Criminal Justice Act 1967

Type Public General Act
Publication 1967-07-27
Last updated 2015-05-26
State In force
Department Statute Law Database
articles Not indexed
Reform history JSON API

Part I — Criminal Procedure, etc.

Committal proceedings

Committal for trial without consideration of the evidence.

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Written statements before examining justices.

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  • (1) In committal proceedings a written statement by any person shall, if the conditions mentioned in the next following subsection are satisfied, be admissible as evidence to the like extent as oral evidence to the like effect by that person.
  • (2) The said conditions are:—
  • (a) the statement purports to be signed by the person who made it;
  • (b) the statement contains a declaration by that person to the effect that it is true to the best of his knowledge and belief and that he made the statement knowing that, if it were tendered in evidence, he would be liable to prosecution if he wilfully stated in it anything which he knew to be false or did not believe to be true;
  • (c) before the statement is tendered in evidence, a copy of the statement is given, by or on behalf of the party proposing to tender it, to each of the other parties to the proceedings ; and
  • (d) none of the other parties, before the statement is tendered in evidence at the committal proceedings, objects to the statement being so tendered under this section.
  • (3) The following provisions shall also have effect in relation to any written statement tendered in evidence under this section, that is to say—
  • (a) if the statement is made by a person under the age of twenty-one, it shall give his age;
  • (b) if it is made by a person who cannot read it, it shall be read to him before he signs it and shall be accompanied by a declaration by the person who so read the statement to the effect that it was so read; and
  • (c) if it refers to any other document as an exhibit, the copy given to any other party to the proceedings under paragraph (c) of the last foregoing subsection shall be accompanied by a copy of that document or by such information as may be necessary in order to enable the party to whom it is given to inspect that document or a copy thereof.
  • (4) Notwithstanding that a written statement made by any person may be admissible in committal proceedings by virtue of this section, the court before which the proceedings are held may, of its own motion or on the application of any party to the proceedings, require that person to attend before the court and give evidence.
  • (5) So much of any statement as is admitted in evidence by virtue of this section shall, unless the court commits the defendant for trial by virtue of the last foregoing section or the court otherwise directs, be read aloud at the hearing, and where the court so directs an account shall be given orally of so much of any statement as is not read aloud.
  • (6) Any document or object referred to as an exhibit and identified in a written statement tendered in evidence under this section shall be treated as if it had been produced as an exhibit and identified in court by the maker of the statement.
  • (7) Section 13(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 (reading of deposition as evidence at the trial) shall apply to any written statement tendered in evidence in committal proceedings under this section, as it applies to a deposition taken in such proceedings, but in its application to any such statement that subsection shall have effect as if paragraph (b) thereof were omitted.
  • (8) In section 2(2) of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 (procedure for preferring bills of indictment) the reference in proviso (i) to facts disclosed in any deposition taken before a justice in the presence of the defendant shall be construed as including a reference to facts disclosed in any such written statement as aforesaid.
  • (9) Section 23 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (use in summary trial of evidence given in committal proceedings) shall not apply to any such statement as aforesaid.
  • (10) A person whose written statement is tendered in evidence in committal proceedings under this section shall be treated for the purposes of section 1 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965 (witness orders) as a witness who has been examined by the court.

Restrictions on reports of committal proceedings.

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  • (1) Except as provided by subsections (2) and (3) of this section, it shall not be lawful to publish in Great Britain a written report, or to broadcast in Great Britain a report, of any committal proceedings in England and Wales containing any matter other than that permitted by subsection (4) of this section.
  • (2) A magistrates' court shall, on an application for the purpose made with reference to any committal proceedings by the defendant or one of the defendants, as the case may be, order that the foregoing subsection shall not apply to reports of those proceedings.
  • (3) It shall not be unlawful under this section to publish or broadcast a report of committal proceedings containing any matter other than that permitted by the next following subsection.—
  • (a) where the magistrates' court determines not to commit the defendant or the defendants for trial, after it so determines;
  • (b) where the court commits the defendant or any of the defendants for trial, after the conclusion of his trial or, as the case may be, the trial of the last to be tried;

and where at any time during the inquiry the court proceeds to try summarily the case of one or more of the defendants under section 18, 19 or 20 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (summary trial of indictable offences), while committing the other defendant or one or more of the other defendants for trial, it shall not be unlawful under this section to publish or broadcast as part of a report of the summary trial, after the court determines to proceed as aforesaid, a report of so much of the committal proceedings containing any such matter as takes place before the determination.

  • (4) The following matters may be contained in a report of committal proceedings published or broadcast without an order under subsection (2) of this section before the time authorised by the last foregoing subsection, that is to say.—
  • (a) the identity of the court and the names of the examining justices;
  • (b) the names, addresses and occupations of the parties and witnesses and the ages of the defendant or defendants and witnesses;
  • (c) the offence or offences, or a summary of them, with which the defendant or defendants is or are charged;
  • (d) the names of counsel and solicitors engaged in the proceedings;
  • (e) any decision of the court to commit the defendant or any of the defendants for trial, and any decision of the court on the disposal of the case of any defendants not committed;
  • (f) where the court commits the defendant or any of the defendants for trial, the charge or charges, or a summary of them, on which he is committed and the court to which he is committed;
  • (g) where the committal proceedings are adjourned, the date and place to which they are adjourned:
  • (h) any arrangements as to bail on committal or adjournment ;
  • (i) whether legal aid was granted to the defendant or any of the defendants.
  • (5) If a report is published or broadcast in contravention of this section, the following persons, that is to say—
  • (a) in the case of a publication of a written report as part of a newspaper or periodical, any proprietor, editor or publisher of the newspaper or periodical;
  • (b) in the case of a publication of a written report other wise than as part of a newspaper or periodical, the person who publishes it;
  • (c) in the case of a broadcast of a report, any body corporate which transmits or provides the programme in which the report is broadcast and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of the editor of a newspaper or periodical;

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

  • (6) Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not, in England and Wales, be instituted otherwise than by or with the consent of the Attorney-General.
  • (7) Subsection (1) of this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation from, the provisions of any other enactment with respect to the publication of reports and proceedings of magistrates' and other courts.

Notice of result of committal proceedings.

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Where a magistrates' court acting as examining justices commits any person for trial or determines to discharge him, the clerk of the court shall, on the day on which the committal proceedings are concluded or the next day, cause to be displayed in a part of the court house to which the public have access a notice—

  • (a) in either case giving that person's name, address, and age (if known);
  • (b) in a case where the court so commits him, stating the charge or charges on which he is committed and the court to which he is committed;
  • (c) in a case where the court determines to discharge him, describing the offence charged and stating that it has so determined.

Privilege of newspaper reports of committal proceedings in libel actions.

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Any report in a newspaper, and any broadcast report, of committal proceedings in a case where publication is permitted by virtue only of section 3(3) of this Act, published as soon as practicable after it is so permitted, shall be treated for the purposes of section 3 of the Law of Libel Amendment Act 1888 (privilege of contemporaneous newspaper reports of court proceedings) and section 9(2) of the Defamation Act 1952 (extension of the said section 3 to broadcasting) as having been published or broadcast contemporaneously with the committal proceedings.

Duty of examining justices to sit in open court.

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  • (1) Examining justices shall sit in open court except where any enactment contains an express provision to the contrary and except where it appears to them as respects the whole or any part of committal proceedings that the ends of justice would not be served by their sitting in open court.
  • (2) Section 4(2) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (no obligation on examining justices to sit in open court) is hereby repealed.

Signature of depositions.

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Miscellaneous provisions as to evidence, procedure and trial

Proof of criminal intent.

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A court or jury, in determining whether a person has committed an offence,—

  • (a) shall not be bound in law to infer that he intended or foresaw a result of his actions by reason only of its being a natural and probable consequence of those actions; but
  • (b) shall decide whether he did intend or foresee that result by reference to all the evidence, drawing such inferences from the evidence as appear proper in the circumstances.

Proof by written statement.

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  • (1) In any criminal proceedings, other than committal proceedings under sections 4 to 6 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, a written statement by any person shall, if such of the conditions mentioned in the next following subsection as are applicable are satisfied, be admissible as evidence to the like extent as oral evidence to the like effect by that person.
  • (2) The said conditions are—
  • (a) the statement purports to be signed by the person who made it;
  • (b) the statement contains a declaration by that person to the effect that it is true to the best of his knowledge and belief and that he made the statement knowing that, if it were tendered in evidence, he would be liable to prosecution if he wilfully stated in it anything which he knew to be false or did not believe to be true;
  • (c) before the hearing at which the statement is tendered in evidence, a copy of the statement is served, by or on behalf of the party proposing to tender it, on each of the other parties to the proceedings; and
  • (d) none of the other parties or their solicitors, within the relevant period, serves a notice on the party so proposing objecting to the statement being tendered in evidence under this section:
  • (2A) For the purposes of subsection (2)(d), “the relevant period” is—
  • (a) such number of days, which may not be less than seven, from the service of the copy of the statement as may be prescribed by Criminal Procedure Rules, or
  • (b) if no such number is prescribed, seven days from the service of the copy of the statement.
  • (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (4) Notwithstanding that a written statement made by any person may be admissible as evidence by virtue of this section—
  • (a) the party by whom or on whose behalf a copy of the statement was served may call that person to give evidence; and
  • (b) the court may, of its own motion or on the application of any party to the proceedings, require that person to attend before the court and give evidence.
  • (5) An application under paragraph (b) of the last foregoing subsection to a court other than a magistrates’ court may be made before the hearing and on any such application the powers of the court shall be exercisable
  • (a) by a puisne judge of the High Court, a Circuit judge or Recorder sitting alone.; or
  • (b) subject to subsection (5A), by a qualifying judge advocate (within the meaning of the Senior Courts Act 1981) sitting alone.
  • (5A) Subsection (5)(b) applies only where the application in question is to the Crown Court.
  • (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (7) Any document or object referred to as an exhibit and identified in a written statement tendered in evidence under this section shall be treated as if it had been produced as an exhibit and identified in court by the maker of the statement.
  • (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Proof by formal admission.

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  • (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any fact of which oral evidence may be given in any criminal proceedings may be admitted for the purpose of those proceedings by or on behalf of the prosecutor or defendant, and the admission by any party of any such fact under this section shall as against that party be conclusive evidence in those proceedings of the fact admitted.
  • (2) An admission under this section—
  • (a) may be made before or at the proceedings;
  • (b) if made otherwise than in court, shall be in writing;
  • (c) if made in writing by an individual, shall purport to be signed by the person making it and, if so made by a body corporate, shall purport to be signed by a director or manager, or the secretary or clerk, or some other similar officer of the body corporate;
  • (d) if made on behalf of a defendant who is an individual, shall be made by his counsel or solicitor;
  • (e) if made at any stage before the trial by a defendant who is an individual, must be approved by his counsel or solicitor (whether at the time it was made or subsequently) before or at the proceedings in question.
  • (3) An admission under this section for the purpose of proceedings relating to any matter shall be treated as an admission for the purpose of any subsequent criminal proceedings relating to that matter (including any appeal or retrial).
  • (4) An admission under this section may with the leave of the court be withdrawn in the proceedings for the purpose of which it is made or any subsequent criminal proceedings relating to the same matter.

Notice of alibi.

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Application of sections 9 to 11 to courts-martial.

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Majority verdicts of juries in criminal proceedings.

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Disqualification of ex-prisoners from serving on juries in criminal proceedings.

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Validation of verdict where juror disqualified.

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It is hereby declared that the verdict of a jury in criminal proceedings (as in other proceedings) is not void by reason only that a member of the jury is disqualified from serving on the jury in those proceedings.

Continuation of exemption from jury service at criminal trials.

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  • (1) The persons to whom this section applies (being persons exempted from jury service by section 9 of the Juries Act 1870 in the case of persons mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (k), by section 4 of the Port of London Act 1959 in the case of persons mentioned in paragraph (l) and by section 43(2) of the British Transport Commission Act 1962 in the case of persons mentioned in paragraph (m) of the next following subsection) shall for ten years after the date on which they cease to hold the office or employment or practise the profession by virtue of which they are so exempt continue to enjoy the like exemption from serving on juries in criminal proceedings as they enjoy before that date.
  • (2) The persons to whom this section shall apply are—
  • (a) judges;
  • (b) barristers-at-law;
  • (c) solicitors, and their managing clerks;
  • (d) the registrar of criminal appeals, clerks of assize and persons appointed or employed to assist him or them in the exercise of his or their functions;
  • (e) clerks of the peace and their deputies ;
  • (f) coroners;
  • (g) prison officers;
  • (h) sheriff's officers;
  • (i) members of police forces and special constables for police areas;
  • (j) metropolitan stipendiary magistrates;
  • (k) justices of the peace ;
  • (l) constables appointed by the Port of London Authority ; and
  • (m) constables in the British Transport Police Force.

Entry of verdict of not guilty by order of a judge.

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Where a defendant arraigned on an indictment or inquisition pleads not guilty and the prosecutor proposes to offer no evidence against him, the court before which the defendant is arraigned may, if it thinks fit, order that a verdict of not guilty shall be recorded without any further steps being taken in the proceedings, and the verdict shall have the same effect as if the defendant had been tried and acquitted on the verdict of a jury or a court.

Restrictions on refusal of bail.

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Restriction on justices sitting after dealing with bail.

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  • (2) For the purposes of this section any committal proceedings from which the proceedings on the summary trial arose shall be treated as part of the trial.

Power of magistrates' court to commit on bail for sentence.

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Where a magistrates’ court has power to commit an offender to a Crown Court under section 5 of the Vagrancy Act 1824 (incorrigible rogues). . . , the court may instead of committing him in custody commit him on bail.

Special conditions of bail.

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Extension of power of High Court to grant, or vary conditions of, bail.

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  • (1) Where
  • (a) a magistrates’ court withholds bail in criminal proceedings or imposes conditions in granting bail in criminal proceedings, and
  • (b) it does so where an application to the court to state a case for the opinion of the High Court is made,

the High Court may ... grant bail or vary the conditions.

  • (1A) Where a magistrates' court withholds bail in extradition proceedings or imposes conditions in granting bail in extradition proceedings, the High Court may grant bail or vary the conditions.
  • (2) Where the High Court grants a person bail under this section it may direct him to appear at a time and place which the magistrates’ court could have directed and the recognizance of any surety shall be conditioned accordingly.
  • (3) Subsections ... (4) and (6) of section 37 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (ancillary provisions as to persons granted to bail by the High Court under that section and the currency of sentence in the case of persons so admitted) shall apply in relation to the powers conferred by this section and persons granted bail in pursuance of those powers as it applies in relation to the powers conferred by that section and persons granted bail in pursuance of those powers ...
  • (4) In this section ... ...“bail in criminal proceedings”, “extradition proceedings” and “vary” shall have the same meanings as they have in the Bail Act 1976.
  • (5) The powers conferred on the High Court by this section shall be in substitution for the powers so conferred by paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of section 37(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948, but except as aforesaid this section shall not prejudice any powers of the High Court to admit or direct the admission of persons to bail.

Arrest of persons granted bail.

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Process for minor offences.

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Restrictions on issue of search warrants under Obscene Publications Act 1959.

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A justice of the peace shall not issue a warrant under section 3(1) of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (search for and seizure of obscene articles) except on an information laid by or on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions or by a constable.

Restrictions on passing sentence in the absence of the defendant.

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Summary trial of certain offences under the Forgery Act 1913.

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Jurisdiction of magistrates' courts to try offences.

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Plea by a corporation before a magistrates' court.

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  • (1) On the trial by a magistrates' court of an information against a corporation, a representative may on behalf of the corporation enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
  • (2) Section 33(6) of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 shall apply to a representative for the purposes of the foregoing subsection as it applies to a representative for the purposes of that section.
  • (3) A notification or intimation for the purposes of section 1(2) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1957 (trial in absence of accused who has notified desire to plead guilty without appearing before the court) may be given on behalf of a corporation by a director or the secretary of the corporation ; and that subsection shall apply in relation to a notification or intimation purporting to be so given as it applies to a notification or intimation purporting to be given by an individual defendant.

Period of adjournment under sections 14 and 26 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952.

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The maximum period for which a magistrates' court may adjourn a case at any one time—

  • (a) under section 14(3) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (adjournment after conviction and before sentence) for the purpose of enabling inquiries to be made or of determining the most suitable method of dealing with the defendant; or
  • (b) under section 26(1) of that Act for the purpose of enabling a medical examination and report to be made on the defendant;

shall be a period of four weeks instead of three weeks except where the court remands the defendant in custody.

Extension of Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1952.

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

Amendments of Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1952.

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Taking and use of finger-prints and palm-prints.

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 (proof of previous convictions by finger-print) any reference to finger-prints shall be construed as including a reference to palm-prints.

Committal of persons under twenty-one accused of extradition crimes, etc.

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Examining justices.

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Interpretation of Part I.

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  • (1) In this Part of this Act—
  • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • “committal proceedings” means proceedings before a magistrates’ court acting a s examining justices;
  • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • “director”, in relation to a body corporate which is established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking and whose affairs are managed by the members thereof, means a member of that body.
  • (2) Expressions used in any provision of this Part of this Act relating to magistrates’ courts or proceedings before such courts and also used in the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 have the same meanings in any such provision as they have in that Act.

Part II — Powers of Courts to Deal with Offenders

Powers to deal with persistent offenders

Punishment of persistent offenders.

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Supplementary provisions as to persistent offenders.

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  • (1) For the purposes of subsection (4)(a) of the last foregoing section a certificate purporting to be signed by the governor of a prison to the effect—
  • (a) that a prisoner was finally released from that prison on a date specified in the certificate after serving a sentence so specified; or
  • (b) that a prisoner had not been finally released from that prison on a date so specified after serving a sentence so specified;

shall be evidence of the matter so certified.

  • (2) For the purposes of subsection (4)(b) of the last foregoing section a person who has been convicted by a magistrates' court of an indictable offence and sentenced for that offence by a court of quarter sessions, or on appeal from such a court, to imprisonment, corrective training or preventive detention shall be treated as if he had been convicted of that offence on indictment.
  • (3) For the purpose of determining whether the conditions specified in subsection (4) of the last foregoing section are satisfied in relation to an offender no account shall be taken of any previous conviction or sentence unless notice has been given to the offender at least three days before the later sentence is passed on him that it is intended to prove the previous conviction or sentence to the court.
  • (4) For the purposes of the last foregoing subsection a certificate purporting to be signed by a constable or a prison officer that a copy of a notice annexed to the certificate was given to an offender shall be evidence that it was so given and of the contents of the notice.
  • (5) In this section and the last foregoing section " final release " includes a release on licence under section 60 or 61 of this Act, but does not include any temporary discharge.
  • (6) A person sentenced at any time to corrective training or preventive detention in Scotland or Northern Ireland and transferred under section 26 of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 to England and Wales shall be treated for the purposes of detention, release, recall and otherwise as having been sentenced in England and Wales to a term of imprisonment of the same length as the term of his original sentence and, if he was originally sentenced to preventive detention, he shall also be so treated as if an extended sentence certificate had been issued in respect of him.
  • (7) A person sentenced to an extended term of imprisonment under the last foregoing section and transferred under the said section 26 to Scotland or Northern Ireland shall, notwithstanding anything in subsection (4) of the said section 26 (treatment of prisoners so transferred) be treated as if an extended sentence certificate had not been issued in respect of him.

Suspended sentences

Suspended sentences of imprisonment.

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  • (1) A court which passes a sentence of imprisonment for a term of not more than two years for an offence may order that the sentence shall not take effect unless, during a period specified in the order, being not less than one year or more than three years from the date of the order, the offender commits in Great Britain another offence punishable with imprisonment and thereafter a court having power to do so orders under the next following section that the original sentence shall take effect; and in this Part of this Act " operational period ", in relation to a suspended sentence, means the period so specified.
  • (2) A court which passes a suspended sentence on any person for an offence shall not make a probation order in his case in respect of another offence of which he is convicted by or before the court or for which he is dealt with by the court.
  • (3) A court which passes a sentence of imprisonment for a term of not more than six months in respect of one offence shall make an order under subsection (1) of this section unless—
  • (a) the act or any of the acts constituting that offence consisted of an assault on or threat of violence to another person, or of having or possessing a firearm, an imitation firearm, an explosive or an offensive weapon or of indecent conduct with or towards a person under the age of sixteen years;
  • (b) that offence is one in respect of which a probation order or order for conditional discharge was originally made or the offender was subject to such an order at the time of committing that offence ;
  • (c) on the occasion on which sentence is passed for that offence, the court passes or proposes to pass a sentence of immediate imprisonment on the offender for another offence which the court is not required to suspend;
  • (d) the offender is serving, or has since the commission of the offence served, a sentence of imprisonment or borstal training previously passed for another offence; or
  • (e) the offender had at any time before the commission of the offence been sentenced to, or served any part of a sentence of, corrective training, imprisonment or borstal training previously passed for another offence or been subject to a suspended sentence.
  • (4) The Secretary of State may by order provide that paragraph (e) of the last foregoing subsection shall have effect in any case prescribed by the order as if the reference to any time were a reference to any time during a period so prescribed (being a period of not less than three years); and an order under this subsection may make different provision for different cases.
  • (5) The Secretary of State may by order provide that subsection (3) of this section shall have effect as if for the reference to six months there were substituted a reference to twelve months.
  • (6) No order shall be made by the Secretary of State under this section unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by both Houses of Parliament.
  • (7) On passing a suspended sentence the court shall explain to the offender in ordinary language his liability under the next following section if during the operational period he commits an offence punishable with imprisonment.
  • (8) Where a court has passed a suspended sentence on any person, and that person is subsequently sentenced to borstal training, he shall cease to be liable to be dealt with in respect of the suspended sentence unless the subsequent sentence or any conviction or finding on which it was passed is quashed on appeal.
  • (9) Subject to any provision to the contrary contained in this Act or any enactment passed or instrument made under any enactment after the commencement of this Act—
  • (a) a suspended sentence which has not taken effect under the next following section shall be treated as a sentence of imprisonment for the purposes of all enactments and instruments made under enactments except any enactment or instrument which provides for disqualification for or loss of office, or forfeiture of pensions, of persons sentenced to imprisonment; and
  • (b) where a suspended sentence has taken effect under that section, the offender shall be treated for the purposes of the said excepted enactments and instruments as having been convicted on the ordinary date on which the period allowed for making an appeal against an order under that section expires or, if such an appeal is made, the date on which it is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails for non-prosecution.

Power of court on conviction of further offence to deal with suspended sentence.

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  • (1) Where an offender is convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence and either he is so convicted by or before a court having power under the next following section to deal with him in respect of the suspended sentence or he subsequently appears or is brought before such a court, then, unless the sentence has already taken effect, that court shall consider his case and deal with him by one of the following methods:—
  • (a) the court may order that the suspended sentence shall take effect with the original term unaltered ;
  • (b) it may order that the sentence shall take effect with the substitution of a lesser term for the original term;
  • (c) it may by order vary the original order under subsection (1) of the last foregoing section by substituting for the period specified therein a period expiring not later than three years from the date of the variation; or
  • (d) it may make no order with respect to the suspended sentence;

and a court shall make an order under paragraph (a) of this subsection unless the court is of opinion that it would be unjust to do so in view of all the circumstances which have arisen since the suspended sentence was passed, including the facts of the subsequent offence, and where it is of that opinion the court shall state its reasons.

  • (2) Where a court orders that a suspended sentence shall take effect, with or without any variation of the original term, the court may order that that sentence shall take effect immediately or that the term thereof shall commence on the expiration of another term of imprisonment passed on the offender by that or another court.
  • (3) Where under subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section a court orders that a suspended sentence shall take effect with a term of not more than six months and the court would have had power to sentence the offender to be detained in a detention centre for that term if it had convicted him of the original offence on the occasion of the order, the order may include a direction that he shall serve the sentence in a detention centre.
  • (4) Without prejudice to the last foregoing subsection, where under the said subsection (1)(a) or (b) a court orders that a suspended sentence shall take effect with a term of less than three months, the court may include such a direction in the order if the offender is then liable to be detained in a detention centre by virtue of an order or warrant made or issued by that or another court.
  • (5) An order under the said subsection (1)(a) or (b) which includes such a direction shall be treated for all purposes as an order under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 (detention of offenders aged fourteen to twenty) for the detention of the offender in a detention centre, and subsection (2) of this section shall not apply in relation to any such order.
  • (6) In proceedings for dealing with an offender in respect of a suspended sentence which take place before a court of assize or quarter sessions any question whether the offender has been convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment committed during the operational period of the suspended sentence shall be determined by the court and not by the verdict of a jury.
  • (7) Where a court deals with an offender under this section in respect of a suspended sentence the clerk of the court shall notify the clerk of the court which passed the sentence of the method adopted.
  • (8) Where on consideration of the case of an offender a court makes no order with respect to a suspended sentence, the clerk of the court shall record that fact.
  • (9) For the purposes of any enactment conferring rights of appeal in criminal cases any such order made by a court shall be treated as a sentence passed on the offender by that court for the offence for which the suspended sentence was passed.

Court by which suspended sentence is to be dealt with.

41
  • (1) An offender may be dealt with in respect of a suspended sentence by any court of assize or quarter sessions before which he appears or is brought or, where the sentence was passed by a magistrates' court, by any magistrates' court before which he appears or is brought.
  • (2) Where an offender is convicted by a magistrates' court of an offence punishable with imprisonment and the court is satisfied that the offence was committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence passed by a court of assize or quarter sessions.—
  • (a) the court may, if it thinks fit, commit him in custody or on bail to a court of assize or quarter sessions having power to deal with him in respect of the suspended sentence; and
  • (b) if it does not, shall give written notice of the conviction to the clerk of the court by which the suspended sentence was passed.
  • (3) The court to which a magistrates' court commits an offender under the last foregoing subsection shall be the court of assize or quarter sessions by which the suspended sentence was passed, except that the magistrates' court may commit him to some other court of assize or quarter sessions if, having regard to the time when and the place where he is likely to be dealt with in respect of the suspended sentence by the court by which that sentence was passed, it would be more convenient that he should be dealt with by that other court:

Provided that a magistrates' court shall not commit the offender to that other court of assize or quarter sessions in any case where it appears to the magistrates' court that he would thereby suffer hardship.

  • (4) For the purposes of this and the next following sections a suspended sentence passed on an offender on appeal shall be treated as having been passed by the court by which he was originally sentenced.

Discovery of further offences.

42
  • (1) If it appears to a judge or justice of the peace on whom jurisdiction is conferred by the next following subsection that an offender has been convicted in Great Britain of an offence punishable with imprisonment committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence and that he has not been dealt with in respect of the suspended sentence, the judge or justice may issue a summons requiring the offender to appear at the place and time specified therein, or may, subject to the following provisions of this section, issue a warrant for his arrest.
  • (2) The following persons shall have jurisdiction for the purposes of the foregoing subsection, that is to say—
  • (a) if the suspended sentence was passed by the Central Criminal Court, a judge of that court;
  • (b) if it was passed by the Crown Court at Liverpool or the Crown Court at Manchester, a judge of the court by which it was passed;
  • (c) if it was passed by a court of assize (other than the Central Criminal Court or one of the said Crown Courts), a judge of the High Court;
  • (d) if it was passed by a court of quarter sessions, a justice acting for the area for which that court was held ;
  • (e) if it was passed by a magistrates' court, a justice acting for the area for which that court acted.
  • (3) Where an offender is convicted by a court in Scotland of an offence punishable with imprisonment and the court is informed that the offence was committed during the operational period of a suspended sentence passed in England or Wales, the court shall give written notice of the conviction to the clerk of the court by which the suspended sentence was passed.
  • (4) Unless he is acting in consequence of a notice under subsection (2) of the last foregoing section or under the last foregoing subsection, a justice of the peace shall not issue a summons under this section except on information and shall not issue a warrant under this section except on information in writing and on oath.
  • (5) A summons or warrant issued under this section shall direct the offender to appear or to be brought before the court by which the suspended sentence was passed ; but if a warrant is so issued requiring him to be brought before a court of assize or quarter sessions and he cannot forthwith be brought before that court 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 the latter court shall commit him in custody or on bail to that court of assize or quarter sessions or if, having regard to the time when and the place where he is likely to be dealt with in respect of the suspended sentence by that court, it would be more convenient that he should be dealt with by another court of assize or quarter sessions, to that other court:

Provided that a magistrates' court shall not commit the offender to that other court in any case where it appears to the magistrates' court that he would thereby suffer hardship.

  • (6) Section 4 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Process) Act 1881 (execution of process of English courts in Scotland and vice versa) shall apply to any process issued by any judge or justice under this section as it applies to process issued under the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 by a magistrates' court.

Power of magistrates' courts to impose fines

General power of magistrates' courts to impose fines.

43

Enforcement of payment of fines, etc.

Restriction on magistrates' courts' power to impose imprisonment for default in payment of fines, etc.

44

Enforcement of payment of fines by High Court and county court.

45

Enforcement of payment of fines by attachment of earnings orders.

46

Fines imposed and recognizances forfeited at assizes and quarter sessions.

47

Enforcement in Scotland of fines imposed at assizes or quarter sessions.

48
  • (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fines imposed by coroners.

49

Supplementary provisions as to payment of fines etc.

50

Probation and discharge

Combination of disqualification and endorsement for motoring offences with probation orders and orders for discharge.

51

Duration of conditions of discharge.

52

Substitution of conditional discharge for probation.

53
  • (1) Where on an application made by the probationer or the probation officer it appears to the court having power to discharge a probation order made under section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 that the order is no longer appropriate in the case of the probationer, the court may make, in substitution for the probation order, an order discharging him in respect of the original offence, subject to the condition that he commits no offence between the making of the order under this section and the expiration of the probation period.
  • (2) A person in respect of whom an order is made under this section shall so long as the said condition continues in force be treated in all respects and in particular for the purposes of section 8 of the said Act of 1948 (commission of further offence by probationer or person subject to order for conditional discharge) as if the original order made in his case had been an order for conditional discharge made under section 7 of that Act by the court which made the original order and as if the period of conditional discharge were the same as the probation period.
  • (3) On the making of an order under this section the clerk of the court shall forthwith give copies thereof to the probation officer, who shall give a copy to the person in respect of whom the order is made and to the person in charge of any institution in which that person was required by the probation order to reside.

Miscellaneous provisions as to probation orders.

54
  • (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selection of probation officers.

55

Miscellaneous

Committal for sentence for offences tried summarily.

56

Social inquiry report before sentence.

57

Power to make recommendations for deportation.

58

Part III — Treatment of Offenders

Release of prisoners on licence and supervision of prisoners after release

Constitution and functions of Parole Board and local review committees.

59

Release on licence of persons serving determinate sentences.

60

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Release on licence of persons sentenced to imprisonment for life, etc.

61

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Revocation of licences and conviction of prisoners on licence.

62

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supervision of young, short-term prisoners after release.

63

Supplemental.

64

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Miscellaneous

Abolition of corporal punishment in prison.

65

Corporal punishment shall not be inflicted in any prison or other institution to which the Prison Act 1952 applies, and accordingly section 18 of that Act shall cease to have effect.

Miscellaneous amendments of the Prison Act 1952.

66
  • (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (2) Section 15 of the said Act of 1952 (provision of separate buildings for male and female prisoners confined in the same prison) shall cease to have effect.
  • (3) For sections 30 to 32 of the said Act of 1952 (discharged prisoners aid societies and allowances and expenses for discharged prisoners) there shall be substituted the following section:—

(30) The Secretary of State may make such payments to or in respect of persons released or about to be released from prison as he may with the consent of the Treasury determine

  • (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • (5) In section 47(4) of that Act (duty to include in prison rules provisions for the special treatment of certain classes of prisoners), paragraphs (b) and (c) (persons convicted of sedition, etc., and appellants) shall cease to have effect, and at the end of paragraph (d) (miscellaneous prisoners) there shall be added the words “or a person committed to custody on his conviction”.

Computation of sentences of imprisonment passed in England and Wales.

67

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Consideration of time spent in custody in passing sentence in Scotland.

68

Extension of enactments relating to persons sentenced to imprisonment or detention to young persons sentenced to detention.

69
  • (1) In section 38(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 (construction of references to imprisonment or detention and sentence) at the end there shall be added the following paragraph—

(c) any reference to a person serving a sentence of, or sentenced to, imprisonment or detention shall be construed as including a reference to a person who, under any enactment relating to children and young persons in force in any part of the United Kingdom or any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, has been sentenced by a court to be detained for an offence and is liable to be detained in accordance with directions given by the Secretary of State, by the Minister of Home Affairs for Northern Ireland or by the Governor of the Isle of Man with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, and any other reference to a sentence of imprisonment or detention shall be construed accordingly.

  • (2) In section 49 of the Prison Act 1952 . . .and section 38(2) of the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 (persons unlawfully at large) any reference to a person sentenced to imprisonment shall be construed as including a reference to any such person as is mentioned in the foregoing subsection.

Prisoner transferred from Scotland to England for security.

70
  • (1) Where the Secretary of State, in the case of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment,. . . in Scotland, is of the opinion that in the interests of security or of public safety that person ought to be transferred to a prison in England and Wales, he may make an order for his transfer to that prison:
  • (2) A person transferred to England and Wales or transferred back to Scotland under this section shall be treated for all purposes as if he had been transferred to England and Wales or, as the case may be, Scotland under section 26 of the Criminal Justice Act 1961.

Exercise of powers of release.

71

Any power conferred by or under any enactment to release a person from a prison or other institution to which the Prison Act 1952 applies or from an approved school may be exercised notwithstanding that he is not for the time being detained in that institution or school and a person released by virtue of this section shall, after his release, be treated in all respects as if he had been released from that institution or school.

Power of magistrates to issue warrants for arrest of escaped prisoners and mental patients.

72
  • (1) On an information in writing being laid before a justice of the peace for any area in England and Wales or Northern Ireland and substantiated on oath, or on an application being made to a sheriff, magistrate or justice of the peace in Scotland, alleging that any person is—
  • (a) an offender unlawfully at large from a prison or other institution to which the Prison Act applies in which he is required to be detained after being convicted of an offence; or
  • (b) a convicted mental patient liable to be retaken under section 18, 38(7) or 138 of the Mental Health Act 1983, section 36 or 106 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 or Article 29, 45(6) or 132 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (retaking of mental patients who are absent without leave or have escaped from custody);

the justice, sheriff or magistrate may issue a warrant to arrest him and bring him before a magistrates’ court for that area or, in Scotland, before any sheriff.

  • (2) Where a person is brought before a magistrates’ court or sheriff in pursuance of a warrant for his arrest under this section, the court or sheriff shall, if satisfied that he is the person named in the warrant and if satisfied as to the facts mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of the foregoing subsection, order him to be returned to the prison or other institution where he is required or liable to be detained or, in the case of a convicted mental patient, order him to be kept in custody or detained in a place of safety pending his admission to hospital.
  • (3) section 137 of the Mental Health Act 1983, section 105 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 and Article 131 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (custody, conveyance and detention of certain mental patients) shall apply to a convicted mental patient required by this section to be conveyed to any place or to be kept in custody or detained in a place of safety as they apply to a person required by or by virtue of the said Act of 1983, 1960 or 1984 or the said Order of 1986 1960 or 1961, as the case may be, to be so conveyed, kept or detained.
  • (4) In this section—
  • “convicted mental patient” means a person liable after being convicted of an offence to be detained under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983, Part V of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 or Part III of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 in pursuance of a hospital order or transfer direction together with an order or direction restricting his discharge or in pursuance of a hospital direction and a limitation directionor a person liable to be detained undersection 38 of the said Act of 1983or Article 45 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;
  • “place of safety” has the same meaning as in Part III of the said Act of 1983 or 1960 or Part III of the said Order of 1986, as the case may be;
  • “Prison Act” means the Prison Act 1952, the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1952 or the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953, as the case may be.
  • (5) Section 27 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1914 (power to issue warrants for the arrest of persons who may be arrested without a warrant) shall cease to have effect.
  • (6) References in this section to offences include service offences within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006.
73
74
  • (1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act legal aid, in relation to any proceedings to which a person is a party, shall be taken, subject to the following provisions of this section, as consisting of representation by a solicitor and counsel assigned by the court, including advice on the preparation of that person's case for those proceedings.
  • (2) Notwithstanding anything in the last foregoing subsection legal aid ordered to be given for the purposes of any proceedings before a magistrates' court shall not include representation by counsel except in the case of any indictable offence where the court is of opinion that, because of circumstances which make the case unusually grave or difficult, representation by both counsel and solicitor would be desirable.
  • (3) Where a court of assize or quarter sessions makes a legal aid order under subsection (3) or (4) of the last foregoing section, the court may, in cases of urgency where it appears to the court that there is no time to instruct a solicitor, order that the legal aid to be given shall consist of representation by counsel only, and where a magistrates' court or court of quarter sessions makes a legal aid order under either of those subsections for the purpose of proceedings before a court of quarter sessions before which solicitors have a right of audience, the court may order that the legal aid to be given shall consist of representation by a solicitor only.
  • (4) Where a court makes a legal aid order under subsection (5) or (6) of the last foregoing section, the court may order that the legal aid to be given shall consist of representation by counsel only.
  • (5) A legal aid order under subsection (2) of the last foregoing section for the purpose of proceedings before a magistrates' court shall be authority for the solicitor assigned by the court to give advice on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal from any determination in those proceedings and assistance by him in the giving of a notice of appeal or making of an application for a case to be stated, being a notice given or application made within the ordinary time for doing so.
  • (6) Legal aid which may be ordered to be given to any person convicted or sentenced by a magistrates' court for the purpose of an appeal to a court of quarter sessions by a legal aid order under subsection (3) of the last foregoing section shall be authority for counsel or the solicitor assigned to him to give advice, in the event of the court confirming or varying his conviction or sentence, on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal from the decision of the court and, if such grounds appear to exist, assistance in the making of an application for a case to be stated.
  • (7) Legal aid which may be ordered to be given to any person for the purpose of any proceedings by a legal aid order under subsection (4) of the last foregoing section shall, in the event of his being convicted or sentenced in those proceedings, include advice on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal and—
  • (a) if such grounds appear to exist, assistance in the preparation of an application for leave to appeal or in the giving of a notice of appeal;
  • (b) while that question is being considered, assistance in the making of a provisional application or the giving of a provisional notice.
  • (8) Legal aid which may be ordered to be given to any person for the purpose of any appeal by a legal aid order under subsection (5) or (6) of the last foregoing section may, without prejudice to subsection (1) of this section, consist in the first instance of advice, by counsel or a solicitor assigned by the court, on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal and assistance by that solicitor in the preparation of an application for leave to appeal or in the giving of a notice of appeal.
  • (9) A legal aid order under the said subsection (5) or (6) may, if the court thinks fit, include provision that the legal aid ordered to be given shall be deemed to include the like advice and assistance previously given by counsel or a solicitor not then assigned by the court.
  • (10) The reference in subsection (2) of the last foregoing section to a person charged with an offence before a magistrates' court includes a reference to a person summoned or arrested for an offence and under a duty to appear or a liability to be brought before a magistrates' court in respect of that offence; and the power to make a legal aid order under that subsection shall, in the case of a person arrested for an offence who has not appeared or been brought before a magistrates' court, be exercisable by the magistrates' court to which an application for legal aid is made in pursuance of regulations under this Part of this Act.
  • (11) Any reference in the said subsection (2) to a person charged with an offence includes a reference to a person against whom proceedings are instituted under section 91 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (binding over) in respect of an actual or apprehended breach of the peace or other misbehaviour, and any such reference to a person brought before a magistrates' court to be dealt with includes a reference to a person brought before a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate to be dealt with under section 9 of the Extradition Act 1870 or section 5 of the Fugitive Offenders Act 1881 (hearing of extradition and similar proceedings).
  • (12) In the last foregoing section—
  • " dealt with " means dealt with under section 6 or 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 or under section 40 of this Act, or dealt with for a failure to comply with a condition of a recognizance to keep the peace or be of good behaviour;
  • " sentence " includes an order of a court in respect of which an appeal lies (with or without leave) to another court, and " sentenced " shall be construed accordingly.
75
  • (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the power to make a legal aid order shall be exercisable by a court having power under section 73 of this Act to do so where it appears to the court desirable to do so in the interests of justice, and a court having power to do so shall make such an order—
  • (a) where a person is committed for trial on a charge of murder; or
  • (b) where the prosecutor appeals or applies for leave to appeal from the criminal division of the Court of Appeal or the Courts-Martial Appeal Court to the House of Lords.
  • (2) A court shall not make a legal aid order for the giving of aid to any person for the purpose of any criminal proceedings or any other purpose unless it appears to the court that his means are such that he requires assistance in meeting the costs which he may incur for that purpose.
  • (3) A court may refuse to make a legal aid order for the giving of aid to any person unless he first makes a payment on account of any contribution towards costs which he may be liable to make under the next following section, but shall only refuse to do so if it appears to the court from a statement furnished by him under the next following subsection or otherwise that it is likely that he will be required to make such a contribution and that he has the means to make an immediate payment.
  • (4) Without prejudice to subsection (2) of this section, before a court makes a legal aid order for the giving of aid to any person, the court shall require him to furnish a written statement of his means in a prescribed form.
  • (5) Where a doubt arises whether a legal aid order should be made for the giving of aid to any person, the doubt shall be resolved in that person's favour.

Liability for contributions.

76
  • (1) A person to whom legal aid has been ordered to be given for any purpose by a legal aid order may be ordered by a court having power to do so to make such contribution to the appropriate authority in respect of the costs incurred on his behalf for that purpose as appears to the court reasonable having regard to his resources and commitments or, if it so appears, to pay the whole amount of those costs to that authority.
  • (2) In this Part of this Act any reference to a contribution towards costs shall be construed as including a reference to a payment of the whole amount thereof.
  • (3) A person may be ordered under this section to make a contribution towards costs in one sum or by instalments.
  • (4) An order under this section may be made—
  • (a) where the legal aid was ordered to be given for the purpose of proceedings before a magistrates' court and the legally assisted person is not committed to a court of assize or quarter sessions for trial or sentence, by that magistrates' court after disposing of the case;
  • (b) where the legal aid was ordered to be given for the purpose of proceedings before a magistrates' court and the legally assisted person is committed to a court of assize or quarter sessions as aforesaid, by the latter court, or any other court to which the legally assisted person was committed under section 16 of the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1962, after disposing of the case;
  • (c) where the legal aid was ordered to be given for the purpose of an appeal to, or a trial or other proceedings before, a court of assize or quarter sessions, by that court, or any other court to which the legally assisted person was committed under the said section 16, after disposing of the appeal or hearing as the case may be ;
  • (d) where the legal aid was ordered to be given for the purpose of an appeal to the Court of Appeal, the Courts-Martial Appeal Court or the House of Lords, by the Court in question or that House, as the case may be, after disposing of the appeal.

Means inquiry by the Supplementary Benefits Commission.

77
  • (1) At any time after a person has applied for legal aid a court having power to make a legal aid order under section 73 of this Act or an order under the last foregoing section may, and shall on an application made by a legally assisted person in the prescribed circumstances and within the prescribed time, request the Supplementary Benefits Commission to inquire into his means and the Commission shall comply with the request and report on his means to the court.
  • (2) Where the court receives a report under the foregoing subsection before making an order under the last foregoing section, the court shall in determining whether or not to make such an order and in determining the terms of the order have regard to the report.
  • (3) Where the court receives any such report after making an order under the last foregoing section, it shall reconsider the order and may vary its terms in the light of the report.

Computation of resources.

78
  • (1) Regulations made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury may make provision as to the manner in which a person's resources and commitments are to be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether his means are such that he should be given legal aid under this Part of this Act and for the purpose of determining the amount of the contribution which he may be required to make towards the costs of the legal aid.
  • (2) Except in so far as regulations under the foregoing subsection otherwise provide, any resources and commitments of a person's wife or husband shall be treated for the purposes aforesaid as that person's resources and commitments, and the regulations may also—
  • (a) make provision, in relation to infants, for taking into account the resources and commitments of other persons; and
  • (b) make provision as to the manner in which the resources and commitments of other persons are to be taken into account for those purposes.

Supplementary provisions as to payment of contributions.

79
  • (1) Where a legally assisted person is given legal aid for the purposes of any proceedings, any sums due under an order for costs made in his favour with respect to those proceedings shall be paid into the fund out of which the costs of legal aid fall to be paid under section 81(1) of this Act or, in the case of appeals to or from the Courts-Martial Appeal Court, to the Secretary of State.
  • (2) If the total contribution made by a legally assisted person in respect of any costs is more than the difference between the costs incurred on his behalf and the sums due in respect of costs under such an order, the excess shall be repaid to him.
  • (3) Any sum due by way of contribution towards costs from a legally assisted person may be recovered summarily as a sum adjudged to be paid as a civil debt by order of a magistrates' court but section 74 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (arrears under affiliation orders) and sections 17 and 18 of the Maintenance Orders Act 1958 (not more than one committal for same arrears, and power to review committals) shall apply in relation to any such sum as they apply in relation to a sum ordered to be paid by an affiliation order.
  • (4) Without prejudice to the last foregoing subsection, payment of any sum so due may, subject to the provisions of the next following subsection, be enforced by the High Court or a county court as if it were due in pursuance of a judgment or order of the High Court or county court, as the case may be.
  • (5) The last foregoing subsection shall not be construed as authorising the enforcement by a county court of payment of a sum exceeding the limit for the time being in force under section 40 of the County Courts Act 1959 on the amount of any penalty recoverable by statute in a county court.
  • (6) If on the application of the appropriate authority it appears to a magistrates' court that at the time of the application payment of a contribution towards costs by a legally assisted person or any instalment thereof has been due for not less than four weeks, and that he is a person to whom earnings fall to be paid, the court may make one or more attachment of earnings orders within the meaning of the Maintenance Orders Act 1958 to secure the payment of the whole of the unpaid amount of the contribution.
  • (7) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of applying, with modifications, provisions of the said Act of 1958 to attachment of earnings orders under this section and for the purpose of making a consequential amendment of that Act.
  • (8) Any sum paid by way of contribution towards costs to a clerk of a magistrates' court shall be paid by him to the Secretary of State, and section 27(1) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 (application of fines, fees, etc.) shall not apply to any such sum, but section 27(9) of that Act (regulations as to accounts) shall apply to any such sum as it applies to a sum payable under the said subsection (1).
80
  • (1) A court having power to make a legal aid order may on the application of the legally assisted person or otherwise amend any such order by substituting for any legal representative or representatives previously assigned to him any legal representative or representatives whom the court could have assigned to him if it had then been making the legal aid order.
  • (2) A court having power to make a legal aid order may revoke any such order—
  • (a) on the application of the legally assisted person; or
  • (b) if the only legal representative or all the legal representatives for the time being assigned to him withdraws or withdraw from the case and it appears to the court that, because of his conduct, it is not desirable to amend the order under the foregoing subsection.
  • (3) The amendment or revocation of a legal aid order under this section shall not affect the right of any legal representative previously assigned to the legally assisted person to remuneration for work done before the date of the amendment or revocation as the case may be, but where a court revokes such an order, the court may make an order under section 76 of this Act as if it had disposed of the case.
81
  • (1) Where a legal aid order has been made for the giving of aid to a legally assisted person, the costs of the legal aid given to him shall be paid by whichever of the following methods is appropriate, that is to say—
  • (a) in the case of proceedings in a magistrates' court, they shall be paid out of the legal aid fund;
  • (b) in the case of appeals to quarter sessions, they shall be paid out of the general rate fund of the borough where the court appealed from was acting for a county borough, the general fund of the Greater London Council where it was acting for a London Commission area and in any other case the county fund;
  • (c) in the case of appeals to or from the Courts-Martial Appeal Court, they shall be paid by the Secretary of State; and
  • (d) in the case of any proceedings not falling within any of the foregoing paragraphs, they shall be paid out of the local funds out of which the costs of those proceedings are payable under the Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1952.
  • (2) Subject to regulations under section 83 of this Act, the costs of legal aid ordered to be given to a legally assisted person for the purpose of any proceedings shall include sums on account of the fees payable to any counsel or solicitor assigned to him and disbursements reasonably incurred by any such solicitor for or in connection with those proceedings.

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