Criminal Law Act 1977

4 (1) Section 24 (process for minor offences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (3) (under which proceedings are void if the defendant makes a statutory declaration that he did not know of the proceedings until a date after the trial of the information was begun and that declaration is served on the clerk to the justices within fourteen days of that date) for " fourteen days " substitute " twenty-one days ".

(3) After subsection (4) (service of statutory declaration) insert—

“(4A) If, on the application of the defendant it appears to a magistrates' court (which for this purpose may be composed of a single justice) that it was not reasonable to expect the defendant to serve such a statutory declaration as is mentioned in subsection (3) above within the period allowed by that subsection, the court may accept service of such a declaration by the defendant after that period has expired ; and a statutory declaration accepted under this subsection shall be deemed to have been served as required by that subsection.”.

(4) The preceding provisions of this paragraph shall not apply in relation to proceedings commenced before the corning into force of this paragraph.