ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides background information on the changes to criminal procedure which took effect on 3 October 2016. The Criminal Procedure Rules 2015, SI 2015/1490 have subsequently been amended on numerous occasions. See Practice Note: The Criminal Procedure Rules. This Practice Note states the law as at 3 October 2016 and is not maintained. It is for background information only. The Criminal Procedure Rules 2015, SI 2015/1490 (CrimPR), have received their second update by amending statutory instrument, Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2016, SI 2016/705 (Amendment No 2 Rules). These changes come into force on 3 October 2016. In a welcome move, the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has indicated that the consolidation exercise that was undertaken in October 2015 will not be repeated until 2020. The Committee is therefore reverting to its previous plan to consolidate the CrimPR every 5 years. This set of amendments carries on the implementation of the recommendations of Sir Brian Leveson in his 2015 report ‘Review of Efficiency

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides background information on the changes to criminal procedure which took effect on 2 April 2018. The Criminal Procedure Rules 2015, SI 2015/1490 have subsequently been amended. See Practice Note: The Criminal Procedure Rules. This Practice Note states the law as at 2 October 2018 and is not maintained. It is for background information only. The Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 (CrimPR), SI 2015/1490, have received their second update of 2018 by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2018, SI 2018/847. These changes took effect on 1 October 2018. This Practice Note highlights the key additions and amendments to the CrimPR of which corporate crime practitioners should be aware. For information on the purpose and scope of the CrimPR generally, see Practice Note: The Criminal Procedure Rules. For information on the implications of failing to adhere to the CrimPR, see Practice Note: Non-compliance with the Criminal Procedure Rules. Appeal to the Crown Court A number of significant changes are made to improve the procedure on appeal from the

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note summarises the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 (CrimPR), SI 2015/1490, by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2019, SI 2019/1119 which came into force on 7 October 2019. The CrimPR have subsequently been amended. See Practice Note: The Criminal Procedure Rules. Indictment—confirming the contents of the indictment pre-trial and at the start of trial CrimPR are being amended to ensure that any errors in or amendments to the indictment are made at the pre-trial and preparation hearing (PTPH) in the Crown Court prior to arraignment and then confirmed again immediately before the start of trial. Additionally, confirmation is required at both stages that the defendant understands the charges being brought against them. These amendments were prompted by the decision of the Court of Appeal in R v Johnson, R v Burton, where the defendants in two separate trials had been tried and convicted on indictments containing charges on which the defendants had not been arraigned. The prosecution had intended to seek permission to amend

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the key changes which were made to the Criminal Procedure Rules (CrimPR) on 5 October 2020 when the old version of the Criminal Procedure rules 2015, SI 2015/1490 were revoked and replaced by the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759. The CrimPR have since been amended. The CrimPR govern the practice and procedure to be followed in all criminal courts in England and Wales including magistrates' courts, Crown Courts, Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and in extradition appeal cases before the High Court. For further analysis of CrimPR, SI 2020/759, see News Analysis: An overview of the new Criminal Procedure Rules 2020. Reissue of the CrimPR The CrimPR are typically amended twice a year and the changes come into force on the first Monday of April or October annually. Each revision is made by a statutory instrument amending the current consolidated set of rules. The Criminal Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC) consolidate the CrimPR at five yearly intervals

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR) by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2021, SI 2021/849. The CrimPR govern the practice and procedure to be followed in all criminal courts in England and Wales. These amendments include changes to the procedures which apply in the following areas: case management in the magistrates’ court, indications of sentence in the magistrates’ court, case information held by the court and disclosed to lawyers and members of the public, sending of cases to the Crown Court in the defendant’s absence, service of applications to vary restraining orders, time limit for appealing against conviction to the Crown Court, witness and expert evidence and applications for search warrants. These amendments took effect on 4 October 2021. For further analysis, see News Analysis: Changes to the CrimPR this autumn—Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2021. Indication of sentence in the magistrates’ court Following the Court of Appeal

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer maintained. This Practice Note explains the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR) by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2022, SI 2022/815 which take effect from 3 October 2022. These amendments include new rules to prevent inaccuracies and ambiguity in the preferring of indictments on arraignment; specifying when the magistrates’ court can decline to issue a summons or warrant for a private prosecution; providing for a time limit for the courts to respond to a request to state a case; information required on applications for costs in private prosecutions and the consolidation of rules about the powers of court officers to take statutory declarations, in addition to other minor amendments. For further analysis, see News Analysis: Criminal Procedure Rules (CrimPR)—update August 2022 and October 2022. Note that some changes to the CrimPR made by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2022, SI 2022/815, came into force in August 2022. For information on those changes,

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains some of the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR) by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023, SI 2023/786, which took effect from 2 October 2023. These amendments include additional rules to replace former Practice Directions as well as additional rules about the established practice of requiring a defendant’s address to be given in public in court, the criteria for allowing an adjournment, the audio recording of proceedings in the Crown Court on an application for a search warrant or investigation order and setting a timetable for any video recorded witness cross-examination and re-examination. Other amendments include updates to the rules on the publication in court buildings of information about upcoming cases, single justice procedure, obtaining information from court records and referencing frequently cited authorities in the Court of Appeal. Rules to replace previous Criminal Practice Directions On 29 May 2023, the new Criminal Practice Directions 2023 (CPD 2023) came into force.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explained the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759 by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2024, SI 2024/842 which take effect on 7 October 2024 (except where indicated otherwise). These amendments include the complete re-writing of Part 9 on allocating and sending cases for trial in the Crown Court to allow for the operation of a new online written allocation and sending procedure, as well as new rules on the publishing of information in relation to cases under the new written procedure. Further amendments are made to clarify the extent of information court staff are required to supply upon request to the public and to provide for situations where information that usually must be supplied on request, ought not be supplied without a court order. CrimPR 2020, SI 2020/759 have also been updated to enable authorised court staff to issue a summons for a defendant who fails to attend a hearing

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the key changes which were made to the Criminal Procedure Rules (CrimPR) on 6 October 2025 when the Criminal Procedure Rules 2025 (CrimPR 2025), SI 2025/909 replaced and revoked the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759. The CrimPR, which govern the practice and procedure to be followed in all criminal courts in England and Wales including magistrates' courts, Crown Courts, Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and in extradition appeal cases before the High Court, are consolidated and reissued every five years. This consolidation introduces new procedural rules relating to the powers of Crown Court staff to amend community and suspended sentence orders and the taking of depositions at magistrates’ courts and amends existing rules to align confiscation-related appeals with standard Court of Appeal practice, extending when reporting restrictions and public access arrangements need to be reviewed as well as removing previous revoked rules and the necessary renumbering and cross-reference updates required. For information

Archived: This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer maintained. It summarised the temporary changes which were made to the Criminal Procedure Rules (CrimPR), SI 2020/759, by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) (Coronavirus) Rules 2020, SI 2020/417 which enabled the criminal courts in England and Wales to operate during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These temporary amendments were expired as the restrictions imposed by the pandemic were removed and in their entirety on 28 June 2022 by virtue of the section 201 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PSCSA 2022). PSCSA 2022 also replaced these with permanent amendments relating to the use of live audio links and live video links in eligible criminal proceedings in England and Wales. For further information, see Practice Note: Remote hearings in the criminal courts. As part of the government’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Coronavirus Act 2020 (CA 2020) temporarily amended the following provisions expanding the use of live links and video links in the criminal proceedings

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note summarises the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR) by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2021, SI 2021/40. The CrimPR govern the practice and procedure to be followed in all criminal courts in England and Wales. These amendments came into force partially on 8 February 2021 and fully on 5 April 2021. They amended the overriding objective to provide for the treatment of participants with politeness and respect, required the parties to alert the court to any impediment to the defendant’s effective participation and any family proceedings related to the criminal case, added new rules to govern the procedure where the court approves or appoints an intermediary for a witness or a defendant, required the custodian of a defendant sentenced to custody to obtain and record that defendant’s nationality, made it easier for the Court of Appeal to get access to material electronically, made provision for the possibility of there being no respondent

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the key changes made to the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759 by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025, SI 2025/60, which come into force primarily on 7 April 2025, with some small changes taking effect on 24 February 2025. These amendments include updates to the procedure for inspecting and copying bank records, clarification on the admissibility of hearsay evidence and on the magistrates’ courts’ powers to vary fines and payment terms, and changes to the time limit for prosecution appeals against Crown Court rulings. Further amendments extend certain rules concerning costs orders to receivership proceedings, refine the handling of contempt of court cases and correct previous errors made by the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2024, SI 2024/842. The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has published a guide to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025 which can be found here. Correction of errors and amendments to the Criminal Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules