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CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- LONG TITLE

An Act to establish a new procedure for the committal for trial of
persons accused of indictable offences, to amend the Magistrates'
Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 in relation to the place where a
magistrates' court sits to conduct a preliminary investigation, and
for purposes connected therewith.
[12th December 1968]
Power of magistrates' court to hold preliminary enquiry.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 1

1.(1) A magistrates' court may conduct under the provisions of this
Act a preliminary enquiry into an indictable offence instead of
conducting a preliminary investigation under the provisions of the
Magistrates' Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 (in this Act referred
to as "the Act of 1964") if the prosecutor so requests and the
accused does not object to such preliminary enquiry.

(2) If the prosecutor does not request the court to conduct a
preliminary enquiry or if the accused objects to such an enquiry
the court shall conduct a preliminary investigation under the
provisions of the Act of 1964.

(3) Where two or more persons are charged together with an
indictable offence and

(a)one or more persons objects to the conducting of a preliminary
enquiry under this Act, but

(b)the other person or persons do not so object,

(4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the power
to take a deposition of a dying person under the provisions of
section 49 of the Act of 1964.

(5) References in any enactment to the preliminary investigation of
an indictable offence shall be construed as including references to
a preliminary enquiry conducted under the provisions of this Act.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 2
Documents to be furnished to court and served on accused.

2.(1) If the prosecutor intends to request the court to conduct a
preliminary enquiry he shall furnish a written notice of his
intention in that behalf accompanied by copies of the documents
referred to in subsection (2) to the clerk of petty sessions for
the district in which the preliminary enquiry is to be held.

(2) If the prosecutor intends to request the court to conduct a
preliminary enquiry he shall cause a copy of the written notice
referred to in subsection (1) together with the documents referred
to in this subsection to be served on the accused, or if there is
more than one accused person upon each such person, a reasonable
time before the day fixed for the conduct of the preliminary
enquiry

(a)a statement of the complaint made against him;

(b)a statement of the evidence of each witness upon whose evidence
the complaint is based;

(c)a list of exhibits, if any, to be produced or referred to by
the witnesses referred to in paragraph (b) together with, in the
case of written exhibits, a copy thereof, and in the case of every
exhibit a notice of the time and place when such exhibits may be
examined by the accused or his solicitor or any witness whom the
accused may wish to call at his trial to give evidence relating to
them.

(3) The accused shall have the right to inspect every exhibit,
either by himself or in consultation with his solicitor or any
witness whom the accused may wish to call at his trial.

(4) The prosecutor may withdraw his request for, and the accused
may object to, the conducting of a preliminary enquiry at any time
up to the commencement of such enquiry.

(5) If, when the accused appears before the court and the charge
is read to him according to law,

(a)the court is not satisfied that the accused understands the
effect of proceeding by way of preliminary enquiry; or

(b)the court is satisfied that in all the circumstances the accused
has not had sufficient notice of any evidence to be tendered at
the preliminary enquiry; or

(c)the documents referred to in subsection (2) have not been
supplied to the accused as therein provided,

Requirements as to written statements.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 3

3.(1) A magistrates' court conducting a preliminary enquiry may admit
the statement of the evidence to be given by a witness to the
like extent as oral evidence to the like effect by that person if
the conditions set forth in subsection (2) are complied with.

(2) The said conditions are

(a)the statement shall be in writing,

(b)the statement shall purport to be signed by the person who made
it,

(c)the statement shall contain a declaration by that person to the
effect that it is true to the best of his knowledge and belief
and that he made the statement knowing that, if it were tendered
in evidence, whether at a preliminary enquiry or at the trial of
the accused, he would be liable to prosecution if he wilfully said
in it anything which he knew to be false or did not believe to
be true which declaration shall be endorsed with the signature of
the person who recorded the statement, or to whom the statement was
delivered by the maker of the statement for the purposes of the
proceedings, and

(d)none of the parties objects to the statement being admitted in
evidence upon a ground which would constitute a valid objection to
oral evidence to the like effect as the contents of the statement.

(3) The following provisions shall also have effect in relation to
any written statement tendered in evidence, that is to say

(a)if the statement is made by a person under the age of
twenty-one his age shall be set forth in the statement,

(b)if it is made by a person who cannot read, it shall be read
to him before he signs it and shall be accompanied by a
declaration by the person who so read the statement to the effect
that it was so read and that after it was so read the maker of
the statement assented to it.

(4) Any document or object referred to as an exhibit and identified
in a written statement tendered in evidence shall be treated as if
it had been produced as an exhibit and identified in court by the
maker of the statement.

(5) Nothing in this section shall prevent the giving in evidence of
any confession, or other statement, made at any time by the accused
which is admissible in law against him.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 4
Preliminary enquiry.

4.(1) The court shall consider the documents referred to in section
2(2), other than a statement which is not admitted in evidence by
reason of an objection taken thereto under section 3(2)(d), together
with the exhibits admitted in evidence and shall read aloud so much
of every written statement as is admitted in evidence, or the
purport thereof, if requested to do so by either the prosecutor or
the accused, and shall consider any submissions which may be made
by or on behalf of the prosecutor or the accused.

(2) The court, the prosecutor and the accused may each require any
person, whether his statement has been tendered in evidence or not,
to attend and give evidence on oath which evidence shall be
recorded as a written deposition and any such witness may be
cross-examined and re-examined on his evidence; and where the
evidence of a person is so recorded as a written deposition the
court shall disregard any statement made by that person which has
been furnished under section 2.

(3) The court shall ask the accused if he has anything to say in
answer to the charge and at the same time shall caution the
accused that he is not obliged to say anything unless he wishes to
do so and that whatever he does say may be taken down in writing
and may be given in evidence at his trial; and whatever the
accused says in answer after such caution shall be taken down in
writing and read over to him and shall be signed by the resident
magistrate or other justice of the peace conducting the preliminary
enquiry.

(4) The accused's statement made and appearing to be signed under
subsection (3) may be given in evidence at his trial without
further proof unless it is proved that it was not signed by the
resident magistrate or other justice of the peace by whom it
purports to have been signed.

(5) It shall be a sufficient compliance with this section requiring
the court to read aloud the contents of any written statement, or
the purport thereof, or to address the accused, for the presiding
resident magistrate or justice of the peace to cause the statement,
or the purport thereof, to be read or the accused to be addressed
in the appropriate manner, by an official of the court.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 5
Decision on preliminary enquiry.

5.(1) The court shall, after considering

(a)the documents referred to in section 2(2)(a) and (c) and the
statements admitted in evidence under section 3(1);

(b)any written depositions;

(c)the exhibits;

(d)any submissions made under section 4(1); and

(e)the statement of the accused made and signed under section 4(3),

(2) If the court discharges the accused in accordance with the
provisions of section 45 of the Act of 1964, the court shall read
aloud the contents of every written statement admitted in evidence;
and where the contents of the written statements are so read out
an order made under section 51(2) of the Act of 1964 shall not
apply to the evidence contained in those statements.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 6
Committal proceedings to be in open court.

6.(1) The place in which a magistrates' court is sitting to conduct
a preliminary investigation under the Act of 1964 or a preliminary
enquiry under this Act shall be deemed to be an open court except
where

(a)any statutory provision contains an express provision to the
contrary; or

(b)it appears to the court that the ends of justice would not be
served by sitting in open court for the whole or any part of the
investigation or enquiry.

Subs.(2) substitutes s.42(2) of 1964 c.21 (NI)

(3) In this section "statutory provision" has the meaning assigned
to it by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland)
1954.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 7
Reading at court of trial of statements tendered at preliminary
enquiry.

7. The statement of a witness admitted in evidence at a preliminary
enquiry (other than a statement which is to be disregarded under
section 4(2)) which complies with the provisions of section 3 may,
with the leave of the court, be read as evidence at the trial

(a)by agreement between the prosecution and the defence, or

(b)if the court is satisfied that the witness is dead or unfit to
give evidence or to attend for that purpose, or that all reasonable
efforts to find him or to secure his attendance have been made
without success.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 8
Facts to be stated in open court on plea of guilty.

8.(1) Where an accused who has been committed for trial under the
provisions of section 5 pleads guilty on arraignment to any count
in the indictment preferred against him, the prosecutor shall, unless
the judge otherwise directs, before the accused is sentenced in
respect of the offence charged in that count, state in open court
sufficient of the facts upon which that count is based as will
make known the identity of the accused, and the nature and gravity
of the offence charged in that count.

(2) The failure of the prosecutor to comply, or adequately to
comply, with the provisions of subsection (1) shall not affect the
validity of any sentence passed upon the accused.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 9
Savings.

9. Nothing in this Act shall affect

(a)the operation of sections 41, 52 and 53 of the Act of 1964
(which provide respectively for the right to claim trial by jury
for certain summary offences, the summary trial of certain indictable
offences and the power of a court in dealing summarily with an
indictable offence);

(b)the operation of section 1 of the Criminal Evidence Act (Northern
Ireland) 1965 (which provides for the admissibility of certain trade
or business records).

S.10 rep. by 1975 c.59 s.14(5) sch.6. S.11 rep. by 1969 c.15 (NI)
s.4(2) sch. S.12 rep. by 1981 NI 8 art.42(2) sch.4 Pt.I

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 13
Interpretation.

13. In this Act

"the Act of 1964" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of
this Act;

"magistrates' court" has the meaning assigned thereto by section 1
of the Act of 1964; and

"preliminary enquiry" means a preliminary enquiry conducted under the
provisions of this Act.

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (COMMITTAL FOR TRIAL) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1968
- SECT 14
Short title and commencement.

14.(1) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Procedure (Committal
for Trial) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.

(2) Commencement