Part III PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
The Crown Court
Distribution of business
77 Committal for trial: date of trial.
1
Crown Court Rules shall prescribe the minimum and the maximum period which may elapse between a person’s committal for trial F2or the giving of a notice of transfer under F3a relevant transfer provision and the beginning of the trial; and such rules may make different provision for different places of trial and for other different circumstances.
2
The trial of a person committed by a magistates’ court F4or in respect of whom a notice of transfer under a relevant transfer provision has been given—
a
shall not begin until the prescribed minimum period has expired except with his consent and the consent of the prosecutor;and
b
shall not begin later than the expiry of the prescribed maximum period unless a judge of the Crown Court otherwise orders.
3
For the purposes of this section the prescribed minimum and maximum periods shall begin with the date of committal for trial F5or of a notice of transferand the trial shall be taken to begin when the defendant is arraigned.
F14
In this section “relevant transfer provision” means—
a
section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, or
b
section 53 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.