Statutory Instruments
MAGISTRATES' COURTS
PROCEDURE
Made
27th August 1992
Laid before Parliament
10th September 1992
Coming into force
1st October 1992
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the power conferred on him by section 144 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980(1), after consultation with the Rule Committee appointed under the said section 144, hereby makes the following Rules:
1. These Rules may be cited as the Magistrates' Courts (Criminal Justice Act 1991) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Rules 1992 and shall come into force on 1st October 1992.
2. The Magistrates' Courts Rules 1981(2) shall be amended as follows-
(a)in paragraph (2)(m) of rule 11, for the figure "17", there shall be substituted the figure "18";
(b)in paragraph (1) of rule 17-
(i)the words "or 62(6)" shall be omitted; and
(ii)for the words "or section 6 of the Bail Act 1976", there shall be substituted the words "section 6 of the Bail Act 1976 or section 40(3)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991";
(c)in paragraph (2) of rule 17-
(i)the words "8(6) or" shall be omitted; and
(ii)the words "or 62(6)" shall be omitted;
(d)in paragraph (3) of rule 17, the words "or under section 6(4) of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973" shall be omitted;
(e)at the end of paragraph (1) of rule 25, there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph-
"(i)if the first-mentioned court remands the accused under section 128A of the Act of 1980 on the occasion upon which it makes the order under section 130(1) of that Act, a statement indicating the date set under section 128A(2) of that Act.";
(f)for paragraph (1) of rule 28 there shall be substituted the following paragraphs-
"(1) Where a magistrates' court discharges or revokes a community order and, in either case, the community order was not made by that court, the clerk of the court shall-
(a)if the community order was made by another magistrates' court, notify the clerk of that court; or
(b)if the community order was made by the Crown Court, notify the appropriate officer of the Crown Court.
(1A) Where a magistrates' court makes an order under section 11 of the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 substituting an order for conditional discharge for a probation order and the probation order was not made by that court, the clerk of the court shall-
(a)if the probation order was made by another magistrates' court, notify the clerk of that court; or
(b)if the probation order was made by the Crown Court, notify the appropriate officer of the Crown Court.";
(g)in paragraph (2) of rule 28-
(i)for the words "section 6 or 8 of the said Act of 1973" there shall be substituted the words "section 15 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969, section 1B of the said Act of 1973, section 18 or 19 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 or Schedule 2 to the Criminal Justice Act 1991"; and
(ii)for the words "probation order" there shall be substituted the words "community order";
(h)at the end of rule 28 there shall be added the following paragraph-
"(4) In this rule, "community order" means probation order, community service order, combination order, curfew order, supervision order or attendance centre order.";
(i)paragraphs (1A) and (3) of rule 29 shall be omitted;
(j)in paragraph (2) of rule 29-
(i)the words "or the said section 47(3) to (5)" shall be omitted;
(ii)the words "or partly suspended", in each place where they occur, shall be omitted;
(k)in paragraph (2) of rule 65, after sub-paragraph (f), there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph-
"(ff)decision of the Secretary of State to make deductions from income support under section 24 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991;";
(l)after paragraph (10A) of rule 66 there shall be inserted the following paragraph-
"(10B) Where a court passes a custodial sentence, the court shall cause a statement of whether it obtained and considered a pre-sentence report before passing sentence to be entered in the register."; and
(m)at the end of rule 74, there shall be added the following paragraph-
"(7) Where a notice of appeal is given in respect of an appeal against sentence by a magistrates' court, and where that sentence was a custodial sentence, the clerk of the court shall send with the notice to the appropriate officer of the Crown Court a statement of whether the magistrates' court obtained and considered a pre-sentence report before passing such sentence.".
3. Schedule 2 to the Magistrates' Courts (Forms) Rules 1981(3) shall be amended as follows-
(a)in the form numbered 16, after the words "[on bail]" there shall be inserted the words "[to local authority accommodation]";
(b)in the form numbered 27 after the words "A form which you can use for writing to the Clerk is enclosed" there shall be inserted the words "Please also complete the enclosed means enquiry form. This is to enable the court to take your income and outgoings into account should it decide to impose a fine for the offence.";
(c)in the form numbered 41-
(i)in paragraph 1, for the figure "17" there shall be substituted the figure "18"; and
(ii)for paragraph 4, there shall be substituted the following paragraph-
"4. The court being of the opinion [that the offence or the combination of the offence and other offences associated with it was so serious that greater punishment should be inflicted for the offence than the court has power to impose] [in the case of a violent or sexual offence committed by a person who is not less than 21 years old], that a sentence of imprisonment for a term longer than the court has power to impose is necessary to protect the public from serious harm from him]:";
(d)for the forms numbered 43, 44, 65 and 92 there shall be substituted the forms numbered 43, 44, 65 and 92 in the Schedule;
(e)after the form numbered 44 there shall be inserted the form numbered 44A;
(f)in the form numbered 46 for the word "Fine", in the second column there shall be substituted the words "Fine (and where appropriate number of units and unit value)";
(g)in the form numbered 51, after the "£" sign where it first appears there shall be inserted the words "(and, where appropriate, ... ... ... ... units at £ ... ... ... ... per unit)";
(h)in the form numbered 52-
(i)after the "£" sign where it first appears there shall be inserted the words "(and, where appropriate, ... ... ... ... units at £ ... ... ... ... per unit)";
(ii)for the words "This court has considered" there shall be substituted the words "This court is satisfied that the default is due to the accused's wilful refusal or culpable neglect and has considered"; and
(iii)after paragraph (e), there shall be inserted the following paragraph-
"(f)an application to the Secretary of State to make deductions from income support,";
(i)in the form numbered 59, after the words "Crown Court at ... ... ... ..." there shall be inserted the words-
"Amount of fine[s] £ (and, where appropriate, ... ... ... ... units at £ ... ... ... ... per unit).";
(j)in the form numbered 61 after the word "Fine: £ " there shall be inserted the words "(and, where appropriate, ... ... ... ... units at £ ... ... ... ... per unit)";
(k)after the form numbered 63, the words "PROBATION AND" shall be omitted from the cross-heading "PROBATION AND CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE";
(l)the forms numbered 64, 66 to 68, 70 to 76, 90A to 90I and 93 to 95B shall be omitted;
(m)in the form numbered 69-
(i)for the words "Supervising Court" there shall be substituted the words "Petty sessions area specified in the probation order"; and
(ii)the words "there being no direction reserving the power of discharge to the Crown Court:" shall be omitted;
(n)in the forms 77 to 82 the words "probation period or", "[probation]", "[probation order]", "[probation period]", "by probationer or", "[Supervising court]" and "Supervising court (if applicable)" shall be omitted in each place in which they occur;
(o)after the form numbered 91, for the cross-heading "COMMUNITY SERVICE ORDERS" there shall be substituted the cross-heading "PROBATION, COMMUNITY SERVICE AND COMBINATION ORDERS";
(p)after the cross-heading mentioned in paragraph (o) above there shall be inserted the forms numbered 92 to 92C in the Schedule, and the forms numbered 92A and 92B in Schedule 2 to the Magistrates' Courts (Forms) Rules 1981 shall be renumbered 92D and 92E;
(q)in the form renumbered 92D by virtue of paragraph (p) above-
(i)for the words "[a probation officer's report] [a report of a social worker of a local authority social services department]" there shall be substituted the words "a pre-sentence report"; and
(ii)the words "is aged 17 and over and" shall be omitted;
(r)in the form renumbered 92E by virtue of paragraph (p) above-
(i)for the words "Supervising Court" there shall be substituted the words "Petty sessions area specified in the community service order"; and
(ii)the words "is aged 17 or over and" shall be omitted;
(s)after the form renumbered 92E by virtue of paragraph (p) above there shall be inserted the forms numbered 92F to 92S in the Schedule; and
(t)after the form numbered 97A there shall be inserted the forms numbered 97B and 97C in the Schedule.
4. The Magistrates' Courts (Advance Information) Rules 1985(4) shall be amended as follows-
(a)in rule 4, for the figure "17", there shall be substituted the figure "18"; and
(b)in paragraph (2) of rule 6, for the figure "17", there shall be substituted the figure "18".
Mackay of Clashfern, C.
Dated 27th August 1992
Rule 3
(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules amend the Magistrates' Courts Rules 1981, the Magistrates' Courts (Forms) Rules 1981 and the Magistrates' Courts (Advance Information) Rules 1985, pursuant, with one exception, to certain provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.
Rule 2 makes miscellaneous amendments to the Magistrates' Courts Rules 1981 consequent upon the 1991 Act. These include amendment of rule 28 of those Rules to require the clerk of a magistrates' court, on the discharge by that court of a community order to notify the court which made the order of such discharge. Rule 2 also removes references to partly suspended sentences, the courts' powers to pass such sentences having been removed by the 1991 Act. Rule 2(l) requires a decision of the Secretary of State to make deductions from income support under section 24 of the 1991 Act to be entered in the magistrates' court register. Rule 2 also requires a statement of whether the court considered a pre-sentence report before passing custodial sentence to be entered in such a register, and such a statement to be sent to the Crown Court on an appeal against a custodial sentence.
Rule 2(e) amends rule 25(1) of the 1981 Rules to require a magistrates' court which transfers a remand hearing to notify the receiving court of the date set for the next remand hearing under section 128A of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, which was inserted by section 155 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and came into force on 2nd December 1991.
Rule 3, and the associated forms in the Schedule, makes numerous amendments to the Magistrates' Courts (Forms) Rules 1981. These include amendment of warrants of commitment to include the court's reasons for being of the opinion that a custodial sentence is required, in accordance with section 1(5) of the 1991 Act, and a number of amendments to reflect the introduction of the unit fines system by section 18 of the 1991 Act. Other amendments are consequent upon the abolition by that Act of the partly suspended sentence. A number of new forms are provided concerning community orders, in particular those reflecting the introduction of combination orders under section 11 of the 1991 Act, and the new provisions on sentencing for breach, revocation and amendment of community orders made by Schedule 2 to the 1991 Act.
Rule 4 makes two amendments to the Magistrates' Courts (Advance Information) Rules 1985 as a result of provision in the 1991 Act that persons aged 17 are to be treated as young persons for certain purposes.
1980 c. 43, as extended by section 145 of that Act and section 48 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 (c. 45).
S.I. 1985/601.