Do you know about the 6 month prosecution deadline in the Magistrates Court?

All summary-only offences (those which can be dealt with solely in the Magistrates Court), except in very rare instances, must be ‘laid before the Court’ within six calendar months from the date of the offence (excluding the date of the offence). If the ‘information’ was received by the Court outside of this six month period, then the Magistrates do not have jurisdiction to hear the case against you. The ‘information’ would typically include the defendant’s details, and the particulars of the offence and law. It’s important to note that the ‘summons’ can be received outside this period.

The information of the charge can be sent to the Court by the prosecutor (usually the Police for most motoring law offences, or the Crown Prosecution Service for most other offences), which includes being sent by a member of staff on behalf of the prosecutor, and can be received by a Court clerk/member of Court staff (not only the Magistrates themselves). The information will be sent to the Magistrates Court covering the area/district where the offence was commissioned (not by where you live).

Therefore, if you committed an offence many months ago and you’ve recently received a court summons (or charge and requisition) it is very important to check with both the prosecuting authority and the Court directly to establish when the ‘information was laid’ before the Court, and whether it may be outside the six month period. However, we would always encourage you to seek professional legal advice specific to your case.

Although, there has been a recent case which challenges the above rules.

In this recent case, the Court held that once an ‘information’ been fully prepared in the Crown Prosecution Service office, not when received by the Court. This decision widely broadens the implications for the CPS office to miss out a crucial stage in criminal proceedings by not physically sending the information to the Court. With this, brings a great deal of uncertainty for defendants, who should always err of the side of caution; even if they are adamant it was laid out of time.

However, one possible route of redemption for defendants would be to argue for a stay in proceedings on the grounds of ‘abuse of process’ by the prosecution, especially in instances where the information was prejudicially retained/held-back in the CPS office without good reason.

If you have any doubts or queries on when the information was laid before the Court on your matter, and whether you think the Magistrates don’t have jurisdiction to hear the charge against you,  contact our team of specialist criminal law solicitors today on 01924 379 078, for a no-obligation chat.