Vexatious indictments. In order to prevent these, it was provided, by the (English) Vexatious Indictments Act, 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. 17) (repealed), as amended by the (English) Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 35, ss. 1, 2 (repealed), that no bill of indictment for perjury, conspiracy, indecent assault or certain other misdemeanours therein named, should be presented to a grand jury, unless the prosecutor had been bound over by recognizance to prosecute, or unless the person accused had been committed to or detained in custody, or unless the indictment should be preferred with the written consent of the Attorney-General. The (English) Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1933 (which abolished Grand Juries and amended the law as to presentment of indictments), repealed the whole of the Vexatious Indictments Act, 1859, and s. 1 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1867, but not so as to affect any enactment restricting the right to prosecute in particular classes of cases.
View Judgments Citing this Phrase View Acts Citing this Phrase