Voluntary Bills of Indictment
| Date | 01 November 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201839205600406 |
| Published date | 01 November 1992 |
| Author | J N Spencer |
| Subject Matter | Comment |
COMMENT
VOLUNTARY
BILLS
OF
INDICfMENT
A bill of indictment is the formal way whereby aperson is brought for
trial before the Crown Court, whether or not there is a committal for trial
from the magistrates' court. The bill of indictment is preferred under s 2(2)
of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933.
Under
that section, a bill may only be preferred if either (a) the person
charged has been committed for trial for the offence; or (b) the bill is
preferred by the direction of the Court of Criminal Appeal or by the
direction or with the consent of a judge of the High Court or pursuant to
an order made under s 9 of the Perjury Act 1911. The procedure is further
governed by the Indictment Rules
1971
and the Indictment (Procedure)
Rules 1971.
One form of bill of indictment is what is known as a voluntary bill of
indictment. There is now a Practice Direction on the guidelines to be
followed when obtaining avoluntary bill. This Practice Direction was
issued by the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, sitting with Mr Justice
Kennedy and Mr Justice Judge. The reference is Practice Direction (Crime:
Voluntary Bills) (1991) 92 Cr App R 146,
CA;
(1990) The Times, 13
December. The Practice Direction was handed down on 11 December
1990.
It
is the first time there has been a Direction on this particular
subject and it is important to bear the contents in mind.
It
came into effect
on 1 January 1991.
The procedure for a voluntary bill
An application for what is usually called a voluntary bill of indictment is
made under s2(1)(b) of the 1933 Act.
It
is normally made by seeking the
consent of a High Court judge.
The
procedure is further governed by
rr 6-10 of the Indictment (Procedure) Rules 1971.
Applications for voluntary bills must be in writing, signed by the
applicant or his solicitor (r 7) and accompanied by the proposed bill.
Unless the application is made by the Director of Public Prosecutions,
including the Crown Prosecution Service, the application must be accom-
panied by an affidavit. There is no reason why the application and affidavit
should not be combined in one document.
The reason for the application should be given (r 9). The application
must state whether or not a previous application has been made and
whether there have been any committal proceedings and if so the result of
the application and the result of the proceedings (r 8). Full details,
deposition, statements and proofs have to be supplied where there have
been no committal proceedings or where the committal proceedings were
unsuccessful (r 9). Where there have been committal proceedings the
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