Indictable Tried Summarily
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT, 1951.
AN ACT TO AMEND CRIMINAL LAW AND ADMINISTRATION. [21st February, 1951.]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
Court.
1.—In this Act “Court” refers to any court exercising criminal jurisdiction, save where the context otherwise requires, but does not include courtmartial.
Summary trial of indictable offences.
2.—(1) (a) In this Act, “scheduled offence” means—
(i) an offence specified in the First Schedule to this Act, or
(ii) an indictable offence declared to be a scheduled offence by an order under paragraph (b) for the time being in force.
(b) The Minister for Justice may by order declare that any specified indictable offence shall be a scheduled offence.
(c) An order shall not come into force unless approved by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas but, upon being so approved, shall come into force forthwith.
(2) (a) The District Court may try summarily a person charged with a scheduled offence if—
(i) the Court is of opinion that the facts proved or alleged constitute a minor offence fit to be so tried, and
(ii) the accused, on being informed by the Court of his right to be tried with a jury, does not object to being tried summarily.
(b) A person shall not be tried summarily for an offence specified in the First Schedule at reference numbers 1, 2 or 3 or for an attempt to commit such an offence unless the Attorney General has consented to his being so tried.
(3) This section shall not prevent the Court from sending forward a person for trial for a scheduled offence.
Procedure where accused pleads guilty in District Court to indictable offence.
3.—(1) This section applies to all indictable offences except the following—an offence under the Treason Act, 1939 (No. 10 of 1939), murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy to murder and piracy, including an offence by an accessory before or after the fact.
(2) Where, before or after taking or completing depositions,—
(a) the District Court ascertains that a person charged with an offence to which this section applies wishes to plead guilty, and
(b) the Court is satisfied that he understands the nature of the offence and the facts alleged,
the Court may—
(i) if the Attorney General does not object, deal with the offence summarily, or
(ii) if the accused signs a plea of guilty, send him forward for trial with that plea and any depositions already taken.
(3) (a) Where a person sent forward for trial under this section, on being arraigned, expresses the desire to withdraw his written plea and to plead not guilty, the trial judge shall enter a plea of not guilty and fix a date for the trial.
(b) If at the trial it is proposed to call as witnesses for the prosecution persons who have not made depositions, the Attorney General shall, not less than seven days before the trial, cause to be served on the accused a notice in writing specifying those persons and giving a statement of the evidence that is to be given by each of them.
Punishment on summary conviction for certain indictable offences.
4.—(1) On conviction by the District Court for a scheduled offence or for an indictable offence dealt with under section 3 of this Act, the accused shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2) In the case, however, of an offence under section 11 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 (No. 45 of 1926), the District Court shall not impose a fine exceeding ten pounds or a term of imprisonment exceeding one month.
Imposition of consecutive terms of imprisonment by District Court.
5.—Where a sentence of imprisonment is passed on any person by the District Court, the Court may order that the sentence shall commence at the expiration of any other term of imprisonment to which that person has been previously sentenced, so however that where two or more sentences passed by the District Court are ordered to run consecutively the aggregate term of imprisonment shall not exceed twelve months.
Inclusion of summary offences in indictment.
6.—Where a person is sent forward for trial for an indictable offence, the indictment may contain a count for having committed any offence triable summarily (in this section referred to as a summary offence) with which he has been charged and which arises out of the same set of facts and, if found guilty on that count, he may be sentenced to suffer any punishment which could be inflicted on a person summarily convicted of the summary offence.
Restriction of section 10 (4) of Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851.
7.—Paragraph 4 (which prescribes time limits for the making of complaints in cases of summary jurisdiction) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , shall not apply to a complaint in respect of an indictable offence.
Taking of other offences into consideration in awarding punishment.
8.—(1) Where a person, on being convicted of an offence, admits himself guilty of any other offence and asks to have it taken into consideration in awarding punishment, the Court may take it into consideration accordingly.
(2) If the Court takes an offence into consideration, a note of that fact shall be made and filed with the record of the sentence, and the accused shall not be prosecuted for that offence, unless his conviction is reversed on appeal.
FIRST SCHEDULE.
Indictable Offences Which May be Dealt With Summarily by the District Court.
Section 2 .
Ref. No.
Offence
(1)
(2)
1.
An offence in the nature of a public mischief.
2.
An indictable offence consisting of any form of obstruction of the administration of justice or the enforcement of the law.
3.
Perjury.
4.
Riot or unlawful assembly, where the Court is of opinion that the act constituting the offence was not done in furtherance of an organised conspiracy or, if so done, that the conspiracy is at an end.
5.
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
6.
Indecent assault.
7.
An offence under section 16 of the Plate Assay (Ireland) Act, 1807 as amended by section 2 of the Plate Assay (Amendment) Act 1931 .
8.
An offence under the Larceny Act, 1861 , involving property the value of which does not, in the opinion of the Court, exceed fifty pounds.
9.
An offence under section 38 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861 .
10.
An offence under section 60 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861 .
11.
An offence under section 1 of the Falsification of Accounts Act, 1875.
12.
An offence under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 , where the accused person is over the age of sixteen years and the person with whom the act is alleged to have been committed is either under the age of sixteen or is an idiot, an imbecile or a feeble-minded person.
13.
An offence under the Forgery Act, 1913.
14.
An offence under sections 25 , 26 or 27 of the Larceny Act, 1916 .
15.
An offence under any provision (other than sections 25 , 26 and 27 ) of the Larceny Act, 1916 , involving property the value of which does not, in the opinion of the Court, exceed fifty pounds.
16.
An offence under section 24 of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926 .
17.
An offence under section 11 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 .
18.
An offence under section 65 of the Road Traffic Act, 1933 .
19.
Attempted carnal knowledge constituting an offence under sections 1 (2), 2 . (2) or 4 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935 .
20.
An offence under section 10 of this Act.
21.
An attempt to commit an offence which the District Court has, by virtue of any enactment (including this Act), jurisdiction to try summarily.
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1967
Amendment of Criminal Justice Act, 1951, and Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962.
19.—(1) Section 2 (2) of the Criminal Justice Act, 1951, is hereby amended by the substitution, for paragraph (b), of the following paragraph:
“(b) A person shall not be tried summarily for an offence specified in the First Schedule at reference numbers 1, 2, 3 or 9 or for an offence specified therein at reference number 8 or 15 which involves property the value of which, in the opinion of the Court, exceeds two hundred pounds or for an attempt to commit any of the aforesaid offences unless the Attorney General has consented to his being so tried.”
(2) The First Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 (which specifies the indictable offences which may be tried summarily with the consent of the accused) is hereby amended—
(a) by the deletion of the matter set out at reference numbers 8, 14 and 15 and the insertion of—
“8. An offence under the Larceny Act, 1861.
14. An offence under section 25, 26, 27 or 28 of the Larceny Act, 1916.
15. An offence under any provision (other than sections 25, 26, 27 and 28) of the Larceny Act, 1916.”;
(b) by the deletion of the matter set out at reference number 18;
(c) by the insertion of the following additional references:
“22. An offence under section 13 of the Debtors (Ireland) Act, 1872.
23. An offence under sections 20, 21, 22, 23 or 51 of the Malicious Damage Act, 1861.”
(3) F56[…]
Annotations
Amendments:
F56
Repealed (31.07.1973) by Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 1973 (16/1973), s. 3(3), commenced on enactment.
Consent of Attorney General.
20.—The consent of the Attorney General under any provision of this Part may be conveyed in writing signed by the Attorney General or orally by a person prosecuting at the suit of the Attorney General or appearing on his behalf.
CRIMINAL LAW ACT 1997
Consent of Director of Public Prosecutions to summary disposal of certain offences.
8.—Section 2 of the Act of 1951 (amended by section 19 of the Act of 1967) is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):
“(2) The District Court may try summarily a person charged with a scheduled offence if—
(a) the Court is of opinion that the facts proved or alleged constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily,
(b) the accused, on being informed by the Court of his right to be tried with a jury, does not object to being tried summarily, and
(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions consents to the accused being tried summarily for such offence.”.
Consent of Director of Public Prosecutions to other offences being taken into consideration in awarding punishment.
9.—Section 8 of the Act of 1951 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):
“(1) Where a person, on being convicted of an offence, admits himself guilty of any other offence and asks to have it taken into consideration in awarding punishment, the Court may, if the Director of Public Prosecutions consents, take it into consideration accordingly.”.
Amendment of section 23 of Act of 1951.
17.—The Act of 1951 is hereby amended by—
(a) the deletion of subsection (3) of section 23, and
(b) the insertion of the following section:
“23A (1) The Government, may by order, delegate to the Minister for Justice any power of the Government under section 23 of this Act.
(2) The Government may, by order, revoke an order under this section.”.
Amendment of section 15 of Act of 1951.
18.—The Act of 1951 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 15 (substituted by section 26 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 ):
“15. (1) A person arrested pursuant to a warrant shall on arrest be brought, as soon as practicable, before a judge of the District Court having jurisdiction to deal with the offence concerned.
(2) A person arrested without warrant shall, on being charged with an offence, be brought, as soon as practicable, before a judge of the District Court having jurisdiction to deal with the offence concerned.
(3) Where a person is arrested pursuant to a warrant later than the hour of 5 o’clock on any evening or, having been arrested without warrant, is charged after that hour and a judge of the District Court is due to sit in the District Court District in which the person was arrested not later than noon on the following day, it shall be sufficient compliance with subsection (1) or (2) of this section, as the case may be, if he is brought before a judge of the District Court sitting in that District Court District at the commencement of the sitting.
(4) If the accused is remanded on bail and there and then finds bail, the case shall be remitted to the next sitting of the District Court.
(5) In any other event, the case shall be remitted to a sitting of the District Court at a named place to be held within a period not exceeding 8 days of the arrest.
(6) This section is without prejudice to the provisions of any enactment relating to proceedings after arrest or charge in particular cases.”.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT, 1999
PART V
Guilty Pleas and Certificate Evidence
Guilty pleas.
29.—(1) In determining what sentence to pass on a person who has pleaded guilty to an offence, other than an offence for which the sentence is fixed by law, a court, if it considers it appropriate to do so, shall take into account—
(a) the stage in the proceedings for the offence at which the person indicated an intention to plead guilty, and
(b) the circumstances in which this indication was given.
(2) To avoid doubt, it is hereby declared that subsection (1) shall not preclude a court from passing the maximum sentence prescribed by law for an offence if, notwithstanding the plea of guilty, the court is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the offence which warrant the maximum sentence.
(3) In this section, “fixed by law”, in relation to a sentence for an offence, means a sentence which a court is required by law to impose on a person of full capacity who is guilty of the offence.
Certificate evidence relating to custody of exhibits.
30.—(1) In any criminal proceedings, a certificate purporting to be signed by a member of the Garda Síochána and stating that the member had custody of an exhibit at a specified place or for a specified period or purpose shall be admissible as evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.
(2) In any criminal proceedings, the court may—
(a) if it considers that the interests of justice so require, direct that oral evidence be given of the matters stated in a certificate under this section, and
(b) adjourn the proceedings to a later date for the purpose of receiving the oral evidence.
(3) A certificate under this section shall be tendered in evidence by a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant.
(4) The Minister may, by regulations, prescribe the form of a certificate under this section.
PART VI
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2006
Restriction of section 10(4) of Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851.
177.— (1) The Criminal Justice Act 1951 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 7:
“Restriction of section 10(4) of Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851.
7.— Paragraph 4 (which prescribes time limits for the making of complaints in cases of summary jurisdiction) of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 shall not apply to a complaint in respect of:
(a) a scheduled offence, or
(b) an offence that is triable—
(i) at the election of the prosecution, either on indictment or summarily, or
(ii) either on indictment or, subject to certain conditions including the consent of the prosecution, summarily.”.
(2) This section shall not have effect in relation to an offence committed before the commencement of this section.
Amendment of Courts of Justice Act 1924.
178.— The Courts of Justice Act 1924 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 79:
“
Exercise of jurisdiction by District Court judges in criminal cases.
79A.— (1) Where, in respect of a crime committed in the State—
(a) the accused does not reside in the State,
(b) he or she was not arrested for and charged with the crime in the State, and
(c) either—
(i) the crime was committed in more than one district court district, or
(ii) it is known that it was committed in one of not more than five district court districts, but the particular district concerned is not known,
then, for the purposes of section 79 of this Act, the crime shall be deemed to have been committed in each of the districts concerned and a judge assigned to any of the districts concerned may deal with the case.
(2) Where the circumstances of a crime committed in the State fall within paragraphs (a) and (b), but not (c), of subsection (1) of this section and the district court district in which the crime was committed is not known, then, for the purposes of section 79 of this Act, the crime shall be deemed to have been committed in the Dublin Metropolitan District.
(3) A case does not fall within this section unless it is shown that reasonable efforts have been made to ascertain the whereabouts of the accused for the purposes of arresting him or her for and charging him or her with the crime concerned.
(4) Where a judge for the time being assigned to a district court district exercises jurisdiction in a criminal case by virtue of this section, the judge or any other judge assigned to the district shall have jurisdiction in the case until its conclusion in the District Court notwithstanding that it is later established that, but for this subsection, he or she would not have had jurisdiction in the case.
(5) A judge for the time being assigned to a district court district who exercises jurisdiction in a criminal case by virtue of this section may deal with the case in any court area within his or her district.”.
Amendment of Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961.
179.— The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 is amended—
(a) in section 25(4), by the insertion of “and section 25A of this Act” after “subsection (3) of this section”, and
(b) by the insertion of the following section after section 25:
“
Exercise of jurisdiction by Circuit Court judges in indictable offences.
25A.— (1) Where, in respect of an offence committed in the State—
(a) the accused person does not reside in the State,
(b) he or she was not arrested for and charged with the offence in the State, and
(c) either—
(i) the offence was committed in more than one circuit, or
(ii) it is known that it was committed in one of not more than three circuits, but the particular circuit concerned is not known,
then, for the purposes of section 25(3) of this Act, the offence shall be deemed to have been committed in each of the circuits concerned and a judge of any of the circuits concerned may deal with the case.
(2) Where the circumstances of an offence committed in the State fall within paragraphs (a) and (b), but not (c), of subsection (1) of this section and the circuit in which the offence was committed is not known, then, for the purposes of section 25(3) of this Act, the offence shall be deemed to have been committed in the Dublin Circuit.
(3) A case does not fall within this section unless it is shown that reasonable efforts have been made to ascertain the whereabouts of the accused person for the purposes of arresting him or her for and charging him or her with the offence concerned.
(4) Where a judge of a circuit exercises jurisdiction in relation to an indictable offence by virtue of this section, the judge or any other judge assigned to the circuit shall have jurisdiction in relation to the offence until the conclusion of proceedings in respect of it in the Circuit Court notwithstanding that it is later established that, but for this subsection, he or she would not have had jurisdiction in relation to the offence.
(5) In this section ‘offence’ means an indictable offence as respects which jurisdiction is vested in the Circuit Court by section 25 of this Act.”.
Exercise of certain powers by judge of District Court outside district court district.
180.— The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 32:
6“
Exercise of certain powers by judge of District Court outside district court district.
32A.— (1) This section applies to the following powers of a judge of the District Court:
(a) the power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person;
(b) the power to issue a warrant to a member of the Garda Síochána or, if appropriate, any other person authorising the entry to, and search of, any place or premises (including a dwelling) and, if appropriate, the search of any person found at such place or premises for all or any of the following purposes:
(i) the gathering of evidence of, or relating to, the commission or attempted commission of any criminal offence;
(ii) the gathering of evidence of, or relating to, the contravention in any other respect of any provision of an enactment;
(iii) ascertaining whether there is or has been compliance with any provision of an enactment;
(iv) the gathering of evidence of, or relating to, assets or proceeds deriving from criminal conduct (within the meaning of section 1(1) of the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996) or to their identity or whereabouts;
(c) the power to make an order, upon the application of a member of the Garda Síochána or, if appropriate, any other person, directing another person to produce, make available for inspection or to give access to any particular document, material or thing, or documents, material or things of a particular description, for the purposes of investigating—
(i) any criminal offence,
(ii) whether there is or has been a contravention in any other respect of any provision of an enactment, or
(iii) whether a person has benefited from assets or proceeds deriving from criminal conduct (within the meaning of section 1(1) of the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996) or is in receipt of or controls such assets or proceeds.
(2) A judge of the District Court may, in relation to a relevant district, exercise while in any place in the State outside that relevant district any of the powers to which this section applies for the time being conferred on him or her by law if, but only if, he or she would be entitled to exercise the power concerned at a sitting of the District Court in that relevant district.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, a warrant may fall within that paragraph notwithstanding that the warrant or the power under which it is issued authorises all or any of the following:
(a) the entry, if necessary by the use of force, to a place or premises (including a dwelling);
(b) the doing of acts in addition to the acts specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section;
(c) the execution of the warrant by a person other than the member of the Garda Síochána or, if appropriate, any other person to whom it is issued;
(d) the accompaniment of the person executing the warrant by any other persons during the execution thereof.
(4) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section, an order may fall within that paragraph notwithstanding that the order or the power under which it is made authorises all or any of the following:
(a) a member of the Garda Síochána or any other person to enter a place for the purpose of inspecting or getting access to any document, material or thing or documents, material or things of a particular description;
(b) the execution of the order by a person other than the member of the Garda Síochána or, if appropriate, any other person who applies for it;
(c) the retention, or copying, for the purposes of proceedings (criminal or civil) by a member of the Garda Síochána or any other person of any document, material or thing, or documents, material or things of a particular description, produced, made available for inspection or to which access is given.
(5) In this section—
‘enactment’ means a statute or an instrument made under a power conferred by statute;
‘district’ means a district court district;
‘relevant district’, in relation to a judge of the District Court, means a district—
(a) to which he or she is permanently assigned under paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule to this Act,
(b) to which he or she is temporarily assigned under subparagraph (1) or (2) of paragraph 3 of the said Schedule, or
(c) in relation to which he or she is acting in the circumstances specified in subparagraph (1), (2) or (3) of paragraph 4 of the said Schedule for another judge of the District Court who is permanently assigned to the district.”.