A PROPOSAL TO MAKE FURTHER RULES ABOUT CONTEMPT - Justice

1 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE RULE COMMITTEE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE RULES : PART 62 A PROPOSAL TO MAKE FURTHER RULES ABOUT CONTEMPT INVITATION TO COMMENT Contents Paragraph Page Introduction 1

2 1 Background 8 2 General comments Categories of CONTEMPT 13 3 Criminal CONTEMPT 19 4 The powers of criminal courts to punish criminal CONTEMPT Magistrates courts powers 22 5 Crown court s power 23 5 court of Appeal s power 25 6 Nature of criminal CONTEMPT 26 6 Imprisonment and criminal CONTEMPT 29 7 The power to discharge an order of committal 30 7 The power to suspend an order of committal 39 9 Significant differences between the CONTEMPT jurisdictions of each of the criminal courts.

3 Impact on RULES 46 11 Remand in custody 48 11 Evidence 51 12 Suspension of an order of committal 56 13 Procedure prosecuting criminal CONTEMPT Common law 57 14 Refining the summary procedure into RULES 65 16 The Civil Procedure RULES Practice Direction 66 17 The Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction: magistrates courts procedure 68 18 Bail 69 19 Proposed Criminal Procedure RULES relating to CONTEMPT 77 20 Codification of the common law procedure 79 21 Division of Part 62 into Sections 83 22 Individual RULES 85 22 The proposed RULES and the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction 111 28 Questions for consideration

4 29 ANNEXES 1. Draft new Part 62 RULES 30 2. CONTEMPT legislation 38 3. List of those invited to comment 42 1 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE RULE COMMITTEE A PROPOSAL to make FURTHER RULES ABOUT CONTEMPT Invitation to comment INTRODUCTION 1. The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee is considering a PROPOSAL to make FURTHER RULES ABOUT CONTEMPT . The Committee would be grateful for the views of those to whom this invitation has been addressed, and for the views of any others whom those consulted may know to have an interest in the PROPOSAL .

5 2. At present Part 62 of the Criminal Procedure RULES contains RULES ABOUT CONTEMPT by way of disobedience of a court order, etc. Those RULES do not, however, deal with CONTEMPT in the face of the court , as it is known. The law on such CONTEMPT is found in other legislation and case law and, in respect of proceedings in magistrates courts, it is described in the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction. 3. New RULES proposed for inclusion in Part 62 would apply to such CONTEMPT of court in criminal cases as described and explained below.

6 The RULES would apply in magistrates courts, in the Crown court , and in the Criminal Division of the court of Appeal. They would not affect the procedure in the High court , the jurisdiction of which overlaps with that of the criminal courts. The proposed procedure RULES do not, and cannot, define the extent of the courts jurisdiction to punish for CONTEMPT . They can only govern the procedure by which that jurisdiction is to be exercised. 4. The Committee is the body appointed under section 70 of the Courts Act 2003 to make RULES governing the practice and procedure to be followed in the criminal courts.

7 The Committee made The Criminal Procedure RULES 2010, which came into force on 5th April, 2010, superseding the Criminal Procedure RULES 2005. Information ABOUT the Committee may be found on the website of the Ministry of Justice at The full text of the RULES is at 5. Attached to this invitation are: (a) at annex 1, the proposed new RULES , which in Section 3 ( RULES to ) incorporate the current RULES in Part 62 and in Section 4 ( RULES to ) contain new RULES ABOUT the procedure on CONTEMPT in the face of the court ; (b) at annex 2, relevant provisions of the legislation that would be supplemented and complemented by the proposed new RULES ; (c) at annex 3, a list of those to whom this invitation has been sent.

8 6. The Committee invites comments on this PROPOSAL generally, or on any aspect of it. A list of questions that those consulted may wish to consider in particular appears at page 29. Cross-references to those questions appear at the relevant points in the following paragraphs. Please reply to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee secretariat at the Ministry of Justice by Friday 10th September, 2010. Responses by email may be sent to A 2 copy of this invitation, with the questions presented in the form of a questionnaire, may be found at 7.

9 Although the Committee does not intend to publish a list of those who comment, or the content of their comments, respondents are asked to bear in mind that responses will be treated as public documents in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and may be made available to enquirers on request. BACKGROUND 8. In 2009, the Committee considered a PROPOSAL to make new RULES to provide for an application for the committal for CONTEMPT of court of a person alleged to have disobeyed a restraint order made under section 41 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

10 That PROPOSAL derived from observations by the court of Appeal in the case of R v M [2008] EWCA Crim 1901, a decision of the court of Appeal delivered on 14th August, 2008. 9. In R v M the appellant questioned the jurisdiction of the Crown court to punish him for alleged disobedience of a restraint order. No Criminal Procedure RULES governed the application for his committal for CONTEMPT of court . The court of Appeal found that the Crown court has jurisdiction to commit for breach of its order, but in the absence of relevant RULES the procedure was unclear.