Lecture notes
Indictments Notes
Indictments Notes - BPTC, Criminal Litigation In conjunction with BPP Criminal Litigation Manual and Blackstone's Criminal Practice 2021.
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INDICTMENTS NOTESa. The Indictment, incl. time limits and the structure and format of an indictment (D11.1)
The indictment ➔ the document containing the charges against the A on which he is
arraigned at the commencement of a trial on indictment. Each of these charges is contained
in a ‘count’ on the indictment.
D11.2 Requirement that an indictment be endorsed
s.2(2), The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 - no draft
indictment may be served unless:
(a) the accused has been sent for trial (pursuant to the CDA 1998, s. 51 or 51A);
(b) a HCJ has directed or consented to the preferment of a voluntary bill of indictment (the
procedure relating to which is in CrimPR 10.9 and CrimPD II, para. 10B);
(c) a CC Judge has consented to the preferment of a bill of indictment following a declaration
by the court approving a deferred prosecution agreement (pursuant to the CCA 2013, sch.
17, para. 8(1));
(d) the COA has ordered a retrial.
An indictment may also be preferred where a P reinstitutes proceedings after custody time-
limits have expired.
Section 2(1) → Subject to the provisions of this section, a bill of indictment charging any
person with an indictable offence may be preferred by any person before the [CC] and it shall
thereupon become an indictment and be proceeded upon accordingly.
(The effect of this amendment is to remove the previous prerequisite that an indictment came
into being only once it was signed by a proper officer of the CC).
Under CrimPR 10.3 a draft indictment will usually be generated electronically when the case
is sent, based on the allegations before the MC, subject to substitution or amendment of the
charges included by the prosecution. BUT a draft indictment should be served on the court
and endorsed by a court officer; when the draft indictment is endorsed, the date of receipt
should be added (r. 10.2(7)(a)).
D11.6 Responsibility for drafting an indictment
Ultimate responsibility rests with P - must ensure it is in proper form before arraignment.
D11.8 Time limit for serving a bill of indictment
Save in cases where the draft indictment has been generated automatically on the sending of
the case for trial (CrimPR 10.3), a draft indictment should be served on an appropriate officer
of the CC within 28 days of the date on which:
(a) copies of documents are served where a person is sent for trial under s.51 CDA (CrimPR
10.4); or
, (b) a HCJ has consented to the preferment of a voluntary bill of indictment under r. 10.5 (the
procedure relating to which is in CrimPR 10.9 and CrimPD II, para. 10)
CrimPD II, para. 10A ➔ the draft indictment should be served more quickly than this 28-day
period if the P will be seeking to include counts on the indictment which differ from, or are
additional to, the counts on the basis of which the accused was sent.
CrimPD I, para. 3A.16 ➔ requires the indictment to be served at least seven days before the
PTPH, which takes place within 28 days of the case being sent to CC (CrimPD I, para 3A.11)
D11.9 Extension of the Time-limit → CrimPR 10.2(8) permits the CC to extend the time limit,
even after it has expired. There are no specific rules as to the means by which an application
for an extension should be made, or what such an application should contain.
D11.14 Charges Revealed by the Papers
S2(2)(a) Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933→ allows a bill of
indictment charging an offence to be preferred if the person charged has been sent for trial,
pursuant to s. 51 CDA 1998, in each case in conjunction with proviso (i) to the subsection.
The proviso basically states: subject to the rules on when counts and/or Ds are sufficiently
closely linked to be properly joined in a single indictment, a draft indictment may include
charges for any indictable offence disclosed by the evidence served under the regulations for
the service of the P case after the A has been sent. Usually the counts in the indictment simply
follow the original charges.
Where the drafter chooses to include a count for an offence in respect of which the accused
was not sent, he must be careful to ensure that the offence is in fact disclosed by the
statements, to ensure compliance with the proviso to s. 2(2)(i) AND that as much notice as
possible of such charges is provided to the accused (CrimPD II, para. 10A.10)
D11.23 General Form of an Indictment
Layout should follow the form in CrimPR and the IA 1915. Save where generated electronically
under CrimPR 10.3, the form must normally be one set out in the CrimPD, r. 10.2(16).
The basic requirements as to the layout of an indictment are as follows:
(a) Each offence charged should be set out in a separate paragraph or count (r. 10.2(1)). If
there is more than one count, they should be numbered (r. 10.2(43)).
(b) Each count should be divided into a statement of offence and particulars of offence (r.
10.2(1)(a) and (b)).
(c) The statement of offence describes the offence shortly in ordinary language, and, if the
offence is statutory, should specify by section and subsection the provision contravened
(s. 3(1) IA 1915, and r. 10.2(1)(a)).
(d) The particulars of offence should give 'such particulars as may be necessary for giving
reasonable information as to the nature of the charge' (s.3(1), IA 1915) and there should
be included 'such particulars of the conduct constituting the commission of the offence
as to make clear what the P alleges against the D’ (r. 10.2(1)(b)).
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