SCHEDULE 5No immunity in certain circumstances
PART 1Sexual offence, existing conviction or ongoing prosecution
Prohibition of grant of immunity: conviction or ongoing prosecution
3
(1)
A grant of immunity for an identified possible offence is prohibited if—
(a)
P has a conviction for the identified possible offence,
(b)
P is being prosecuted for the identified possible offence, or
(c)
P is being prosecuted for any other offence (whether or not a Troubles-related offence), and the immunity requests panel is satisfied that granting P immunity from prosecution for the identified possible offence would risk having, or would have, a prejudicial effect on that prosecution.
(2)
For the purposes of this paragraph—
(a)
P is “being prosecuted for” an offence if a public prosecution of P for the offence has begun and is continuing;
(b)
a “public prosecution” means any prosecution other than a private prosecution;
(c)
a public prosecution of P for an offence “has begun” if a prosecutor has made the decision to prosecute P for that offence;
(d)
the circumstances in which a public prosecution of P is to be regarded as continuing include circumstances where the trial which forms part of the prosecution ends without P being convicted or acquitted or any other verdict being given and either—
(i)
the period for the prosecution to seek a retrial is continuing (without a retrial having been sought), or
(ii)
the prosecution have sought a retrial;
(e)
the circumstances in which a public prosecution of P is to be regarded as not continuing include—
(i)
circumstances where the trial which forms part of the prosecution ends with P being convicted or acquitted or with another verdict being given, and
(ii)
circumstances where the trial ends without P being convicted or acquitted or any other verdict being given and the period for the prosecution to seek a retrial ends without a retrial having been sought.