Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (c. 23)

SCHEDULES

SCHEDULE 1 E+W Minor and Consequential Amendments

Part I E+W Amendments Relating to Part I

The Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) E+W

1 (1) Section 12 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (pleading guilty by post etc.) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (4) (notification of accused’s desire to plead guilty without appearing before court to be read out) the words “by the clerk of the court ” shall be added at the end.

(3) At the end there shall be added the following subsection—

“(9) Where the clerk of the court has received such a notification as is mentioned in subsection (2) above but the accused nevertheless appears before the court at the time and place appointed for the trial or adjourned trial the court may, if the accused consents, proceed under this section as if he were absent.”.

2 E+W In section 19 of that Act (in cases triable either way, court to begin by considering which mode of trial appears more suitable) the following subsection shall be added at the end—

“(5) The power of the Director of Public Prosecutions under subsection (4) above to apply for an offence to be tried on indictment shall not be exercised except with the consent of the Attorney General.”

3 E+W In section 25 of that Act (power to change from summary trial to committal proceedings and vice versa), in subsection (3) before the word “proceed ” there shall be inserted “subject to subsection (3A) below ” and after subsection (3) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(3A) Where the prosecution is being carried on by the Attorney General or the Solicitor General, the court shall not exercise the power conferred by subsection (3) above without his consent and, where the prosecution is being carried on by the Director of Public Prosecutions, shall not exercise that power if the Attorney General directs that it should not be exercised.”

The Contempt of Court Act 1981 (c. 49) E+W

4 E+W In paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (meaning of “discontinuance ” in relation to criminal proceedings), the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted after sub-paragraph (a)—

“(aa) in England and Wales, if they are discontinued by virtue of section 23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985;”.

5 E+W After paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to that Act there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“9A Where proceedings in England and Wales have been discontinued by virtue of section 23 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, but notice is given by the accused under subsection (7) of that section to the effect that he wants the proceedings to continue, they become active again with the giving of that notice.”