Section 5 – Proceeding for offences under sections 1 to 3
22.Subsection (1) links the start of the time limit for summary proceedings in pursuance of sections 1, 2 or 3 to the point at which the Crown is passed sufficient evidence on the offence to justify bringing a prosecution. This will prevent any lengthy or extended hearing processes consequential to the issuing of a fixed penalty notice under Part 1 of the Act resulting in a subsequent prosecution for that offence being time barred.
23.Subsection (2) provides that section 136(3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c.46) applies to section 5(1) as it does to that section. Section 136(3) of the 1995 Act provides that summary proceedings are deemed to commence when a warrant is granted, if it is executed without undue delay. Subsection (3) clarifies that a certificate from the Crown as to the date that evidence came to the knowledge of the Crown is conclusive evidence of that date.