Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act, 1976
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Option for trial in Northern Ireland. |
14.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person charged with an offence under section 2 or 3 may opt to go in custody to Northern Ireland for trial there instead of being tried in the State for the said offence and the person shall be informed of his rights under this section— | |
(a) by the District Court, on his first appearance before that court in connection with the charge, and | ||
(b) by the court by which he is to be tried for the offence, before entry of his plea on arraignment. | ||
(2) (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, if, at any time before entry of the plea of the accused on arraignment for an offence under section 2 or 3, the court is satisfied that there is in force a warrant duly issued in Northern Ireland on an information laid by a member of the police of Northern Ireland authorising the arrest of the accused for an offence consisting of the acts constituting the offence under section 2 or for the offence of escaping from custody in Northern Ireland in the circumstances mentioned in section 3, as the case may be, and the accused has requested the court to do so, the court shall make an order directing that the accused be delivered into the custody of the police of Northern Ireland. | ||
(b) In this subsection “the court” means— | ||
(i) the High Court, | ||
(ii) during the preliminary examination in the District Court under Part II of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 , of the charge in relation to the offence concerned, the District Court, and | ||
(iii) when the accused is before the court which is to try him, that court. | ||
(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a person in whose case an order is made under subsection (2) or (4) shall be brought by the Garda Síochána as soon as may be to some convenient point of departure from the State and there delivered into the custody of the police of Northern Ireland and meanwhile shall be kept in the custody of the Garda Síochána or in a prison. | ||
(4) (a) Subject to the provisions of this section, if a person in whose case an order is made under subsection (2) or this subsection is found in the State— | ||
(i) after having escaped from custody in the State before his delivery under subsection (3) or this subsection, | ||
(ii) after having escaped from any custody in which he was held in Northern Ireland for the purpose of the proceedings in relation to the offence in respect of which he has exercised his option under this section, or | ||
(iii) after having escaped from any custody in which he was held in Northern Ireland while serving a sentence imposed on his conviction for that offence, | ||
he shall be brought before a judge or justice of any court (who may from time to time remand him in custody) and the said judge or justice, if satisfied as to the matters mentioned in this subsection, shall make an order that he be delivered into the custody of the police of Northern Ireland as soon as may be after the date of the order. | ||
(b) The references in paragraph (a) to a person's escaping from custody in Northern Ireland include references to any failure by him to appear or to be at any place where he is required to appear or to be for the purpose of the proceedings referred to in that paragraph or the service of any sentence imposed on his conviction for the offence referred to in paragraph (a). | ||
(5) If at the time when, pursuant to an order under this section, a person is to be delivered into the custody of the police of Northern Ireland, he stands charged with or convicted of an offence other than the offence in respect of which the order has been made, the delivery shall be made as soon as may be after the conclusion of the proceedings in respect of that other offence and of any sentence of detention in prison imposed in those proceedings. | ||
(6) (a) A certificate to which this subsection applies shall be admissible in any proceedings under subsection (4) as evidence of any fact specified in paragraph (b) that is stated in the certificate. | ||
(b) This subsection applies to a certificate— | ||
(i) purporting to be signed by a member of the police of Northern Ireland and stating that a person named in the certificate (being the person to whom the proceedings under subsection (4) relate) escaped from the custody in which he was holding him for the purpose of any proceedings specified in the certificate, | ||
(ii) purporting to be signed by the person in charge of a prison or other place of detention in Northern Ireland and stating that a person named in the certificate (being the person to whom the proceedings under subsection (4) relate) escaped from custody in which he was being held in that prison or place, or failed to appear there when required to do so, for the purpose of any proceedings specified in the certificate or the service of any sentence of detention so specified, or | ||
(iii) purporting to be signed by a member or officer of any court in Northern Ireland and stating that a person named in the certificate (being the person to whom the proceedings under subsection (4) relate) failed to appear before that court when required to do so for the purpose of any proceedings specified in the certificate. | ||
(c) A document purporting to be a certificate to which this subsection applies shall be deemed to be such a certificate, and to be signed by the person purporting to have signed it, unless the contrary is shown. | ||
(7) In this section “proceedings” includes any appeal or retrial. |