Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2014

article 7 of The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2015

Status not determined
Strict liability
Courts, police, prisons and the administration of justice

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

7 In Part 37 (Trial and sentence in a magistrates’ court)— a in rule 37.1 (When this Part applies)— i in paragraph (1)(c), for ‘section 14 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980’ substitute ‘section 14 or section 16E of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980’, ii in sub-paragraph (b) of the fourth paragraph of the note to the rule, for ‘rule 37.11(3)(e)’ substitute ‘rule 37.17’, iii in the eighth paragraph of the note to the rule, for ‘rule 37.16’ substitute ‘rule 37.17’, iv in the ninth paragraph of the note to the rule, for ‘rule 37.17’ substitute ‘rule 37.18’, and v after the fourth paragraph of the note to the rule, insert— Under section 16A of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, the court may comprise a single justice where— a the offence charged is a summary offence not punishable with imprisonment; b the defendant was at least 18 years old when charged; c the court is satisfied that specified documents giving notice of the procedure under that section and containing other specified information have been served on the defendant; and d the defendant has not served notice of an intention to plead not guilty, or of a desire not to be tried in accordance with that section. ; b in rule 37.2 (General rules)— i after paragraph (3) insert— 4 Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this rule do not apply where the court tries a case under rule 37.9 (Single justice procedure: special rules). , and ii in the first paragraph of the note to the rule, after ‘sections 10’ insert ‘, 16A’; c in rule 37.3 (Procedure on plea of not guilty), in the sixth paragraph of the note to the rule, for ‘rule 37.10’ substitute ‘rule 37.11’; d for rule 37.8, substitute— Written guilty plea: special rules 37.8 1 This rule applies where— a the offence alleged— i can be tried only in a magistrates’ court, and ii is not one specified under section 12(1)(a) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980; b the defendant is at least 16 years old; c the prosecutor has served on the defendant— i the summons or requisition, ii the material listed in paragraph (2) on which the prosecutor relies to set out the facts of the offence, iii the material listed in paragraph (3) on which the prosecutor relies to provide the court with information relevant to sentence, iv a notice that the procedure set out in this rule applies, and v a notice for the defendant’s use if the defendant wants to plead guilty without attending court; and d the prosecutor has served on the court officer— i copies of those documents, and ii a certificate of service of those documents on the defendant.

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: an court officer
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 an court officer 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 article 7?

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.

Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2015.

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.

Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 9 March 2015
In force from: 6 April 2015
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

These Rules amend the Criminal Procedure Rules 2014, S.I. 2014/1610, as follows: Rule Amendment Part 37 A new rule 37.9 (Single justice procedure: special rules) is inserted in order to supplement sections 46 to 50 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (trial by single justice on the papers). Rule 37.8 (Written guilty plea: special rules), which supplements section 12 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, is amended so as to make the expression of the new and existing rules correspond. Rules 37.1, 37.2 and 37.3 are amended, rules 37.9 to 37.16 are renumbered as rules 37.10 to 37.17 and amended, and rule 37.17 is renumbered as rule 37.18, in consequence of the 2015 Act and the other rule changes. Part 3 Rule 3.9 is amended in consequence. Part 4 Rule 4.7 is amended in consequence. Part 7 Rules 7.1, 7.2 and 7.4 are amended in consequence. Part 9 Rules 9.9, 9.11 and 9.13 are amended in consequence. Part 42 Rules 42.1 and 42.4 are amended in consequence. These Rules come into force on 6th April 2015.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Single justice procedure: special rules 37.9 1 This rule applies where— a the offence alleged— i can be…article 7
a in rule 37.1 (When this Part applies)— i in paragraph (1)(c), for ‘section 14 of the Magistrates’ Courts…article 7(a)
v after the fourth paragraph of the note to the rule, insert— Under section 16A of the Magistrates’ Courts…article 7(a)(v)
Single justice procedure: special rules 37.9 1 This rule applies where— a the offence alleged— i can be…article 7(e)
Single justice procedure: special rulesrule 37.9(1)
Single justice procedure: special rulesrule 37.9(1)(a)
Single justice procedure: special rulesrule 37.9(1)(a)(ii)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2015 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Courts, police, prisons and the administration of justiceOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2015