Proposal for a Draft Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003

Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 2000, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has laid before Parliament a Proposal for a Draft Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2003.

The Draft Order proposes a number of important changes to criminal law, all aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system. They include:

•	improving existing bail arrangements to bring certain aspects of Northern Ireland’s arrangements into line with those in England and Wales;
•	giving the Secretary of State power to make regulations prescribing time limits for the prosecution to complete the preliminary stages of criminal proceedings and during which the accused may be held in custody; and
•	a number of changes to Northern Ireland’s sexual offence laws to bring them into line with England and Wales and to render them ECHR compliant.

These and the other measures included in the legislation will assist in both modernising and improving the legislative framework and the criminal justice system­.

Copies of the Proposal and the accompanying Explanatory Document may be purchased from the Stationery Office Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD. Alternatively, they are available at the Northern Ireland Office website­: www.nio.gov.uk

Comments on the Proposal are invited from interested parties and should be forwarded to Criminal Law Branch, Northern Ireland Office, Massey House, Stoney Road, Belfast BT4 3SX, to arrive at the above address no later than 13th March, 2003.

Comments may also be sent by e mail to:

crime.nio@nics.government.uk