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9 May 2007: Responsibility for information on this page has passed from DCA to the Ministry of Justice

Criminal Procedure Rules background

The Criminal Procedure Rules lay down an overriding objective that courts and everyone involved in a criminal case must pursue: to deal with the case justly. They give courts explicit powers to actively manage the preparation of criminal cases waiting to be heard, to get rid of unfair and avoidable delays; and to promote certainty about what is happening for the benefit of everyone involved.

News

| 24 April 2007 |
News about the latest amendment of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction 2007
The fifteenth amendment of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction was handed down by the President of the Queen’s Bench Division in March 2007 and came into force on 2 April 2007. The amendment addressed the Treatment of Vulnerable Defendants; Binding Over Orders and Conditional Discharges; Settling the Indictment; Management of Cases to be heard in the Crown Court; and Forms for Use in Criminal Proceedings.

Due to technical difficulties, the section dealing with Binding Over Orders and Conditional Discharges has not been included in the printed update currently available. We expect the next update of the TSO publication, number 5, to include that text. In the meantime, the text of the amendment is available below.

|24 April 2007 |
News about proposed amendment of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee is currently considering proposals to simplify rules on appeals to the Court of Appeal. This would result in the simplification of the rules about appeals to the criminal division of the Court of Appeal, now contained in Parts 65 to 70 of the Criminal Procedure Rules. The revision would mark the centenary of the establishment of ‘a Court of Criminal Appeal’ by the Criminal Appeal Act 1907.

Criminal Procedure Rule Committee consultation on proposed rules about appeals[PDF 242kb, 48 pages]

The latest date for comments is 25 May, 2007. Please send your comments to :

The Secretary to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Selborne House
54-60 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QW

Or e-mail jonathan.solly@dca.gsi.gov.uk

| 27 March 2007 |
Guide to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2007
The third amendment of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 was published and laid in parliament on 7 March 2007. The amendments came into force on 2 April 2007.
A guide to the amendments for court users, staff and practitioners is now available.

| 6 October 2006 |
Guide to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2006
The second amendment of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 was published and laid in parliament on 4 October 2006. The amendments will come into force on 6 November 2006.

A guide to the amendments for court users, staff and practitioners is now available.

Part 28 Witness Summonses and Orders - proposals to revise and simplify these rules
The consultation period has now closed. The Committee is very grateful for the level of interest expressed in this work and for the contributions of all those who provided comment.

| 10 July 2006 |
Proposal to revise rules about witness summonses and orders
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee is considering a proposal to revise and simplify the rules in Part 28 of the Criminal Procedure Rules (witness summonses and orders). The new rules would be in substitution for the present rules. They would apply in magistrates' courts as well in the Crown Court. They would affect, in particular, all those who hold documents the production of which in evidence may be sought by a party in criminal proceedings. The consultation exercise closed on 22 September 2006 and the Committee is reviewing all responses, before making new rules.

Criminal procedure rule committee proposal [PDF 155kb, 34 pages]

If you have any questions about the proposal, please contact us.

| 8 March 2006 |
Guide to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2006
The first amendment to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 was published and laid in parliament on 15 February 2006. The amendments came into force on 3 April 2006.

A guide to the amendment for court users, court staff and practitioners is now available.

| 8 March 2006 |
Other developments
A sub-group of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has begun work on the development of a code of criminal procedure. To assist the process, an international conference attended by the Lord Chief Justice, eminent judges and leading academics was held in Cambridge in January 2006. Work on a consolidation exercise of current, primary legislation continues in the Secretariat to the Committee. This approach was endorsed by the conference as an essential first step towards the development of a code.

Timetable

The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee is currently considering the improvement of Part 4 (service of documents) and Part 14 (the Indictment)
Work is continuing on the consolidation exercise on current, primary legislation, first mentioned in the News item on 8 March 2006, below
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2006 will come into force on 6 November 2006
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules came into force on 3rd April, 2006.
The Rules are likely to be updated twice each year, to introduce certainty.
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 came into force on 4 April 2005
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee embarked upon a full meeting schedule in the Autumn of 2004. Meetings are held each month.

Background to the Rules

The Criminal Procedure Rules 2005, which came into force on 4 April 2005, were designed to bring about a culture change in the management of criminal cases coming to the courts. Under those rules, everyone involved is made responsible for helping to make the case go ahead efficiently, under the supervision of the court.
For the first time in English legal history, the Criminal Procedure Rules consolidated rules governing the practice and procedure of the criminal courts - the criminal division of the Court of Appeal, the Crown Court and magistrates' courts. Until 2005, those rules were scattered among almost 50 separate sets of rules, containing a total of nearly 500 individual rules.
The Criminal Procedure Rules were an essential first step towards the creation of a comprehensive criminal procedural code, as recommended in the Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales, by Lord Justice Auld.
A new and dedicated Committee was established in June, 2004, to make rules of procedure for all criminal courts in England and Wales up to and including the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). In the past, rules were made in different ways by various methods, with very limited consultation exercises after the rules had been drafted.
There is now one forum for the review of criminal court procedures and the development of modern and simply expressed rules. The Committee intends to deliver modern, efficient and effective practices and procedures to streamline the criminal trial process. These in turn will help to improve the public's understanding and confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee meets every few weeks, to discuss reforms and consults, before making rules. This new approach is to ensure that workable solutions can be developed, with the support of representatives from the prosecution and defence.
The project to establish the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee, with its full-time, supporting Secretariat, is a tri-lateral criminal justice initiative, sponsored by the Constitutional Affairs Secretary and Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, in partnership with the Home Secretary and the Attorney-General.

Background to the policy

Sir Robin Auld, in his "Review of the Criminal Courts" (published October, 2001), recommended that there should be one Committee to make rules of procedure for the criminal courts. (Related recommendations numbered 1, 228, 233, 234, 293.)
In response, the Government confirmed its commitment to modernising the criminal justice system in the White Paper, "Justice For All", published July, 2002. Primary legislation was required to enable some of the modernisation to take place.
The Courts Act, 2003 sets out the provisions for the making of Criminal Procedure Rules, the creation of the Committee and the making of practice directions, in sections 69 to 74.

Contact details

Write to us:
Secretariat to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Selborne House
54-60, Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QW

Useful links

Criminal Courts Review by Lord Justice Auld
Justice for All White Paper
Courts Act 2003
Criminal Procedure Rule Committee
CJS Online
Civil Procedure Rules