Understanding
and applying the Rules
2.1
When the Rules apply
(1)
In general, the Criminal Procedure Rules apply—
(a) in all criminal cases in magistrates’ courts and in the
Crown Court; and
(b) in all cases in the criminal division of the Court of Appeal.
(2) If a rule applies only in one or two of those courts, the rule
makes that clear.
(3) The Rules apply on and after 4 th April, 2005, but do not affect
any right or duty existing under the rules of court revoked by the
coming into force of these Rules.
The rules replaced by these Rules are revoked when these Rules come
into force by provisions of the Courts Act 2003 ( (1)), the Courts
Act 2003 (Commencement No. 6 and Savings) Order 2004 ( (2)) and the
Courts Act 2003 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2004 ( (3)). These
Rules reproduce the substance of all the rules they replace.
2.2
Definitions
(1)
In these Rules, unless the context makes it clear that something different
is meant:
“court” means a tribunal with jurisdiction over criminal
cases. It includes a judge, recorder, District Judge (Magistrates’
Courts), lay justice and, when exercising their judicial powers, the
Registrar of Criminal Appeals, a justices’ clerk or assistant
clerk;
“court officer” means the appropriate member of the staff
of a court; and
“Practice Direction” means the Lord Chief Justice’s
Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction, as amended.
(2) Definitions of some other expressions are in the rules in which
they apply.
2.3
References to Acts of Parliament and to Statutory Instruments
In
these Rules, where a rule refers to an Act of Parliament or to subordinate
legislation by title and year, subsequent references to that Act or
to that legislation in the rule are shortened: so, for example, after
a reference to the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996
( (4)) that Act is called “the 1996 Act”; and after a
reference to the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (Defence
Disclosure Time Limits) Regulations 1997 ( (5)) those Regulations
are called “the 1997 Regulations”.
2.4
The glossary
The glossary at the end of the Rules is a guide to the meaning of
certain legal expressions used in them.
