1. These Rules may be cited as the Justices' Clerks Rules 2005 and shall come into force on 1 April 2005.
2. The things specified in the Schedule to these Rules, being authorised to be done by, to or before a single justice of the peace, may be done by, to or before a justices' clerk.
3.—(1) The things specified in paragraphs 1 to 36 in the Schedule to these Rules, being authorised to be done by, to or before a justices' clerk, may be done by, to or before an assistant clerk, provided that that person has been specifically authorised by the justices' clerk for that purpose, and any reference in the Schedule to a justices' clerk shall be taken to include such a person.
(2) The powers authorised to be exercised by a justices' clerk at an early administrative hearing under section 50 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998(1) may be exercised instead by an assistant clerk who has been specifically authorised by the justices' clerk for that purpose.
(3) Any authorisation by the justices' clerk under paragraph (1) or (2) above shall be recorded in writing at the time the authority is given or as soon as practicable thereafter.
4. The Justices' Clerks Rules 1999(2) are hereby revoked.
Christopher Leslie
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Constitutional Affairs
8th March 2005