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| Young persons: custody on remand, &c. |
70. - (1) While a young person charged with a scheduled offence is remanded or committed for trial and not released on bail, he may be held in custody in such prison or other place as may be specified in a direction given by the Secretary of State under this section.
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(2) Subsection (1) shall have effect in respect of a person-
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(a) notwithstanding the provisions of any enactment, and |
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(b) whether or not he was remanded or committed for trial at a time when this section was not in force. |
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(3) The Secretary of State may give a direction under this section in respect of a person if he considers it necessary to make special arrangements as to the place at which the person is to be held in order-
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(a) to prevent his escape, or |
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(b) to ensure his safety or the safety of others. |
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(4) The Secretary of State may give a direction under this section at any time after the person to whom it relates has been charged.
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(5) In this section "young person" means a person who-
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(a) has attained the age of fourteen, and |
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(b) has not attained the age of seventeen. |
| Directions under section 70. |
71. - (1) A direction under section 70 shall cease to have effect at the expiry of the period specified in the direction unless-
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(a) it has previously ceased to have effect, or |
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(b) it is continued in force by a further direction. |
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(2) The specified period shall not end after the end of the period of two months beginning with the date of the direction.
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(3) Where-
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(a) a person is held in custody in a prison or other place by virtue of a direction, and |
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(b) the direction ceases to have effect (whether or not by reason of the expiry or cesser of section 70), |
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it shall be lawful for him to continue to be held in custody in that prison or place until arrangements can be made for him to be held in custody in accordance with the law then applicable to his case.
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(4) Nothing in subsection (3) shall be taken as permitting the holding in custody of a person who is entitled to be released from custody.
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| Time limits for preliminary proceedings. |
72. - (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision, in respect of a specified preliminary stage of proceedings for a scheduled offence, as to the maximum period-
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(a) to be allowed to the prosecution to complete the stage; |
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(b) during which the accused may, while awaiting completion of the stage, be in the custody of a magistrates' court or the Crown Court in relation to the offence. |
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(2) The regulations may, in particular-
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(a) provide for a specified law about bail to apply in relation to cases to which custody or overall time limits apply (subject to any modifications which the Secretary of State considers it necessary to specify in the regulations); |
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(b) provide for time limits to cease to have effect in cases where the Attorney General for Northern Ireland certifies after the institution of proceedings that an offence is not to be treated as a scheduled offence; |
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(c) make such provision with respect to the procedure to be followed in criminal proceedings as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in consequence of another provision of the regulations; |
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(d) make provision which has effect in relation to a non-scheduled offence where separate counts of an indictment allege a scheduled offence and a non-scheduled offence; |
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(e) enable the Crown Court in specified circumstances to extend or further extend a time limit at any time before it expires. |
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(3) Subject to subsection (4), where an overall time limit expires before the completion of the stage of proceedings to which the limit applies, the accused shall be treated for all purposes as having been acquitted of the offence to which the proceedings relate.
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(4) Regulations under this section which provide for a custody time limit in relation to a preliminary stage shall have no effect where-
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(a) a person escapes from the custody of a magistrates' court or the Crown Court before the expiry of the custody time limit, |
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(b) a person who has been released on bail in consequence of the expiry of a custody time limit fails to surrender himself into the custody of the court at the appointed time, or |
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(c) a person who has been released on bail in consequence of the expiry of a custody time limit is arrested by a constable in connection with a breach or apprehended breach of a condition of his bail. |
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(5) If a person escapes from the custody of a magistrates' court or the Crown Court, the overall time limit which applies to the stage which proceedings relating to the person have reached at the time of the escape shall cease to have effect in relation to those proceedings.
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(6) If a person who has been released on bail fails to surrender himself into the custody of the court at the appointed time, the overall time limit which applies to the stage which proceedings relating to the person have reached at the time of the failure shall cease to have effect in relation to those proceedings.
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| Time limits: supplementary. |
73. - (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence, the exercise of power conferred by virtue of section 72(2)(e) in relation to proceedings for the offence shall not be called into question on an appeal against the conviction.
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(2) In the application of section 72 in relation to proceedings on indictment, "preliminary stage" does not include a stage-
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(a) after the time when the case for the prosecution is opened, or |
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(b) if the court accepts a plea of guilty before the case for the prosecution is opened, after the plea is accepted. |
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(3) In the application of section 72 in relation to summary proceedings, "preliminary stage" does not include a stage-
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(a) after the court begins to hear evidence for the prosecution at the trial, |
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(b) if the court accepts a plea of guilty before it has begun to hear evidence for the prosecution, after the plea is accepted, or |
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(c) after the court begins to consider whether to exercise its power under Article 44(4) of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (power to make hospital order without conviction). |
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(4) In this section and section 72-
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"custody of the Crown Court" includes custody to which a person is committed in pursuance of- |
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(a) Article 37 or 40(4) of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (magistrates' court committing accused for trial), or
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(b) section 51(8) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (magistrates' court dealing with a person arrested under Crown Court warrant),
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"custody of a magistrates' court" means custody to which a person is committed in pursuance of Article 47 or 49 of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (remand), |
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"custody time limit" means a time limit imposed by regulations in pursuance of section 72(1)(b) or, where a limit has been extended by the Crown Court by virtue of section 72(2)(e), the limit as extended, |
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(a) the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981,
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(b) section 67 of this Act,
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(c) any other enactment relating to bail, and
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(d) any rule of law relating to bail, and
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"overall time limit" means a time limit imposed by regulations in pursuance of section 72(1)(a) or, where a limit has been extended by the Crown Court by virtue of section 72(2)(e), the limit as extended. |
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(5) For the purposes of the application of a custody time limit in relation to a person who is in the custody of a magistrates' court or the Crown Court-
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(a) all periods during which he is in the custody of a magistrates' court in respect of the same offence shall be aggregated and treated as a single continuous period; and |
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(b) all periods during which he is in the custody of the Crown Court in respect of the same offence shall be aggregated and treated as a single continuous period. |
| Court for trial. |
74. - (1) A trial on indictment of a scheduled offence shall be held only at the Crown Court sitting in Belfast, unless-
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(a) the Lord Chancellor after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland directs that the trial, or a class of trials within which it falls, shall be held at the Crown Court sitting elsewhere, or |
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(b) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland directs that the trial, or part of it, shall be held at the Crown Court sitting elsewhere. |
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(2) A person committed for trial for a scheduled offence, or for two or more offences at least one of which is a scheduled offence, shall be committed-
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(a) to the Crown Court sitting in Belfast, or |
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(b) where a direction has been given under subsection (1) which concerns the trial, to the Crown Court sitting at the place specified in the direction; |
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and section 48 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (committal for trial on indictment) shall have effect accordingly.
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(3) Where-
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(a) a person is committed for trial to the Crown Court sitting in Belfast in accordance with subsection (2), and |
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(b) a direction is subsequently given under subsection (1), before the commencement of the trial, altering the place of trial, |
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the person shall be treated as having been committed for trial to the Crown Court sitting at the place specified in the direction.
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| Mode of trial on indictment. |
75. - (1) A trial on indictment of a scheduled offence shall be conducted by the court without a jury.
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(2) The court trying a scheduled offence on indictment under this section shall have all the powers, authorities and jurisdiction which the court would have had if it had been sitting with a jury (including power to determine any question and to make any finding which would, apart from this section, be required to be determined or made by a jury).
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(3) A reference in an enactment to a jury, the verdict of a jury or the finding of a jury shall, in relation to a trial under this section, be construed as a reference to the court, the verdict of the court or the finding of the court.
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(4) Where separate counts of an indictment allege a scheduled offence and a non-scheduled offence, the trial on indictment shall be conducted as if all the offences alleged in the indictment were scheduled offences.
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(5) Subsection (4) is without prejudice to section 5 of the Indictments Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 (orders for amendment of indictment, separate trial and postponement of trial).
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(6) Without prejudice to subsection (2), where the court trying a scheduled offence on indictment-
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(a) is not satisfied that the accused is guilty of the offence, but |
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(b) is satisfied that he is guilty of a non-scheduled offence of which a jury could have found him guilty on a trial for the scheduled offence, |
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the court may convict him of the non-scheduled offence.
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(7) Where the court trying a scheduled offence convicts the accused of that or some other offence, it shall give a judgment stating the reasons for the conviction at or as soon as is reasonably practicable after the time of conviction.
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(8) A person convicted of an offence on a trial under this section without a jury may, notwithstanding anything in sections 1 and 10(1) of the Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980, appeal to the Court of Appeal under Part I of that Act-
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(a) against his conviction, on any ground, without the leave of the Court of Appeal or a certificate of the judge of the court of trial; |
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(b) against sentence passed on conviction, without that leave, unless the sentence is fixed by law. |
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(9) Where a person is convicted of an offence on a trial under this section, the time for giving notice of appeal under section 16(1) of that Act shall run from the date of judgment if later than the date from which it would run under that subsection.
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