A Statutory Rule entitled “The Crown Court (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2018” (S.R. 2018 No. 24) will come into operation on 22nd February 2018.

The purpose of the Rule is to amend the Crown Court Rules (Northern Ireland) 1979 (S.R. 1979 No. 90) (“the 1979 Rules”) to take account of the Criminal Justice (European Investigation Order) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/730) which transpose Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order in criminal matters (OJ L 130, 1.5.2014, p.1). The Criminal Justice (European Investigation Order) Regulations 2017 seek to simplify existing measures for requesting and sharing evidence for criminal investigations.

The key elements include standardising the format in which a request is made; applying the principle of mutual recognition to requests and introducing timeframes for responding to requests.

Copies of the Rule may be purchased from the Stationery Office at www.tsoshop.co.uk or by contacting TSO Customer Services on +44 (0)333 202 5070 or viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr.