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The indictment consists of the charge or charges preferred against the defendant by the prosecution once the case is begun.
Indictment is defined by the Indictments Act 1915, s 3 as 'a statement of the specific offence or offences with which the accused person is charged, together with such particulars as may be necessary for giving reasonable information as to the nature of the charge'. Ultimate responsibility for the drafting of the indictment, the charges therein and whether they are appropriate rests with the counsel for the prosecution (Newland [1988] QB 402, per Watkins LJ at p. 409). It must be served on an officer of the Court within 28 days of the accused is committed (or transferred) for trial. Once served, the power to cure any defects lies with the Indictments Act 1915, s 5(1) where the indictment appears defective, making such changes as are necessary to meet the circumstances of the case, unless, having regard to the merits of the case, the required amendments cannot be made without injustice.
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DPA suitability checklist Court's oversight of the interests of justice and fairness, reasonableness and proportionality The UK deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) regime provides for judicial oversight of DPAs. After negotiations as to the terms of a DPA have commenced and before it has been concluded, the court must determine: • whether it is likely to be in the interests of justice, and • that its proposed terms are fair, reasonable and proportionate Therefore, each factor must be supported by clear and persuasive proof in order to seek to persuade the court to approve the DPA. The declarations given under Schedule 17 Part 1, para 8 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (CCA 2013) to date provide insight into the court's approach as to when a DPA is suitable and this has, in turn, fed into the prosecutor's approach (see Practice Note: The SFO's approach to Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) [Archived]). For detailed information on DPAs in general, the process followed by the court when considering whether to...
Common grounds for appealing conviction and sentence—checklist Grounds of appeal must be settled with sufficient particularity to enable the Registrar, and subsequently the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD), to identify clearly the matters relied upon. A mere formula such as ‘the conviction is unsafe’ or ‘the sentence is in all the circumstances too severe’ will be deemed ineffective. This checklist summarises some of the common grounds for appealing conviction and sentence, which can provide the basis for an appeal in the CACD. It should be read in conjunction with the following Practice Notes: Criminal appeals—certificates of fitness to appeal from the Crown Court, Starting an appeal in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD) and Conducting an appeal in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD). For information on appeals in the Crown Court, see Practice Notes: Appealing a conviction in the Crown Court and Appeal against sentence in the Crown Court. Grounds for appealing conviction The single test for the CACD to determine when considering an appeal against...
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The rules relating to the form of indictments and the procedure for their creation and adoption are contained in the following: •the Indictments Act 1915 (IA 1915)•section 2 of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 (AJ(MP)A 1933), and•Parts 3, 10 and 25 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759For information on what an indictment must contain, its form, dealing with defects and amending indictments, see Practice Note: The indictment—content, form, defects and amendments.What is an indictment?An indictment is the formal document containing the list of charges against a defendant which is preferred (formally served) in the Crown Court. This is a different document to the written charge or information produced by the prosecution in order to commence the prosecution in the magistrates' court. See Practice Notes: Commencing criminal proceedings—applying for the issue of a summons and Commencing criminal proceedings—written charge and requisition or single justice procedure notice.The indictment is traditionally drafted by the prosecutor, eg the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or other prosecuting authority. In...
Voluntary bill of indictmentAn indictment may, exceptionally, be preferred (ie served on a Crown Court) by the direction or with the consent of a High Court judge under the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 (AJ(MP)A 1933). This is also known as a 'voluntary bill'. These are rare because a voluntary bill can only be preferred in certain limited circumstances:•if 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•with the consent of a judge of the Crown Court following a declaration by the court under paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 17 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (CCA 2013) (court approval of deferred prosecution agreement) •if the charge, or any of the charges, against the applicant is dismissed and ◦no further proceedings may be brought on the dismissed charge or charges, except by means of the preferment of a voluntary bill, and◦unless the applicant is in custody otherwise than on...
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Memorandum on directors’ responsibilities and potential liabilities in respect of an AIM admission document 1 Introduction 1.1 This memorandum has been prepared for those persons who are to be named in the document to be published by [insert name of company] (the Company) as directors or proposed directors of the Company (the Directors) in connection with the proposed admission (the Admission) of the ordinary shares of the Company to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange plc (the LSE). 1.2 An AIM admission document (the Admission Document) is required to be prepared by the Company in connection with the application for the Admission. The Admission Document will disclose financial and other information about the Company[ and its subsidiaries] and must be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the AIM Rules for Companies published by the LSE (the AIM Rules). 1.3 The Directors (among others) are responsible for the contents of the Admission Document and a...
Ireland—Letter to act as a director Ireland—Letter—consent to act as a director This is a precedent consent to act as a director letter from an individual to the company secretary or other directors of a private or public company limited by shares. The first directors of private company limited by shares are appointed by giving their details in the application to register a new company on Companies Registration Office Form A1. If there is a change to company directors (such as an appointment of a new director or the resignation of an existing director) or to any of the details contained on the register (such as a change of address) these changes must be notified to Companies Registration Office (CRO) within 14 days of the date of the change occurring sing Form B10. Failure to file Form B10 constitutes a category 3 offence. Note that from 11 June 2023, company directors will be required to provide their PPS numbers when completing forms A1 and B10. The Personal Public Service (PPS)...
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Where a defendant is charged with an either way offence, how is the venue of the trial decided if the defendant refuses to indicate whether they want summary trial or trial on indictment? Does it make any difference if the defendant is unrepresented? This Q&A assumes that the defendant is over the age of 18, is charged with an either-way offence, and the case is not subject to a notice under section 51A or section 51B Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA 1998). The general rule Where a defendant over the age of 18 is charged and brought before a magistrates’ court in respect of an either way offence, if the defendant gives no indication of plea or indicates that he would plead ‘not guilty’, the court must consider whether the case more suitable to be tried summarily or on indictment (section 19(1) of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980 (MCA 1980)). If the court concludes that summary trial would be more suitable, the court has a statutory duty under MCA...
What happens if a threat to kill is directed towards a child? Presumably there are provisions to protect children? Under section 16 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (OATPA 1861), a person who without lawful excuse makes to another a threat, intending that other would fear it would be carried out, to kill that other or a third person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years. Person While the definition in the Interpretation Act 1978 makes it clear that 'person' includes bodies of persons it does not otherwise affect the width of the
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This week's edition of Corporate Crime weekly highlights includes analysis of a recent Court of Appeal case on the whether designated persons can still access English courts, of the impact that the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will have on businesses and of recent Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) fines. Also included is news that the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and the Online Safety Act 2023 received Royal Assent, digital waste tracking will be made mandatory from April 2025, of the launch of a Justice Committee inquiry into the use of pre-recorded cross examination and of the latest prosecution news from the Serious Fraud Office. All this, and more, in this week’s Corporate Crime highlights.
Corporate Crime analysis: The Court of Appeal combined three separate otherwise unrelated cases to consider the approach to totality when sentencing a defendant for an offence contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) which represents a criminal benefit for other substantive offences. The court reviewed the authorities in respect of totality and whether a sentence should be consecutive or concurrent. The court identified the following principles when approaching the sentencing exercise—the overriding consideration will be whether the overall sentence is the shortest term that is commensurate with the seriousness of the offence, or the combination of the offence and one or more offences associated with it; where the POCA 2002 offending adds nothing to the culpability and harm of the substantive offending, it will be appropriate to impose a concurrent sentence with no upward adjustment; where POCA 2002 offending involves additional criminality (either culpability or harm) then there ought to be an increase in sentence either by way of an aggravated sentence for the substantive offending or...
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