3. Indictment Flashcards
What is an indictment?
An indictment is the formal name for the document containing the charges a defendant faces when they are tried in the Crown Court.
How can a bill of indictment be preferred?
A bill of indictment may be preferred by any person before the Crown Court under CAJA 2009, s. 116, and it shall thereupon become an indictment and be proceeded upon accordingly.
What happens once a bill of indictment is preferred/served?
Once served, it becomes a formal indictment without needing a signature; uploading it to the digital case system is sufficient for it to be considered as preferred.
What is the impact of uploading an indictment to the digital case system?
Uploading an indictment to the digital case system counts as the indictment being preferred; it does not need further endorsement unless directed by the court.
Ultimate responsibility for indictment rests with who?
Ultimate responsibility for the indictment rests with the prosecution, who must ensure it is in proper form before arraignment.
Time limit for serving a bill of indictment?
The draft indictment should be served on an appropriate officer of the Crown Court within 20 business days from the date on which the case is sent for trial, unless a voluntary bill is preferred under specific rules.
Extension of time limit for serving a bill of indictment?
The Crown Court can extend the time limit for service of a draft indictment, even after the expiry date, as determined by the court’s discretion.
What charges can be included on the indictment?
Charges included on an indictment can be altered between the original drafting and trial based on evidence lawfully served during proceedings.
General form of an indictment?
An indictment should list each offense in a separate paragraph or count, with each count including a statement of the offense and particulars of the offense. It should follow the form given in Crim PR and Indictment Act.
Statement of offense?
The statement of offense describes the offense in ordinary language and, if statutory, specifies the section and subsection of the law contravened.
Particulars of offence
The particulars of offence provide the specific details necessary to give reasonable information about the nature of the charge, clarifying what the prosecutor alleges against the defendant.
Date of the offence
The count should state the date on which the offence occurred as far as it is known. If the precise date is unknown, it is sufficient to allege it occurred “on or about” a specified date, “on a day unknown” before a specified date, “on a date other than the date in count one”, or “on a day unknown between” specified dates.
Continuous offences
A count may allege that a continuous offence took place intermittently over a period of time, especially when the offence, like conspiracy, is seen as ongoing.
Single multiple incidents counts
More than one incident of the commission of an offence may be included in a count if those incidents together amount to a course of conduct, considering the time, place, or purpose of commission. Examples include cases of money laundering or unlawful importation of controlled drugs where incidents took place over a clearly defined period.
Joinder of counts in an indictment - joint/separate trials
The court may order separate trials unless the offences to be tried together are founded on the same facts or form part of a series of offences of the same or similar character.
Charges found on same facts
Counts may be joined in an indictment if the offences arise from the same incident or a continuous course of conduct, making them founded on the same facts.
Joinder where one condition is a precondition of the second
Joinder is also applicable in situations where a subsequent offence could not have been committed without the former, indicating a common factual origin.
Series of offences of the same or similar characters
A series of offences may be joined in the same indictment if there is a feature of similarity that connects them. The court should consider both legal and factual characteristics, and the prosecution must show a nexus, meaning a feature of similarity that enables the offences to be described as a series.
Specimen or sample counts
Specimen counts are used when the defendant is accused of systematic criminal conduct over a period, where it is inappropriate to allege each instance or a continuous offence.
Procedure for specimen counts
The prosecution should provide a list of all similar offences alleged as samples in specimen counts and may lead evidence of these additional offences as evidence of system.
Joinder of the accused
Two or more accused may be joined in one indictment either by being named together in one or more counts on the indictment, or by being named individually in separate counts.
Joint counts
All parties to a joint offence may be indicted in a single count without needing to distinguish between principal and secondary parties. The count need not allege that the unlawful acts of each accused were done in aid of the others.
Possible verdicts on joint counts
The jury can convict all or any of the accused on the basis that they committed the offence charged independently of the others. They can convict both, acquit both, or convict one while acquitting another.
