;
“conviction” means—
a conviction by or before a court in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland;
a conviction in service disciplinary proceedings (in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or elsewhere), including—
in the case of proceedings in respect of a service offence, anything that under section 376(1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (which relates to summary hearings and the Summary Appeal Court) is to be treated as a conviction for the purposes of that Act, and
in the case of any other service disciplinary proceedings, a finding of guilt in those proceedings;
a finding in any criminal proceedings (including a finding linked with a finding of insanity) that the person concerned has committed an offence or done the act or made the omission charged;
and “convicted” is to be read accordingly;
“service disciplinary proceedings” means—
any proceedings (whether or not before a court) in respect of a service offence (except proceedings before a civilian court within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006);
any proceedings under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955, or the Naval Discipline Act 1957 (whether before a court-martial or before any other court or person authorised under any of those Acts to award a punishment in respect of an offence);
any proceedings before a Standing Civilian Court established under the Armed Forces Act 1976;
“service offence” means—
a service offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006, or
an SDA offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1059);
“specified offence” means an offence which is specified, or of a description specified, in regulations made by the Lord Chancellor.
(6)The following provisions (which deem a conviction of a person discharged not to be a conviction) do not apply for the purposes of this section to a conviction of a person for an offence in respect of which an order has been made discharging the person absolutely or conditionally—
(a)section 14 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000;
(b)section 82 of the Sentencing Code;
(c)section 187 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 or any corresponding earlier enactment.
(7)For the purposes of this section “offence” includes an offence under a law that is no longer in force.]
Textual Amendments
F1Pt. 7A inserted (21.7.2022) by Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (c. 17), ss. 66, 90(6); S.I. 2022/840, regs. 1(2), 2(b) (with reg. 3)
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: