(1)All proceedings on indictment shall be brought before the Crown Court.
(2)The jurisdiction conferred on the Crown Court by subsection (1) above shall include jurisdiction in proceedings on indictment for offences wherever committed, and including in particular proceedings on indictment for offences within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England.
(3)Subject to any provision contained in or having effect under this Act, all enactments and rules of law relating to procedure in connection with indictable offences shall have effect subject only to such modifications as are rendered necessary by the transfer of jurisdiction to the Crown Court in accordance with the preceding provisions of this section.
(4)Subject to any provision contained in or having effect under this Act, and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3) above, the transfer of jurisdiction to the Crown Court in accordance with the preceding provisions of this section shall not affect—
(a)the practice by which, on any one indictment, the taking of pleas, the trial by jury and the pronouncement of judgment may respectively be by or before different judges,
(b)the release, after respite of judgment, of a convicted person on recognizance to come up for judgment if called on, but meanwhile to be of good behaviour,
(c)the manner of trying any question relating to the breach of a recognizance,
(d)the manner of execution of any sentence on conviction, or the manner in which any other judgment or order given in connection with trial on indictment may be enforced.
(1)A magistrates' court committing a person for trial shall specify the place at which he is to be tried, and in selecting that place shall have regard to—
(a)the convenience of the defence, the prosecution and the witnesses,
(b)the expediting of the trial, and
(c)any direction given by or on behalf of the Lord Chief Justice with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor under section 4(5) of this Act.
(2)Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this Act about the distribution of Crown Court business, the Crown Court may give directions, or further directions, altering the place of any trial on indictment, whether by varying the decision of a magistrates' court under subsection (1) above, or a previous decision of the Crown Court.
(3)The defendant or the prosecutor, if dissatisfied with the place of trial as fixed by the magistrates' court, or by the Crown Court, may apply to the Crown Court for a direction, or further direction, varying the place of trial; and the court shall take the matter into consideration and may comply with or refuse the application, or give a direction not in compliance with the application, as the court thinks fit.
Any application under this subsection shall be heard in open court by a judge of the High Court.
(4)The trial of a person committed by a magistrates' court—
(a)shall not begin until the expiration of the prescribed period beginning with the date of his committal, except with his consent and the consent of the prosecutor, and
(b)shall, unless the Crown Court has otherwise ordered, begin not later than the expiration of the prescribed period beginning with the date of his committal (that is to say a period longer than the period prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (a) above for the proceedings in question).
For the purposes of this subsection—
(i)" the prescribed period" means such period for the respective purposes of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection as may be prescribed by Crown Court rules, and the rules may make different provision for different places of trial, or for other different circumstances;
(ii)the trial shall be deemed to begin when the defendant is arraigned.
(5)Without prejudice to the provisions of section 4(10) of this Act, directions under subsection (2) of this section may be given on behalf of the Crown Court by an officer of the Crown Court, but the power to make orders conferred on the Crown Court by subsection (4)(b) above shall be exercisable only by a judge of the court.