Citation, extent and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 29 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012.

(2) This Order does not extend to Northern Ireland.

(3) In this Order "the 1998 Act" means the Crime and Disorder Act 1998(2).

Provisions coming into force on 5th November 2012 in certain local justice areas and the Crown Court for certain purposes

2.-(1) The following provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 come into force on 5th November 2012 in relation to the relevant local justice areas-

(a)section 41 (allocation of offences triable either way, and sending cases to Crown Court), so far as it relates to the provisions specified in sub-paragraph (c);

(b)section 332 (repeals), so far as it relates to the provisions specified in sub-paragraph (d);

(c)Schedule 3(3) (allocation of cases triable either way, and sending cases to the Crown Court etc), so far as it is not already in force, other than-

(i)paragraph 19(1) (restrictions on reporting of allocation or sending proceedings), so far as it would insert section 52B(4) of the 1998 Act;

(ii)paragraph 19(2)(b);

(iii)paragraph 57(2) (amendment of section 7A of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985(4));

(iv)paragraph 66(4), so far as it would omit paragraph (a) of the modified section 3(8) of the 1996 Act (initial duty of prosecutor to disclose);

(v)paragraphs 70 and 71(d) (extending to Northern Ireland reporting restrictions for applications for dismissal);

(d)Part 4 of Schedule 37(5) (repeals), so far as it is not already in force, other than the entry relating to paragraph (a) of the modified section 3(8) of the 1996 Act.

(2) The relevant local justice areas are specified in the Schedule.

(3) The provisions specified in paragraph (1) are also to come into force on 5th November 2012 in relation to the Crown Court where it deals with-

(a)a person sent for trial by a magistrates' court in a relevant local justice area;

(b)a person committed for sentence by a magistrates' court in a relevant local justice area.

(4) In this article "the 1996 Act" means the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996(6).

Saving provisions

3.-(1) The amendments coming into force by virtue of article 2 are to have no effect in relation to an offence ("the relevant offence") if condition 1 or 2 is satisfied in respect of that offence.

(2) Condition 1 is satisfied if a person first appeared in respect of the relevant offence before 5th November 2012.

(3) Condition 2 is satisfied if-

(a)a person first appears in respect of the relevant offence on or after 5th November 2012,

(b)the relevant offence is related to an offence which is triable only on indictment ("the indictable-only offence"), and

(c)the person who is charged with the indictable-only offence first appeared in respect of that offence before 5th November 2012.

(4) For the purposes of this article-

(a)a person ("A") first appears in respect of an offence where A appears or is brought before a magistrates' court for the first time in the proceedings in respect of which A is charged with the offence;

(b)a relevant offence is related to an indictable-only offence if, were a magistrates' court to apply section 51 of the 1998 Act as it was in force immediately before 5th November 2012, that court would be required to send the person charged with the relevant offence to the Crown Court for trial for that offence, or could have done so.

Effect on coming into force of provisions in Schedule 3 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 of combining certain local justice areas on 1st January 2013

4.-(1) The amendments coming into force by virtue of article 2 are to have the same effect on or after 1st January 2013 as they had before that date in relation to the local justice areas of Halton and Warrington, notwithstanding those areas being combined to become the local justice area of North Cheshire(7).

(2) The amendments coming into force by virtue of article 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 28 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012(8) and article 2 of this Order are to have the same effect on or after 1st January 2013 as they had before that date in relation to the local justice areas of Bath and Wansdyke; North Somerset; South Somerset and Mendip; and Taunton Deane, West Somerset and Sedgemoor, notwithstanding those areas being combined to become the local justice area of Somerset(9).

Article 2

SCHEDULE

Relevant local justice areas

• Birmingham

• Bolton

• Buckinghamshire

• Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale

• Bury and Rochdale

• Carmarthenshire

• Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire

• Chorley

• Coventry District

• Dudley and Halesowen

• East Lancashire

• Furness and District

• Fylde Coast

• Gloucestershire

• Halton

• Lancaster

• Macclesfield

• Manchester and Salford

• Mansfield and Worksop

• Neath Port Talbot

• North Cumbria

• North East Derbyshire and Dales

• North West Wiltshire

• Nottingham and Newark

• Oldham

• Oxfordshire

• Preston

• Sandwell

• Solihull

• South Cheshire

• South East Wiltshire

• South Lakeland

• South Ribble

• South Somerset and Mendip

• Southern Derbyshire

• Stockport

• Swansea County

• Swindon

• Tameside

• Taunton Deane, West Somerset and Sedgemoor

• Trafford

• Walsall and Aldridge

• Warrington

• Warwickshire

• West Cheshire

• West Cumbria

• West Hampshire

• Wolverhampton

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").

Article 2 brings into force most of the paragraphs in Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act on 5th November 2012 in relation to certain local justice areas (listed in the Schedule to the Order) and to the Crown Court for certain purposes. These paragraphs have already been brought into force on 18th June 2012 in relation to certain other local justice areas and the Crown Court for certain purposes by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 28 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1320). 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 rules 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 ensures that the paragraphs of Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act referred to in article 2 will continue to have effect notwithstanding a change in the structure of certain local justice areas on 1st January 2013. The Local Justice Areas Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1277) combines Halton local justice area and Warrington local justice area to form North Cheshire local justice area, with effect from 1st January 2013. Similarly, the Local Justice Areas (No. 2) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/1555) combines the local justice areas of Bath and Wansdyke; North Somerset; South Somerset and Mendip; and Taunton Deane, West Somerset and Sedgemoor to become Somerset. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Commencement No. 28 and Saving Provisions) Order 2012 has already commenced Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act in Bath and Wansdyke and North Somerset; this Commencement Order commences it in South Somerset and Mendip and Taunton Deane, West Somerset and Sedgemoor.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for this Order as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.

NOTE AS TO EARLIER COMMENCEMENT ORDERS

(This note is not part of the Order)