Commentary on Sections Section: 306: Limit on period of detention without charge of suspected terrorists Section 310: Preparatory hearings to deal with severance and joinder of charges
665.This section amends sections 7(1), 9(3) and 9(11) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 and sections 29(2) and 31(3) of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996. It adds issues of severance and joinder to the purposes for which preparatory hearings may be held under these Acts and also provides that the judge may make rulings on severance and joinder in preparatory hearings. These rulings will be appealable under the 1987 Act or the 1996 Act by both the prosecution and the defence, subject to the leave of the judge or the Court of Appeal.