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Lords amendment: No. 4, in page 2, line 37, leave out from ("direct") to end of line 7 on page 3 and insert
("which, subject to subsection(2) below, shall be his proper domicile of citation.
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(2) The court may on application in writing by the accused while he is on bail alter the address specified in the order granting bail, and this new address shall, as from such date as the court may direct, become his proper domicile of citation; and the court shall notify the accused of its decision on any application under this subsection.
(3) In this section "proper domicile of citation" means the address at which the accused may be cited to appear at any diet relating to the offence with which he is charged or an offence charged in the same proceedings as that offence or to which any other intimation or document may be sent; and any citation at or the sending of an intimation or document to the proper domicile of citation shall be presumed to have been duly carried out.")
§ Mr. RifkindI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
As drafted, the Bill provides that the accused must give as his domicile of citation his normal place of residence unless the court, on cause shown, directs otherwise. The amendment provides for a situation where an accused person has changed his address while he is on bail. Under the amendment he is required to inform the court of that change of address and the new address will take effect only when the court has been informed.
As with the other amendments, there is no change of policy, but the matter is clarified to ensure that the Bill has the effect that was originally intended.
§ Mr. Donald Dewar (Glasgow, Garscadden)Will the Minister say a little more about the machinery? I understand that the written application is made to the court. Does the Under-Secretary envisage that there will have to be a hearing before a sheriff, or will it bean administrative matter? Clearly the date on which the new address takes effect is a matter for the court.
§ Mr. RifkindThe amendment provides that an accused person should apply to the court in writing with details of his change of address and that only when the court has received notification and is therefore aware of the new address will it be proper that it should take effect.
The purpose is to ensure that an accused person who moves his address and fails to inform the court should not have a justifiable defence to an action that he has failed to turn up because he has not been properly notified. The court will always know the relevant address for 1579 purposes of bail. The application to the court may be made in writing.
§ Question put and agreed to.