The General Assembly at its Special Session of 1971 directed the Virginia code Commission, by House Joint Resolution No. 41, to make a study of certain matters, including the criminal laws of the State.

The portion of the Resolution relating to such laws directs the Commission to "make a thorough study of the criminal laws of the State and make recommendations for the review and recodification of all statutes of the State relating to crime and criminal procedure. Such review shall include determining whether sections should be deleted or added to the Code, whether changes in the penalty provisions should be made and such other relative changes as the Commission deems appropriate."

Honorable M. Ray Doubles, Retired Judge of the former Hustings Court of the City of Richmond, Part Two, was retained as counsel to assist in the revision of Title 19.1, relating to criminal procedure.

The Commission has met with Counsel on numerous occasions and each section of Title 19.1 has been carefully considered, as well as many sections from other titles. As a result, many sections, and several chapters and articles, have bee rewritten entirely and minor changes have been made in the language of many others to eliminate uncertainty, needless repetition and excess verbiage. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States have necessitated some redrafting to eliminate unconstitutional provisions in several of the present statutes.

Arrangement of chapters has been revised so that the subject matter in the title falls in more logical sequence.

Special comment on some of the more important changes are included in the body of this Report.