Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997

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.”.