What is a draft indictment?
The indictment is the document containing the charges against the defendant for trial in the Crown Court. For guidance on charging practice and the drafting of particular counts for specific offences you should refer to the relevant Legal Guidance for that offence.
What is an indictment in the UK?
The indictment is simply the document that contains the charge or charges faced by the defendant at trial in the Crown Court. A trial in the Crown Court is also known as ‘trial on indictment’ and offences which can or must be tried in the Crown Court are known as ‘indictable offences’.
What is conviction on indictment UK?
In relation to England and Wales, the expression indictable offence means an offence which, if committed by an adult, is triable on indictment, whether it is exclusively so triable or triable either way; and the term indictable, in its application to offences, is to be construed accordingly.
What is the meaning of voluntary bill of indictment?
33. More importantly, where a voluntary bill of indictment is issued in strict compliance with the procedural requirements set out in subsection 258(1), it operates to commit an accused person to the Supreme Court for trial and gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction to exercise its original criminal jurisdiction.
Can a chargesheet be amended?
The court may order a charge-sheet or indictment to be amended in any manner the court thinks necessary. An order may be made before or during a trial or hearing, unless the required amendment would cause injustice to the accused (CPA 2009 s8, s165).
What is plea bargaining UK?
Plea-bargaining is a process which occurs in relation to criminal offences whereby the offender agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge thus dispensing with the need to go through the whole trial process to prove their guilt.
What does it mean when an indictment is stayed?
From this duty there arises an inherent power to ‘stay’ an indictment (or stop a prosecution in the magistrates’ courts) if the court is of the opinion that to allow the prosecution to continue would amount to an abuse of the process of the court.
How is an indictment preferred?
An indictment may be preferred (that is to say served) on a Crown Court by the direction or with the consent of a High Court judge under AJ(MP)A 1933, s 2(6). This is also known as a ‘voluntary bill’. A voluntary bill can only be preferred in certain limited circumstances.
How do you know if an offence is indictable?
In NSW, summary offences have a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. For an offence to be a summary offence, the statute that creates the offence must clearly say that it can be dealt with summarily. If it does not, then the offence is an indictable offence.
What are examples of indictable offences?
Examples of indictable offence charges include:
- Breaking and entering a property.
- Manslaughter.
- Murder.
- Terrorism.
- Trafficking.
- Aggravated Assault.
What is double jeopardy rule?
Overview. The Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime. The relevant part of the Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall . . . be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb . . . . “
Can charge once framed be altered?
It is not to be understood that unless evidence has been let in, charges already framed cannot be altered, for that is not the purport of Section 216 CrPC. appropriate cases, in the interest of justice, but at the same time, the courts should also see that its orders would not cause any prejudice to the accused.