Amendment No.15 to the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction
These changes came into force on Monday 2 April, 2007, adding: (a) a new direction about indictments (para IV 34), supplementing the new rules in Pt 14 of the Criminal Procedure Rules; (b) a new direction about ‘vulnerable defendants’ (para III 30), replacing para IV 39 of the Practice Direction and applying in both magistrates’ courts and the crown court; (c) a new direction about case management (para IV 41), making new arrangements for the conduct of plea and case management hearings in the crown court.
The amendments introduce new forms: two forms of crown court indictment for use in connection with Pt 14 of the Rules (one for ordinary cases and the other for use in two-stage trials under ss 17–21 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004), a new form of application for a witness summons (Pt 28 of the Rules), and new case management forms for use at plea and case management hearings in the Crown Court and in magistrates’ courts.
