Magistrates' Courts Rules 1968
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1968/1920 |
1968 No. 1920 (L. 20)
MAGISTRATES' COURTS
PROCEDURE
The Magistrates' Courts Rules 196827thNovember 1968
17thDecember 1968
1stMarch 1969
ARRANGEMENT OF RULES
INFORMATION AND COMPLAINT
1. Information and complaint.
PROCEEDINGS PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL ON INDICTMENT
2. Restrictions on reports of committal proceedings.
3. Committal for trial without consideration of evidence.
4. Taking depositions of witnesses and statement of accused.
5. Order for attendance of witness at court of trial.
6. Procuring attendance at trial of witness subject to conditional order.
7. Place of trial to be stated in warrant or recognizance.
8. Notice to governor of prison of committal on bail.
9. Notices on committal of person subject to transfer direction.
10. Documents and exhibits to be retained and sent to court of trial.
11. Supply of copies of depositions and information to accused.
SUMMARY TRIAL OF INFORMATION AND HEARING OF COMPLAINT
12. Information to be for one offence only.
13. Order of evidence and speeches: information.
14. Order of evidence and speeches: complaint.
15. Form of conviction or order.
16. Committals for sentence, etc.
17. Committal to quarter sessions for order restricting discharge, etc.
18. Duty of clerk receiving statutory declaration under s.24(3) of Criminal Justice Act 1967.
SUMMARY TRIAL OF INDICTABLE OFFENCE
19. Duty to recall witnesses who have given evidence before examining justices.
20. Preservation of depositions where indictable offence is dealt with summarily.
RIGHT TO CLAIM TRIAL BY JURY DEPENDING ON PREVIOUS CONVICTION
21. Inquiry into antecedents where right to claim trial by jury depends on previous conviction.
REMAND
22. Remand on bail for more than eight days where sureties have not entered into recognizances.
23. Documents to be sent on remand for medical inquiry.
24. Notice of further remand in certain cases.
CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE AND PROBATION
25. Notification of discharge, etc., of probation order or order for conditional discharge.
SUSPENDED SENTENCES
26. Entries in register in respect of suspended sentences.
HOSPITAL ORDER
27. Documents to be sent under Mental Health Act 1959.
ENDORSEMENT
28. Endorsement of driving licence.
DEPOSITION OF PERSON DANGEROUSLY ILL
29. Deposition of person dangerously ill.
APPEAL TO MAGISTRATES' COURT
30. Appeal to be by complaint.
AFFILIATION ORDERS
31. Time for hearing affiliation summons.
ORDERS FOR PERIODICAL PAYMENTS
32. Method of making periodical payments.
33. Duty of clerk to notify arrears of weekly payments.
34. Revocation, variation, etc., of orders for periodical payment.
35. Application for sums under affiliation order to be paid to person having custody of child.
36. Service of copy of order.
37. Remission of sums due under order.
SATISFACTION, ENFORCEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PAYMENTS
38. Notice to defendant of fine or forfeited recognizance.
39. To whom payments are to be made.
40. Duty of clerk to give receipt.
41. Relief of collecting officer.
42. Application for further time.
43. Notice to defendant before enforcing order.
44. Execution of distress warrant.
45. Payment after imprisonment imposed.
46. Order for supervision.
47. Transfer of fine order.
48. Civil debt: judgment summons.
49. Enforcement of affiliation orders, etc.
50. Notice of adjudication on complaint for enforcement of affiliation order, etc.
51. Notice of date of reception in custody and discharge.
52. Direction that money found on defaulter shall not be applied in satisfaction of debt.
53. Particulars of fine enforcement to be entered in register.
REGISTER
54. Register of convictions, etc.
EVIDENCE—GENERAL
55. Proof of service, handwriting, etc.
56. Proof of proceedings.
57. Proof that affiliation, maintenance orders, etc., have not been revoked, etc.
EVIDENCE—CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
58. Written statements in committal proceedings or summary trial.
59. Proof by formal admission.
60. Proof of previous convictions.
61. Clerk to have copies of documents sent to defendant under Magistrates' Courts Act 1957.
APPEAL TO QUARTER SESSIONS
62. Documents to be sent to quarter sessions.
63. Notices for purpose of appeal.
64. Abandonment of appeal.
CASE STATED
65. Application to state case.
66. Case stated by two justices on behalf of all.
67. Case to be stated within three months.
68. Contents of case stated.
RECOGNIZANCE
69. Recognizance to keep the peace, etc., taken by one court and discharged by another.
70. Application to vary order for sureties or dispense with them.
71. Notice of enlargement of recognizances.
72. Recognizances taken before person other than court which fixed them.
73. Notice to governor of prison, etc., where release from custody is ordered.
74. Release when recognizances have been taken.
75. Binding over witness under s.5 of Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965.
76. Notification about witness to be sent to court of assize or quarter sessions.
WARRANT
77. Committal to custody to be by warrant.
78. Warrant to be signed.
79. Warrant of arrest.
80. Warrant of commitment.
SUMMONS
81. Form of summons.
82. Service of summons, etc.
FORM IN WHICH OFFENCE MAY BE STATED IN DOCUMENTS
83. Statement of offence.
MISCELLANEOUS
84. Application for, and notice to be given of, order under s.106 of Road Traffic Act 1960.
85. Application for revocation of order under s.14 of Food and Drugs Act 1955.
86. Application for substitution of conditional discharge for probation.
87. Application for alteration of maintenance agreement under s.24 of Matrimonial Causes Act 1965.
88. Application for summons to witness or warrant for his arrest.
89. Forms.
90. Saving for the Summary Jurisdiction (Children and Young Persons) Rules 1933.
91. Application of other rules or instruments.
92. Construction of references to registered post in rules made before 1961 under Justices of the Peace Act 1949.
93. Signature of forms prescribed by rules made under Justices of the Peace Act 1949.
94. Interpretation.
95. Revocation of previous Rules.
96. Citation and commencement.
Schedule—Rules revoked.
I, Gerald, Baron Gardiner, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, in exercise of the power conferred upon me by section 15 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949(a), as extended by section 122 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952(b), do hereby, after consultation with the Rule Committee appointed under the said section 15, make the following Rules:—
INFORMATION AND COMPLAINT
Information and complaint
1.—(1) An information may be laid or complaint made by the prosecutor or complainant in person or by his counsel or solicitor or other person authorised in that behalf.
(2) Subject to any provision of the Act and any other enactment, an information or complaint need not be in writing or on oath.
(3) It shall not be necessary in an information or complaint to specify or negative an exception, exemption, proviso, excuse or qualification, whether or not it accompanies the description of the offence or matter of complaint contained in the enactment creating the offence or on which the complaint is founded.
(a) 1949 c. 101.
(b) 1952 c. 55.
PROCEEDINGS PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL ON INDICTMENT
Restrictions on reports of committal proceedings
2.—(1) A magistrates' court acting as examining justices shall before admitting in evidence any written statement or taking depositions of witnesses in accordance with Rule 4 of these Rules explain to the accused the restrictions on reports of committal proceedings imposed by section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967(a) and inform him of his right to apply to the court for an order removing those restrictions.
(2) Where a magistrates' court has made an order under section 3(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 removing restrictions on the reports of committal proceedings, such order shall be entered in the register.
(3) Where the court adjourns any such proceedings to another day, the court shall, at the beginning of any adjourned hearing, state that the order has been made.
Committal for trial without consideration of evidence
3.—(1) This Rule applies to committal proceedings where the accused is represented by counsel or a solicitor and where the court has been informed that all the evidence for the prosecution is in the form of written statements copies of which have been given to the accused.
(2) A magistrates' court inquiring into an offence in committal proceedings to which this Rule applies shall cause the charge to be written down, if this has not already been done, and read to the accused and shall then ascertain whether he wishes to—
(a) object to any of the prosecution statements being tendered in evidence;
(b) give evidence himself or call witnesses; or
(c) submit that the prosecution statements disclose insufficient evidence to put him on trial by jury for the offence with which he is charged.
(3) If the court is satisfied that the accused or, as the case may be, each of the accused does not wish to take any of the steps mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of the last foregoing paragraph and determines, after receiving any written statements tendered by the prosecution and the defence under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, to commit the accused for trial without consideration of the evidence, the court shall proceed in accordance with the next following paragraph and in any other case shall proceed in accordance with Rule 4 of these Rules.
(4) The court shall then say to the accused—
"You will be committed for trial by jury but I must warn you that at that trial you may not be permitted to give evidence of an alibi or to call witnesses in support of an alibi unless you have earlier given particulars of the alibi and of the witnesses. You may give those particulars now to this court or at any time in the next seven days to the solicitor for the prosecution.",
or words to that effect:
Provided that the court shall not be required to give this warning in any case where it appears to the court that, having regard to the nature...
To continue reading
Request your trial