EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order brings into force provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) (“the 2003 Act”).
Most of the paragraphs in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act have previously been commenced in relation to specified local justice areas by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 28 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1320) and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 29 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/2574), which was amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 29 and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/2761). Article 2 of this Order brings into force these paragraphs in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act on 28th May 2013 in relation to all remaining local justice areas and to the Crown Court for certain purposes. These paragraphs in particular—
amend the provisions by which a magistrates’ court decides on the mode of trial for adults charged with an offence which is triable either on indictment or summarily (“either way offences”) (paragraphs 5 to 8);
modify the provisions by which children and young persons are ordinarily tried summarily for an offence which is triable on indictment, subject to certain exceptions (paragraph 9);
introduce provisions by which children and young persons may indicate intention as to plea in certain cases (paragraph 10);
substitute for provisions in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37) which deal with the sending to the Crown Court of adults charged with offences triable only on indictment (“indictable-only offences”) and certain related offences, new provisions which permit sending to the Crown Court in a wider range of circumstances, including either-way offences (which generally, at present, reach the Crown Court by way of committal proceedings), certain offences involving children and young persons and certain cases involving serious or complex fraud or which involve children as witnesses (paragraph 18);
make amendments which concern magistrates’ courts’ powers to commit for sentence on summary trial of either-way offences (paragraphs 21 to 28);
make minor and consequential amendments, including repealing the provisions in the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (c. 43) relating to committal proceedings for either-way offences (paragraph 51).
Article 3 contains saving provisions concerning the provisions brought into force by article 2. The saving provisions provide for circumstances in which a person appears or is brought before a magistrates’ court when he or she had a first appearance concerning that offence before commencement or where someone first appeared on a related indictable-only offence before commencement.
Article 4 removes the effect of the saving provisions from this Order and the two previous commencement orders that commenced provisions in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act. This ensures that as of 31st August 2013 the provisions in Schedule 3 that are commenced by this Order will have full effect in all local justice areas, and the committal procedure by which an either-way offence reaches the Crown Court will be fully abolished.
A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this Order as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.