Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Magistrates´ Courts (Amendment No.2) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2009 and shall come into operation on 30th September 2009.

Amendment of the Magistrates´ Courts Rules (Northern Ireland) 1984

2. The Magistrates´ Courts Rules (Northern Ireland) 1984(2) are amended as follows–

(1) in Rule 9(2), omit "or a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary";

(2) in Rule 11–

(a) for paragraph (1), substitute –

"(1) Subject to Rule 12 and Rule 12A, in the case of an offence prosecuted by the Director of Public Prosecutions a summons shall be served by a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland who is not in charge of the investigation of the offence";

(b) after paragraph (3A), insert–

"(3B) Service of a summons under Article 138(2A)(b) of the Order may be effected by a member of the Northern Ireland Court Service sending a copy of the summons in Form 95 and of Form 95B, by ordinary post in an envelope addressed to the person to be served at his or her last known place of abode.";

(c) in paragraph (7), after "Subject to paragraph 7A", insert "and paragraph 7C"; and

(d) after paragraph (7B), insert–

"(7C) Where a summons is to be served in accordance with paragraph (3B), the person posting the envelope containing the copy of the summons shall endorse on the original summons his name, description and the date and place of posting of the envelope and shall complete and sign a certificate of service in Form 95A.

(7D) If a surety fails to appear in answer to a summons served in accordance with paragraph (3B), such service shall not be deemed valid unless an acknowledgment of service in Form 95B appearing to be signed by the surety or his or her solicitor is produced to the court.

(7E) Unless the contrary is proved, where a summons is served in accordance with paragraph (3B),–

(i) the signed acknowledgment of service shall be taken as proof of service; and

(ii) the document shall be deemed to have been served at the time at which the envelope containing it would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post.".

(3) in Rules 11(2) and (4) after "paragraph 3A", insert ",paragraph 3B";

(4) in Rules 11(3) and (5) after "paragraph 3A", insert "and paragraph 3B";

(5) in the heading to Rule 12A, omit "the Police Service of Northern Ireland or";

(6) in Rule 12A–

(a) in paragraph (1), omit "summary" and "by a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland or";

(b) in paragraph (3), omit "rank or"; and

(c) for paragraph (6), substitute–

"(6) This Rule shall not apply to summonses which, under any statutory provision, require personal service upon the person to be served.";

(7) in the heading to Rule 13, omit "the Police Service of Northern Ireland or";

(8) in Rule 13A(2)(b), omit "and, if the prosecutor is not a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary";

(9) in Rule 109(2), for "a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary", substitute " the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland"; and

(10) in Rule 152(1), for each reference to "constabulary station", substitute "police station".

(11) in Schedule 1–

(a) in Forms 15B,15M,88A,88B,88C,88D,88E,88F and 88G in "Case details" omit–

(i) "Name of PSNI Central Process Office";

(ii) "Central Process Office or District Command Unit reference number";

(iii) for "DPP reference number:", substitute "PPSNI reference number:"; and

(iv) below "PPSNI reference number", insert "ICOS reference number if known".

(b) in Form 90–

(i) in the heading for "[Constabulary]", substitute "[Police]"; and

(ii) for each reference to "constabulary station" substitute "police station"

(c) in Form 91, for each reference to "constabulary station", substitute "police station";

(d) for Form 95, substitute the new Form 95 set out in Schedule 1 to these Rules;

(e) after Form 95, insert new Form 95A and Form 95B set out in Schedule 2 to these Rules; and

(f) in Form 110B, for paragraph 6 of the Explanatory Note, substitute–

"6. If you do not return this form within 14 days, or appear personally or through your solicitor, alternative arrangements will be made to serve the papers on you and the date given on the enclosed summons for the hearing of your case will have to be changed.".

Rule 4(a)

SCHEDULE 1

Rule 4(b)

SCHEDULE 2

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Magistrates´ Courts Rules (Northern Ireland) 1984 ("the principal Rules") to:

• provide that service of a summons in all categories of offence prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service ("PPS") may be effected by post. (Rule 2(6)). Previously postal service was only available in respect of summary offences prosecuted by the PPS;

• make a number of minor technical amendments to reflect that prosecutions are no longer undertaken by the police in Northern Ireland (Rules 2(1), 2(2)(a), 2(5) and 2(7) to 2(11) (a)-(c)).

They also amend the principal Rules to make provision for the service of a summons to a surety under Article 138(2A) (b) of the Magistrates´ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.

In particular, Rule 2(2) (b)- (d)–

• inserts new Rule 11(3B) into the principal Rules to provide for the matter in which a summons to a surety must be served;

• makes a technical amendment to Rule 11(7) to refer to new Rule 11(7C);

• inserts new Rule 11(7C) which provides that where a summons is served on a surety by post, the person serving the summons must endorse the original summons with their details and the date and place of posting and complete the certificate of service form in new Form 95A;

• inserts new Rule 11(7D) which prescribes that in the event that the surety fails to attend court in answer to a summons, service may be deemed valid if an acknowledgment of service in Form 95A signed by either the surety or his or her solicitor is produced to the court; and

• inserts new Rule 11(7E) which provides that, in relation to service of a summons on a surety, a signed acknowledgment of service will be considered to be proof of service and the summons will be deemed to have been served in the normal course of ordinary post.

Rules 2(3) and 2(4) make minor technical amendments to Rules 11(2), (3), (4) and (5).

Rule 2(11)(d) - (f) substitutes new Form 95 into the Schedule to the principal Rules. New Form 95 is a summons to a surety. It also inserts new Forms 95A and 95B into the Schedule to the principal Rules. New Form 95A is the certificate of service to be signed by the person who served the summons on the surety by post. New Form 95B is the acknowledgment of service which must be signed and returned by the surety or his or her solicitor where the summons has been served by ordinary post.