In Summary
At present, summonses for offences dealt with by the magistrates’ courts are generally served personally by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, although summonses for a range of less serious offences can be served by post. This procedure has been the subject of criticism in recent years for being cumbersome, outdated and a potential cause of delay within the justice system.
The Proposal
It is proposed that it should be possible to serve a summons on a defendant by first class post in all criminal cases that are commenced by summons and which are prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, having been reported for prosecution by the police.
The current service arrangements are contained within the Magistrates’ Courts Rules (Northern Ireland) 1984. We are not, however, seeking views on the court rules, (or on the detail of any amendments to the rules that might subsequently be made.) We are, however, interested in receiving views on the proposal to allow greater use to be made of service by first class post for summonses in criminal proceedings in the magistrates’ courts.
Do you have any views on this?
We want to hear the views of any interested parties on the impact this proposal could have. We acknowledge that by issuing a consultation paper to a targeted list of consultees, we may indirectly exclude some interested parties. We are therefore issuing this e-alert to all consultees, and ask that you let us know if you wish to receive further information on this proposal.
The draft proposal will be available from 6 May 2009. We will be inviting written responses to the draft proposal by 30th June 2009.
The consultation document is available by clicking on this link.
If you would like to receive a hard copy of the draft proposal for comment, please contact
Communications Group,
NI Court Service,
Laganside House,
23 -27 Oxford Street,
Belfast,
BT1 3LA
Telephone 028 9032 8594
or by email at communicationsgroup@courtsni.gov.uk