Part VII
- (d) any rule of law relating to bail, and
- “overall time limit” means a time limit imposed by regulations in pursuance of section 72(1)(a) or, where a limit has been extended by the Crown Court by virtue of section 72(2)(e), the limit as extended.
(5) For the purposes of the application of a custody time limit in relation to a person who is in the custody of a magistrates’ court or the Crown Court—
- (a) all periods during which he is in the custody of a magistrates’ court in respect of the same offence shall be aggregated and treated as a single continuous period; and
- (b) all periods during which he is in the custody of the Crown Court in respect of the same offence shall be aggregated and treated as a single continuous period.
Court for trial. 74.—(1) A trial on indictment of a scheduled offence shall be held only at the Crown Court sitting in Belfast, unless—
- (a) the Lord Chancellor after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland directs that the trial, or a class of trials within which it falls, shall be held at the Crown Court sitting elsewhere, or
- (b) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland directs that the trial, or part of it, shall be held at the Crown Court sitting elsewhere.
(2) A person committed for trial for a scheduled offence, or for two or more offences at least one of which is a scheduled offence, shall be committed—
- (a) to the Crown Court sitting in Belfast, or
- (b) where a direction has been given under subsection (1) which concerns the trial, to the Crown Court sitting at the place specified in the direction;
and section 48 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (committal 1978 c. 23. for trial on indictment) shall have effect accordingly.
(3) Where—
- (a) a person is committed for trial to the Crown Court sitting in Belfast in accordance with subsection (2), and
- (b) a direction is subsequently given under subsection (1), before the commencement of the trial, altering the place of trial,
the person shall be treated as having been committed for trial to the Crown Court sitting at the place specified in the direction.
Mode of trial on indictment. 75.—(1) A trial on indictment of a scheduled offence shall be conducted by the court without a jury.
(2) The court trying a scheduled offence on indictment under this section shall have all the powers, authorities and jurisdiction which the court would have had if it had been sitting with a jury (including power to determine any question and to make any finding which would, apart from this section, be required to be determined or made by a jury).
