The Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) (Amendment) Regulations 1988

Made: 8th February 1988

Laid before Parliament: 15th February 1988

Coming into force: 1st April 1988

In exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 22(1) and (2) and 29(2) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985[^f00001], I hereby make the following Regulations:

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) (Amendment) Regulations 1988 and shall come into force on 1st April 1988.

• (2) In these Regulations“the principal regulations” means the Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) Regulations 1987[^f00002].

2

• (1) In paragraph (2) of regulation 3 of the principal regulations (application) at the end of the list of counties there shall be inserted the following—

Cheshire Clwyd Cornwall Devon Dorset Dyfed Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Gwent Gwynedd Hampshire Isle of Wight Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan Wiltshire

• (2) This regulation shall not apply in relation to proceedings for an offence instituted before the date of commencement of these Regulations, except where the accused is committed on or after that date for trial in the Crown Court.

3

• (1) In paragraphs (2)(a) and (4)(a) of regulation 4 of the principal regulations (custody time limits in magistrates' courts) for“98” there shall be substituted in both places“84”.

• (2) This regulation shall not apply in relation to proceedings for an offence instituted before the date of commencement of these Regulations.

4

• (1) In paragraph (1) of regulation 5 of the principal regulations (custody time limits in the Crown Court) at the end of the list of places there shall be inserted the following—

Barnstaple Bodmin Bolton Bournemouth Caernarfon Cardiff Carmarthen Chester Coventry Devizes Dolgellau Dorchester Dudley Exeter Gloucester Haverfordwest Knutsford Manchester Merthyr Tydfil Mold Newport (Gwent) Newport (Isle of Wight) Plymouth Portsmouth Salisbury Southampton Swansea Swindon Taunton Warrington Welshpool Winchester

• (2) This regulation shall not apply in relation to a person committed before the date of commencement of these Regulations for trial in the Crown Court or against whom a bill of indictment is preferred before that date under section 2(2)(b) of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933[^f00003].

Signed

Douglas Hurd — One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State — 8th February 1988

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Regulation 3 of the Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) Regulations 1987 (the“principal regulations”) restricts the application of the regulations to proceedings instituted in certain counties (namely, Avon, Kent, Somerset and West Midlands); and regulation 5 restricts the application of the provisions dealing with custody time limits in the Crown Court to certain Crown Court centres (namely, Birmingham, Bristol and Maidstone). Those regulations are amended so as to include Greater Manchester and all the counties in the Wales and Chester and Western circuits and all the Crown Court centres in those areas and West Midlands.

Regulation 4 is amended so as to reduce the custody time limit in magistrates' courts in relation to proceedings commenced in the West Midlands from 98 days to 84 days.

The amendments take effect on 1st April 1988.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1985 c. 23.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1987/299.

[^f00003]: 1933 c. 36; section 2(2)(b) was amended by the Supreme Court Act 1981 (c. 54), Schedule 5, and by the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (c. 23), Schedule 2.