Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965

Order by examining justices for attendance of witness at court of trial

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Summons to witness to attend court of assize or quarter sessions

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• (1) This section applies where the Crown Court is satisfied that—

• (a) a person is likely to be able to give evidence likely to be material evidence, or produce any document or thing likely to be material evidence, for the purpose of any criminal proceedings before the Crown Court, and

• (b) it is in the interests of justice to issue a summons under this section to secure the attendance of that person to give evidence or to produce the document or thing.

• (2) In such a case the Crown Court shall, subject to the following provisions of this section, issue a summons (a witness summons) directed to the person concerned and requiring him to—

• (a) attend before the Crown Court at the time and place stated in the summons, and

• (b) give the evidence or produce the document or thing.

• (3) A witness summons may only be issued under this section on an application; and the Crown Court may refuse to issue the summons if any requirement relating to the application is not fulfilled.

• (4) Where a person has been sent for trial for any offence to which the proceedings concerned relate, an application must be made as soon as is reasonably practicable after service on that person, in pursuance of regulations made under paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, of the documents relevant to that offence.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) Where the proceedings concerned relate to an offence in relation to which a bill of indictment has been preferred under the authority of section 2(2)(b) of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 (bill preferred by direction of Court of Appeal, or by direction or with consent of judge) an application must be made as soon as is reasonably practicable after the bill was preferred.

• (6A) Where the proceedings concerned relate to an offence that is the subject of a deferred prosecution agreement within the meaning of Schedule 17 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013, an application must be made as soon as is reasonably practicable after the suspension of the proceedings is lifted under paragraph 2(3) of that Schedule.

• (7) An application must be made in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rules; and different provision may be made for different cases or descriptions of case.

• (8) Criminal Procedure Rules—

• (a) may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require an application to be made by a party to the case;

• (b) may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require the service of notice of an application on the person to whom the witness summons is proposed to be directed;

• (c) may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require an application to be supported by an affidavit containing such matters as the rules may stipulate;

• (d) may, in such cases as the rules may specify, make provision for enabling the person to whom the witness summons is proposed to be directed to be present or represented at the hearing of the application for the witness summons (if the application is determined at a hearing).

• (9) Provision contained in Criminal Procedure Rules by virtue of subsection (8)(c) above may in particular require an affidavit to—

• (a) set out any charge on which the proceedings concerned are based;

• (b) specify any stipulated evidence, document or thing in such a way as to enable the directed person to identify it;

• (c) specify grounds for believing that the directed person is likely to be able to give any stipulated evidence or produce any stipulated document or thing;

• (d) specify grounds for believing that any stipulated evidence is likely to be material evidence;

• (e) specify grounds for believing that any stipulated document or thing is likely to be material evidence.

• (10) In subsection (9) above—

• (a) references to any stipulated evidence, document or thing are to any evidence, document or thing whose giving or production is proposed to be required by the witness summons;

• (b) references to the directed person are to the person to whom the witness summons is proposed to be directed.

Punishment for disobedience to witness order or witness summons

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• (1) Any person who without just excuse disobeys a . . . witness summons requiring him to attend before any court shall be guilty of contempt of that court and may be punished summarily by that court as if his contempt had been committed in the face of the court.

• (1A) Any person who without just excuse disobeys a requirement made by any court under section 2A above shall be guilty of contempt of that court and may be punished summarily by that court as if his contempt had been committed in the face of the court.

• (2) No person shall by reason of any disobedience mentioned in subsection (1) or (1A) above be liable to imprisonment for a period exceeding three months.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Further process to secure attendance of witness

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• (1) If a judge of the Crown Court is satisfied by evidence on oath that a witness in respect of whom a . . . witness summons is in force is unlikely to comply with the . . . summons, the judge may issue a warrant to arrest the witness and bring him before the court before which he is required to attend:

Provided that a warrant shall not be issued under this subsection . . . unless the judge is satisfied by such evidence as aforesaid that the witness is likely to be able to give evidence likely to be material evidence or produce any document or thing likely to be material evidence in the proceedings.

• (2) Where a witness who is required to attend before the Crown Courtby virtue of . . . a witness summons fails to attend in compliance with the . . . summons, that court may—

• (a) in any case, cause to be served on him a notice requiring him to attend the court forthwith or at such time as may be specified in the notice;

• (b) if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he has failed to attend without just excuse, or if he has failed to comply with a notice under paragraph (a) above, issue a warrant to arrest him and bring him before the court.

• (3) A witness brought before a court in pursuance of a warrant under this section may be remanded by that court in custody or on bail (with or without sureties) until such time as the court may appoint for receiving his evidence or dealing with him under section 3 of this Act; and where a witness attends a court in pursuance of a notice under this section the court may direct that the notice shall have effect as if it required him to attend at any later time appointed by the court for receiving his evidence or dealing with him as aforesaid.

Provisions supplementary to s. 4

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• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, if at the time when a witness is arrested under section 4 of this Act he cannot forthwith be brought before the court of assize or quarter sessions specified in the warrant because that court is not being held, the warrant shall have effect as if it directed him to be brought before a magistrates' court for the place where he is arrested; and that court shall commit him to custody or release him on bail (with or without sureties) until he can be brought or appear before that court of assize or quarter sessions.

• (2) If the judge or court issuing a warrant in respect of any witness under section 4 of this Act is of opinion that it is appropriate to do so, the judge or court may endorse the warrant for bail, and in any such case—

• (a) on the arrest of the witness under the warrant he shall, unless he can forthwith be brought before the court specified in the warrant, be taken to a police station; and

• (b) the officer in charge of the station shall release him from custody if he, and any sureties required by the endorsement and approved by the officer, enter into recognisances of such amount as may be fixed by the endorsement, conditioned for the appearance of the witness before the court specified in the warrant; and

• (c) subsection (1) above shall not apply except where the witness is unable to secure his release in accordance with this subsection.

• (3) If a court issuing a warrant in respect of any witness under section 4(2) of this Act is of opinion that the evidence of the witness can be dispensed with but that consideration should be given to dealing with him under section 3 of this Act, it may endorse the warrant as issued for the purposes of the said section 3, and in any such case—

• (a) the magistrates' court shall not commit a witness to custody under subsection (1) above unless satisfied that the court specified in the warrant will be held within seven days after the date of the committal; and

• (b) if not so satisfied the magistrates' court may, instead of releasing him on bail, commit him to custody to be brought before a judge of the High Court or a commissioner of assize, and that judge or commissioner shall in respect of the witness have all the powers of the court under section 3 of this Act.

• (4) Where a witness appears before a court in pursuance of a recognisance entered into under section 4(3) of this Act or this section, the court may enlarge his recognisance and those of his sureties, if any, to any later time appointed by the court for receiving the evidence of that person or dealing with him under section 3 of this Act.

• (5) Without prejudice to the enforcement of any recognisance entered into as aforesaid, section 4 of this Act shall apply to any witness who fails to attend before a court in compliance with such a recognisance as it applies to a witness who fails to attend in obedience to a witness order or witness summons, and the foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect accordingly.

Special provision for transferred trials

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• (1) If, under section 14(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1925, a court of assize or quarter sessions directs that a person committed for trial be tried or retried before another such court, the following powers of the court under this Act, that is to say—

• (a) the powers conferred by subsection (2) of section 4 in the case of a witness who has failed to attend the court; and

• (b) the powers conferred by subsection (3) of that section or subsection (4) of section 5 in the case of a witness who is brought or attends or appears before the court pursuant to a warrant, notice or recognisance,

may be exercised by the first-mentioned court for the purpose of securing the attendance or further attendance of the witness before that other court; and references to the court in those provisions shall be construed accordingly.

• (2) The provision made under subsection (3) of section 14 of the said Act of 1925 and under subsection (5) of section 11 of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1938 for the alteration of proceedings and documents where a case is transferred under those sections shall extend to all process issued under this Act, and subsection (1) of this section shall be without prejudice to the provision made under the said section 14(3).

Witness orders by coroners

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Abolition of subpoenas in certain proceedings

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No subpoena ad testificandum or subpoena duces tecum shall issue after the commencement of this Act in respect of any proceedings for the purpose of which a witness summons may be issued under section 2 of this Act or in respect of any proceedings for the purpose of which a summons may be issued under section 97 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980(process for attendance of witnesses in magistrates’ courts).

Powers of Parliament of Northern Ireland

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Short title, consequential amendments and repeals, commencement, interpretation and extent

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• (1) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) The enactments mentioned in Part I of Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in the second column of that part, . . . .

• (4) This Act shall come into force at the expiration of the period of two months beginning with the date on which it is passed.

• (5) Any reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, and as including a reference thereto as extended or applied, by any other enactment.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so much of this section and Schedule 2 to this Act as relates to the Writ of Subpoena Act 1805 extends to Scotland and Northern Ireland, but, save as aforesaid, this Act does not extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

SCHEDULE 1

Procedure

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Any application under section 2(2) of this Act for a direction in respect of a witness summons shall be made in accordance with Crown Court rules or rules of court . . .

2

Provision shall be made by Crown Court rules or rules of court . . .

• (a) for requiring the service of notice of any such application on the person at whose instance the witness summons was issued;

• (b) for enabling any such application to the High Court to be heard and determined by a judge of that Court in chambers;

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Costs

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Where on any such application a direction is given that a witness summons shall be of no effect, the person at whose instance the summons was issued may be ordered to pay the whole or any part of the costs of the application.

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Any costs payable under such an order shall be taxed by the proper officer of the court, and payment of those costs shall be enforceable in the same manner as an order for payment of costs made by the High Court in a civil case or as a sum adjudged summarily to be paid as a civil debt.

SCHEDULE 2

PART I

PART II

Issue of witness summons on application to Crown Court.

Issue of witness summons on application

2A

A witness summons which is issued under section 2 above and which requires a person to produce a document or thing as mentioned in section 2(2) above may also require him to produce the document or thing—

• (a) at a place stated in the summons, and

• (b) at a time which is so stated and precedes that stated under section 2(2) above,

for inspection by the person applying for the summons.

2B

• (1) If—

• (a) a document or thing is produced in pursuance of a requirement imposed by a witness summons under section 2A above,

• (b) the person applying for the summons concludes that a requirement imposed by the summons under section 2(2) above is no longer needed, and

• (c) he accordingly applies to the Crown Court for a direction that the summons shall be of no further effect,

the court may direct accordingly.

• (2) An application under this section must be made in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rules; and different provision may be made for different cases or descriptions of case.

• (3) Criminal Procedure Rules may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require the effect of a direction under this section to be notified to the person to whom the summons is directed.

2C

• (1) If a witness summons issued under section 2 above is directed to a person who—

• (a) applies to the Crown Court,

• (b) satisfies the court that he was not served with notice of the application to issue the summons and that he was neither present nor represented at the hearing of the application, and

• (c) satisfies the court that he cannot give any evidence likely to be material evidence or, as the case may be, produce any document or thing likely to be material evidence,

the court may direct that the summons shall be of no effect.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above it is immaterial—

• (a) whether or not Criminal Procedure Rules require the person to be served with notice of the application to issue the summons;

• (b) whether or not Criminal Procedure Rules enable the person to be present or represented at the hearing of the application.

• (3) In subsection (1)(b) above “ served ” means—

• (a) served in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rules, in a case where such rules require the person to be served with notice of the application to issue the summons;

• (b) served in such way as appears reasonable to the court to which the application is made under this section, in any other case.

• (4) The Crown Court may refuse to make a direction under this section if any requirement relating to the application under this section is not fulfilled.

• (5) An application under this section must be made in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rules; and different provision may be made for different cases or descriptions of case.

• (6) Criminal Procedure Rules may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require the service of notice of an application under this section on the person on whose application the witness summons was issued.

• (7) Criminal Procedure Rules may, in such cases as the rules may specify, require that where—

• (a) a person applying under this section can produce a particular document or thing, but

• (b) he seeks to satisfy the court that the document or thing is not likely to be material evidence,

he must arrange for the document or thing to be available at the hearing of the application.

• (8) Where a direction is made under this section that a witness summons shall be of no effect, the person on whose application the summons was issued may be ordered to pay the whole or any part of the costs of the application under this section.

• (9) Any costs payable under an order made under subsection (8) above shall be taxed by the proper officer of the court, and payment of those costs shall be enforceable in the same manner as an order for payment of costs made by the High Court in a civil case or as a sum adjudged summarily to be paid as a civil debt.

Issue of witness summons of court’s own motion