UK Offence Report

Magistrates' court officer to have copies of documents sent to accused under section 12(1) of the…

rule 37.9 of The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2008

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

Section 12 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 applies where a summons has been issued requiring a person to appear before a magistrates' court, other than a youth court, to answer an information for a summary offence punishable with not more than 3 months' imprisonment.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach rule 37.9?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2008.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
21 July 2008
In force from
6 October 2008
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Rules) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Rules add the following new provisions to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005: a new Part 7 (Starting a prosecution in a magistrates' court), in substitution for the existing Part 7 (Commencing proceedings in a magistrates' court). The new Part 7 rules revise and simplify the present rules. They apply as described in rule 3, to criminal cases in magistrates' courts started by one of three specified actions, on or after 6th October 2008. In other cases the rules replaced by those rules apply. a new Part 63 (Appeal to the Crown Court) in substitution for existing Part 63 (Appeal to the Crown Court). The new Part 63 rules revise and simplify the present rules so that they correspond broadly with the other appeal rules which have recently been revised and simplified. Omissions and modifications ensure that the new Part 63 rules are appropriate to the particular rights of appeal and the jurisdiction involved. new rules in Part 2 (Understanding and applying the Rules) make transitional provision and explain when the new rules in Part 7 and Part 63 will apply. In addition the following amendments are made: Part 2 (Understanding and applying the Rules) is amended to include a new rule about representatives and `supporting adults' to clarify, in one place, which representatives can act in criminal proceedings. Part 4 (Service of documents) is amended to clarify the operation of Criminal Procedure Rule 4.4 (Service by leaving or posting a document) and to avoid confusion in respect of service on a company registered in Scotland or in Northern Ireland. Part 37 (Summary trial) is amended to include three rules transferred from the existing Part 7 (Commencing proceedings in magistrates' courts), on its revision and simplification. First, existing rule 7.4 (Duty of court officer receiving statutory declaration under section 14(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980) becomes new rule 37.11; second, existing rule 7.5 (Notice of order under section 25 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988) becomes new rule 37.10, and finally, existing rule 7.9 (Magistrates' court officer to have copies of documents sent to accused under section 12(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980) becomes new rule 37.9. Part 44 (Sentencing children and young persons) is amended to omit reference to “local education authority” which is now redundant as there is also a reference to “local authority” in the rule (44.1(2)(d)). That reference is sufficient to include local education authorities. Part 55 (Road traffic penalties) is amended to include existing rule 7.6 (Statutory declaration under section 72 and 73 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988), which has been transferred, with minor revision, on the revision and simplification of existing Part 7. Part 65 (Appeal to the Court of Appeal: general rules) is amended to reflect recent legislation and to enhance the notes. First, rule 65.5(1) (Renewing an application refused by a judge or the Registrar) is amended to take account of the amendment to section 31C of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (removing the right of appeal to the Court of Appeal from a procedural direction given by a single judge). Second, the notes to rules are amended: (i) to include reference in the note to rule 65.1, to the powers of a single judge under The Serious Crime Act 2007 (Appeals under section 24) Order 2008; and (ii) to cite comprehensively in the note to rule 65.5, primary and secondary legislation relating to the right to renew an application to a judge or to the Court of Appeal. Rule 65.11 is amended to correct a typographical error. Part 66 (Appeal to the Court of Appeal against ruling at preparatory hearing) is amended to reflect the amendment to section 31 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 effected by section 47 of, and paragraph 11 of Schedule 8 to, the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. Part 68 (Appeal to the Court of Appeal about conviction or sentence) is amended to make provision for rights of appeal to the Court of Appeal (i) against wasted costs orders and third party costs orders, and (ii) against a serious crime prevention order where a case is certified fit for appeal. Part 78 (Costs orders against the parties) is amended because the new Part 63 rules remove the 3 day time limit for giving notice to abandon an appeal to the Crown Court. The associated costs rule in Part 78 is amended to remove reference to that time limit and to allow the exercise of judicial discretion as to costs where such an appeal is abandoned. The changes to these Rules come into force on 6th October, 2008.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.60.

Basis
the provision says the conduct is “punishable”
Confidence
0.60 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source