UK Offence Report

Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules

article 4(d) of The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021

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

Young defendant) the defendant indicates an intention to plead guilty, or”, ii for paragraph (3) substitute— 3 At a preparation for trial hearing, if the defendant is present— a the court must satisfy itself that there has been explained to the defendant, in terms the defendant can understand (with help, if necessary), that the defendant will receive credit for a guilty plea; b the court may explain, in terms the defendant can understand (with help, if necessary), that the defendant may ask the court for an indication of whether a custodial or non-custodial sentence is more likely in the event of a guilty plea there and then, but the court need not give such an indication; c whether the court gives such an explanation or not the defendant may ask the court for such an indication; d if the defendant asks the court for such an indication, the prosecutor must― i provide any information relevant to sentence not yet served but which is available there and then, and ii identify any other matter relevant to sentence, including the legislation applicable, any sentencing guidelines or guideline cases and aggravating and mitigating factors; e the court must take the defendant’s plea or if no plea can be taken then find out whether the defendant is likely to plead guilty or not guilty; and f unless the defendant pleads guilty, the court must satisfy itself that there has been explained to the defendant, in terms the defendant can understand (with help, if necessary), that at the trial― i the defendant will have the right to give evidence after the court has heard the prosecution case, ii if the defendant does not attend, the trial is likely to take place in the defendant’s absence, and iii where the defendant is released on bail, failure to attend court when required is an offence for which the defendant may be arrested and punished and bail may be withdrawn. , iii in paragraph (5)(a), after “date of birth” insert “, unless already provided under rule 9.2 (Allocation and sending for trial;

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to do something the instrument requires
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 article 4(d)?

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. Not doing what the provision requires under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

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
14 July 2021
In force from
4 October 2021
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 amend the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, S.I. 2020/759, as follows: Rule Amendment Part 2 Rule 2.1 is amended to accommodate the possibility of a repeal of the provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 to which the rule refers before their expiry. Rule 2.8 is amended to allow an authorised court officer to exercise under new rule 5.10 the same judicial function as such an officer may exercise under current rule 5.7. Part 3 Rules 3.1(2) and 3.16(1) are amended more clearly to define the circumstances in which the rules about pre-trial preparation in magistrates’ courts apply. Rule 3.16 is amended to govern the exercise of a magistrates’ court’s power to give an indication of likely sentence in the event of a guilty plea during preparation for trial. Part 5 Rule 5.4 is amended explicitly to require the making of a record of the exercise of a magistrates’ court’s powers (i) on sending a case to the Crown Court for trial, (ii) on giving a sentencing indication, and (iii) by a judge who is entitled under section 66 of the Courts Act 2003 to exercise those powers. New rules 5.7 to 5.11 are substituted for current rules 5.7 and 5.8 more clearly to define the procedure governing the supply of information about cases from court records. Part 9 Rule 9.2 is amended (i) explicitly to refer to a magistrates’ court’s power to send a defendant for trial in the Crown Court in the defendant’s absence where rule 9.7 applies, and (ii) explicitly to require the taking of a defendant’s name and date of birth at the first hearing in a magistrates’ court where that is a hearing to which the Part 9 rules apply. Rule 9.13 is amended to govern the exercise of a youth court’s power to give an indication of likely sentence in the event of a guilty plea during allocation proceedings in that court. Part 19 Rule 19.1 is amended to acknowledge the court’s power to impose procedural requirements for the introduction of expert opinion evidence where evidence of fact in the event includes such opinion evidence. Rule 19.3 is amended to require a party who introduces expert opinion evidence to make sure that the admissibility of facts stated in the expert’s report is explained. Part 24 Rule 24.4 is amended to require a party who introduces oral evidence to explain how that evidence is admissible, unless it is the witness’ direct evidence of fact. Rule 24.5 is amended to impose the same requirement on a party who introduces written evidence. Part 25 Rule 25.11 is amended to require a party who introduces oral evidence to explain how that evidence is admissible, unless it is the witness’ direct evidence of fact. Rule 25.12 is amended to impose the same requirement on a party who introduces written evidence. Part 31 Rules 31.1 and 31.5 are amended to make it clear that the rules apply not only to the variation or revocation of behaviour orders but also to the renewal or discharge of such orders. Rule 31.5 is also amended to require service by the court officer, not by the applicant, of an application to vary or discharge a restraining order, and of any notice of evidence in support of such an application. Rule 31.9 is amended to allow the court to dispense with a requirement for service where that would be unnecessary or inappropriate. Part 34 Rule 34.2 is amended to provide that where a defendant is convicted by a magistrates’ court and committed to the Crown Court for sentence then the time limit for an appeal against the conviction runs from the date of that committal for sentence, not from the date of sentence in the Crown Court. Part 47 Rule 47.3 is amended to require the court to arrange for the applicant for a search warrant to retain any confidential document used in the application. Rule 47.26 is amended to require the court to record the fact if it has considered any such document. Rule 47.25 is amended to require a justices’ legal adviser to advise and assist a magistrates’ court when the court considers an application for a search warrant, unless the court includes a District Judge (Magistrates’ Courts) and dispenses with such assistance. Rule 47.27 is amended to require a search warrant to identify, so far as practicable, information sought which may be stored in an electronic device. Rules 47.28, 47.29, 47.30, 47.31, 47.32, 47.33 and 47.34 are amended to require an application for a search warrant so far as practicable to identify information sought which may be stored in an electronic device and, so far as practicable, to describe any such device. Amendments consequent on the Sentencing Act 2020. Rule 34.1 and the Preamble to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 are amended to substitute references to provisions of the Sentencing Act 2020 for references to provisions that that Act supersedes. Amendments consequent on other amendments. The following rules and notes to rules (‘n’) are amended in consequence of the other amendments listed above: 3.5, 3.14(n), 5.4(n), 5.9 (which is renumbered), 9.1(n), 9.5, 9.11(n) and 47.26(4). These Rules come into force on 4th October 2021.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this became law

This instrument became law without a debate or a vote. Under the negative procedure it took effect unless a motion to stop it succeeded, and none was tabled.

Neither House could have amended it. A statutory instrument is put to each House as a whole thing, to be approved or not; the Houses can reject an instrument or record their regret, but they cannot change a word of it. That is the constitutional position for every offence on this site.

The full procedural history →

Other offences in the same 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 0.88.

Basis
the provision says the conduct “is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.88 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