What's New? Criminal Procedure Rules
[This page was updated on 21 May 2012]
What's new?
May 2012
Forms for use in criminal proceedings
The Lord Chief Justice has authorised the withdrawal of four forms used in connection with Part 3 of the Criminal Procedure Rules (Case management) and one form used in connection with Part 41 (Retrial following acquittal for serious offence). He has authorised the amendment of six other forms for use in connection with Part 41. The forms that have been withdrawn were forms of directions for use by magistrates’ courts and youth courts when committing or sending a case for trial in the Crown Court, and the form of determination for use in connection with rule 41.11 or 41.12. The forms that have been amended are the forms for use in connection with rules 41.2, 41.3, 41.4, 41.8, 41.15 and 41.16
April 2012
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 as amended and in force on Monday, 2 April 2012
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2011 come into force on Monday, 2 April 2012. The Criminal Procedure Rules' pages have now been updated to reflect the changes. The Guide to the changes appears below: see the entry in January 2012.
March 2012
Criminal Procedure Rules, Part 3 Case Management: PCMH form for cases involving between six and ten defendants in the Crown Court
The Plea and Case Management Hearing form, for use in connection with Part 3 of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011, has been available on the Forms page since August 2011. We have now launched further versions of the form, for cases involving six, eight or up to ten defendants. They are available in Word format on the Forms page, under Part 3.
February 2012
Criminal Procedure Rules, Part 3 Case Management: PCMH form for cases involving between two and five defendants in the Crown Court
The Plea and Case Management Hearing form, for use in connection with Part 3 of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011, has been available on the Forms page since August 2011. We have now launched an expanded version of the form, for cases involving two, three, four or five defendants. A 'Word' version of the form appears below. It is also available on the Forms page.
- CrimPR Part 3 Plea and Case Management Hearing (PCMH) form for two, three, four or five defendants (Word 765kb, 23 pages)
January 2012
Criminal Procedure Rules and forms to be used in the criminal courts in England and Wales
The Criminal Procedure Rules apply in all criminal trials in England and Wales. They set out the procedures to be used in all magistrates' courts, the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division. Forms to be used with the Criminal Procedure Rules are listed in Annexes D and E to the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction. The forms have been available since 2005 on the Criminal Procedure Rules' Forms page, in Acrobat Portable Document Format ('pdf') and some, in particular the Case Management forms for use in connection with Part 3 of the Criminal Procedure Rules, have been available in MS-Word format too.
In 2011, the Secretariat to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee announced that work was underway to make more Word editions available on the website. Providing them in this format enables many users of the criminal courts to have the choice of completing forms electronically. Most forms have now been up-loaded onto the Criminal Procedure Rules' Forms page and the work shortly will be concluded. Please refresh your browser whenever you visit the page.
If you cannot find what you are looking for, please Contact us.
The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2011 are on the way
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has made the first amendment of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011. The changes will come into force on Monday, 2nd April 2012. The statutory instrument making these rules is The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2011 and the S.I. reference number is 3075 of 2011 (L.22). The Guide to the new and amended rules appears below.
November 2011
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011: case management aide-memoire
The document below is a two-page summary of key case management rules, extracted from The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 which came into force on 3 October 2011. It is made available in Word and in Acrobat PDF.
October 2011
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 in force on Monday, 3 October 2011
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 come into force on Monday, 3 October 2011. This is the second annual consolidation and consequently, they replace The Criminal Procedure Rules 2010. The Criminal Procedure Rules' pages have now been updated.
Please note that the Criminal Procedure Rules' What's New? Archive is now up and running. This additional page includes the news about Criminal Procedure Rule changes, the 2011 Criminal Procedure Rule Committee Recruitment Campaign, amendments of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction and changes to forms.
September 2011
Criminal Procedure Rule Committee retirements
The terms of appointment to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee of His Honour Judge Denyer, QC, His Honour Judge Stephen Dawson, Mr. Tom Little and Mr. Derek French ended on 31 August 2011. We are indebted to them for their significant contributions to the reform of the rules.
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee's web-page has been amended to reflect the new appointments and the two re-appointments recently made.
August 2011
New and updated forms for use in criminal proceedings
The Lord Chief Justice has authorised the use of new and updated forms for use in criminal proceedings. The following forms are available now on the Forms page, for immediate use with the current Criminal Procedure Rules:
- In connection with Part 3, Case Management: an amended 'Plea and Case Management Hearing (PCMH)' form; updated 'Notes for Guidance in completing the PCMH form'; and an amended 'Judicial Orders' template.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 22, Disclosure: Rule 22.4 an amended form of 'Defence Statement' and a new form, named 'Defence Witness Notice'.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 28, Witness summonses, warrants and orders: Rule 28.3 and 28.4 an amended 'Application for a Witness Summons' form; and for use in connection with Rules 28.3, 28.4 and 28.5: a new form, 'Application for a Witness Summons confidential information relating to another person'.
- The Criminal Procedue Rules Part 37, Trial and sentence in a magistrates' court: Rule 37.11 an amended form for making a 'Statutory Declaration'.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 65, Appeal to the Court of Appeal: general rules: Rule 65.13 an amended 'Notice of Abandonment of Proceedings instituted under s.9(11) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, s. 35(1) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, or s.47(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003'.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 66, Appeal to the Court of Appeal against ruling at preparatory hearing: an amended 'Notice and Grounds of Appeal or application for permission to appeal' and an amended 'Respondent's Notice and Grounds of Opposition to Appeal'.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 71, Appeal to the Court of Appeal under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: general rules, an amended 'Notice of Application for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court'.
- The Criminal Procedure Rules Part 74, Appeal or Reference to the Supreme Court: an amended 'Notice of Application for Permission to Appeal to the Supreme Court'.
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On Monday, 3rd October 2011, The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 will come into force.
- An updated version of the Part 3 Case management: the 'Magistrates' Courts: Preparation for Trial' form will be available.
- The new CrimPR Part 15, Preparatory hearings in the Crown Court and Part 16, Reporting etc. restrictions, mean that the current forms for use with The Criminal Procedure Rules 2010 will no longer be required. They will be removed from the website.
The Forms page will be refreshed at the beginning of October, to reflect these alterations.
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Criminal Procedure Rule Committee Recruitment Campaign 2011: the results
In February 2011, we launched an open competition for four vacancies which arise upon the retirement of some members of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee. The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice have now appointed the new members. The successor to His Honour Judge Denyer Q.C. will be Her Honour Judge Anna Guggenheim Q.C.. The successor to District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) Stephen Dawson (now His Honour Judge Dawson) will be District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) Stephen Earl. The successor to Mr. Tom Little, barrister member of the Committee, will be Mr. Nathaniel Rudolf. The successor to Mr. Derek French, solicitor member, will be Mr. Paul Harris.
The Lord Chief Justice decided to extend the appointments of the Deputy Chairman, the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Hooper and Mr. Nicholas Moss, the magistrate member of the Committee.
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee's web-page will be updated at the start of September, when the new appointments take effect.
July 2011
The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 are on the way
The second consolidation of The Criminal Procedure Rules has been completed and the statutory instrument, The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011, was laid in Parliament and published today, Monday, 18 July 2011. The new rules will come into force on Monday, 3 October 2011.
The statutory instrument reference number is 2011 No. 1709 (L.15) and a copy of the guide to the changes appears below, in Word and Acrobat formats.
- Guide to The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 (PDF 60kb, 10 pages)
- Guide to The Criminal Procedure Rules 2011 (Word 95kb, 10 pages)
June 2011
Special measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses
The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 provides a range of special measures which are available to assist vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to give evidence in court. On 27 June 2011, amendments to the Act (made by sections 98-103 and section 105 and Schedule 14 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009) come into force. These deal in particular with child witnesses, witnesses to gun and knife crime offences and make special provision for sexual offences complainants.
A notice about the changes is available on the MoJ website, at http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/bills-and-acts/circulars/circular-11-04-cja-sections.htm
Applications for Special Measures Directions should be made to the court. See The Criminal Procedure Rules at Part 29 and access the appplication forms here.
Archive of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2010
Archive copies of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2010 are available for reference from the National Archives
Archive of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2005
Archive copies of The Criminal Procedure Rules 2005 are available for reference from the National Archives
