Criminal Procedure Act 1851
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1851 c. 100 |
| Year | 1851 |
(14 & 15 Vict.) C A P. C.
[7th August 1851]
'WHEREAS Offenders frequently escape Conviction on their Trials by reason of the technical Strictness of Criminal Proceedings in Matters not material to the Merits of the Case: And whereas such technical Strictness may safely be relaxed in many Instances, so as to ensure the Punishment of the Guilty, without depriving the Accused of any just Means of Defence: And whereas a Failure of Justice often takes place on the Trial of Persons charged with Felony and Misdemeanor by reason of Variances between the Statement in the Indictment on which the Trial is had and the Proof of Names, Dates, Matters, and Circumstances therein mentioned, not material to the Merits of the Case, and by the Mis-statement whereof the Person on Trial cannot have been prejudiced in his Defence:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I The Court may amend certain Variances not material to the Merits of the Case, and by which the Defendant cannot be prejudiced in his Defence, and may either proceed with or postpone the Trial to be had before the same or another Jury.
I. From and after the coming of this Act into operation, whenever on the Trial of any Indictment for any Felony or Misdemeanor there shall appear to be any Variance between the Statement in such Indictment and the Evidence offered in Proof thereof, in the Name of any County, Riding, Division, City, Borough, Town Corporate, Parish, Township, or Place mentioned or described in any such Indictment, or in the Name or Description of any Person or Persons, or Body Politic or Corporate, therein stated or alleged to be the Owner or Owners of any Property, Real or Personal, which shall form the Subject of any Offence charged therein, or in the Name or Description of any Person or Persons, Body Politic or Corporate, therein stated or alleged to be injured or damaged, or intended to be injured or damaged by the Commission of such Offence, or in the Christian Name or Surname, or both Christian Name and Surname, or other Description whatsoever, of any Person or Persons whomsoever therein named or described, or in the Name or Description of any Matter or Thing whatsoever therein named or described, or in the Ownership of any Property named or described therein, it shall and may be lawful for the Court before which the Trial shall be had, if it shall consider such Variance not material to the Merits of the Case, and that the Defendant cannot be prejudiced thereby in his Defence on such Merits, to order such Indictment to be amended, according to the Proof, by some Officer of the Court or other Person, both in that Part of the Indictment where such Variance occurs and in every other Part of the Indictment which it may become necessary to amend, on such Terms as to postponing the Trial to be had before the same or another Jury, as such Court shall think reasonable; and after any such Amendment the Trial shall proceed, whenever the same shall be proceeded with, in the same Manner in all respects, and with the same Consequences, both with respect to the Liability of Witnesses to be indicted for Perjury and otherwise, as if no such Variance had occurred; and in case such Trial shall be had at Nisi Prius the Order for the Amendment shall be endorsed on the Postea, and returned together with the Record, and thereupon such Papers, Rolls, or other Records of the Court from which such Record issued as it may be necessary to amend shall be amended accordingly by the proper Officer, and in all other Cases the Order for the Amendment shall either be endorsed on the Indictment or shall be engrossed on Parchment, and filed, together with the Indictment, among the Records of the Court: Provided that in all such Cases where the Trial shall be so postponed as aforesaid it shall be lawful for such Court to respite the Recognizances of the Prosecutor and Witnesses, and of the Defendant, and his Surety or Sureties, if any, accordingly, in which Case the Prosecutor and Witnesses shall be bound to attend to prosecute and give Evidence respectively, and the Defendant shall be bound to attend to be tried, at the Time and Place to which such Trial shall be postponed, without entering into any fresh Recognizances for that Purpose, in such and the same Manner as if they were originally bound by their Recognizances to appear and prosecute or give Evidence at the Time and Place to which such Trial shall have been so postponed: Provided also, that where any such Trial shall be to be had before another Jury the Crown and the Defendant shall respectively be entitled to the same Challenges as they were respectively entitled to before the First Jury was sworn.
II Verdicts and Judgments valid after Amendments.
II. Every Verdict and Judgment which shall be given after the making of any Amendment under the Provisions of this Act shall be of the same Force and Effect in all respects as if the Indictment had originally been in the same Form in which it was after such Amendment was made.
III Amended Records to be drawn up without noticing the Amendments.
III. If it shall become necessary at any Time for any Purpose whatsoever to draw up a formal Record in any Case where any Amendment shall have been made under the Provisions of this Act, such Record shall be drawn up in the Form in which the Indictment was after such Amendment was made, without taking any Notice of the Fact of such Amendment having been made.
IV Indictments for Murder and Manslaughter need not specify Infliction.
IV. In any Indictment for Murder or Manslaughter preferred after the coming of this Act into operation it shall not be necessary to set forth the Manner in which or the Means by which the Death of the Deceased was caused, but it shall be sufficient in every Indictment for Murder to charge that the Defendant did feloniously, wilfully, and of his Malice aforethought kill and murder the Deceased, and it shall be sufficient in every Indictment for Manslaughter to charge that the Defendant did feloniously kill and slay the Deceased.
V Forms of Indictment in Cases of forging, &c.
V. In any Indictment for forging, uttering, stealing, embezzling, destroying, or concealing, or for obtaining by false Pretences, any Instrument, it shall be sufficient to describe such Instrument by any Name or Designation by which the same may be usually known, or by the Purport thereof, without setting out any Copy or Fac-simile thereof, or otherwise describing the same or the Value thereof.
VI In engraving Plates, &c.
VI. In any Indictment for engraving or making the whole or any Part of any Instrument, Matter, or Thing whatsoever, or for using or having the unlawful Possession of any Plate or other Material upon which the whole or any Part of any Instrument, Matter, or Thing whatsoever shall have been engraved or made, or for having the unlawful Possession of any Paper upon which the whole or any Part of any Instrument, Matter, or Thing whatsoever shall have been made or printed, it shall be sufficient to describe such Instrument, Matter, or Thing by any Name or Designation by which the same may be usually known, without setting out any Copy or Fac-simile of the whole or any Part of such Instrument, Matter, or Thing.
VII In other Cases.
VII. In all other Cases wherever it shall be necessary to make any Averment in any Indictment as to any Instrument, whether the same consists wholly or in part of Writing, Print, or Figures, it shall be sufficient to describe such Instrument by any Name or Designation by which the same may be usually known, or by the Purport thereof, without setting out any Copy or Fac-simile of the whole or any Part thereof.
VIII General Intent to defraud need only be alleged or proved in Cases of Forgery, &c.
VIII. From and after the coming of this Act into operation, it shall be sufficient in any Indictment for forging, uttering, offering, disposing of, or putting off any Instrument whatsoever, or for obtaining or attempting to obtain any Property by false Pretences, to allege that the Defendant did the Act with Intent to defraud, without alleging the Intent of the Defendant to be to defraud any particular Person; and on the Trial of any of the Offences in this Section mentioned it shall not be necessary to prove an Intent on the Part of the Defendant to defraud any particular Person, but it shall be sufficient to prove that the Defendant did the Act charged with an Intent to defraud.
IX Party indicted for Felony or Misdemeanor may be found guilty of an Attempt, and punished accordingly.
IX. 'And whereas Offenders often escape Conviction by reason that such Persons ought to have been charged with attempting to commit Offences, and not with the actual Commission thereof:' For Remedy thereof be it enacted, That if on the Trial of any Person charged with any Felony or Misdemeanor it shall appear to the Jury upon the Evidence that the Defendant did not complete the Offence charged, but...
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