Indictments. Voluntary bills of indictment

Question 1

Procedure for Obtaining a Voluntary Bill
Voluntary Bills of Indictment

Answer 1

The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933, s. 2(2)(b), provides that a bill of indictment may be preferred ‘by the direction or with the consent of a judge of the High Court’.

Obtaining a ‘voluntary bill of indictment’ simply means seeking an order from a High Court judge that the accused should stand trial in the Crown Court for the offence(s) set out in the application.

The principal use of this exceptional procedure is to allow proceedings to be reinstituted where a charge has been dismissed but fresh evidence against the accused has subsequently come to light.

Question 2

Circumstances in which it is Appropriate to Apply for a Voluntary Bill

Answer 2

An application for a voluntary bill should be regarded as exceptional, only to be sought where there is a good reason for not commencing proceedings in the usual way.

However, specific provision is made for the use of the voluntary bill procedure where a charge transferred to the Crown Court has been dismissed and the prosecution wish to seek a trial nonetheless; indeed, in such circumstances, further proceedings may be brought on the dismissed charge(s) only by means of the preferment of a voluntary bill of indictment.