Indictment

Indictment [fr. indico, Lat., to show], a written accusation against one or more persons of a crime formerly preferred to and presented upon oath by a grand jury. Grand juries were partly abolished by the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Pro-visions) Act, 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5, c. 36). The bill of indictment is now preferred by any person before a court in which a person charged may lawfully be indicted, and the proper officer shall, if the requirements have been complied with, sign the bill and it shall thereupon become an indictment. But bills of indictment may be preferred before grand juries of the Counties of London and Middlesex by virtue of certain enactments set out in the 1st Schedule (high treason and certain other offences tribal in the King's Bench Division). Indictments were of a highly technical character until simplified by the Indictments Act, 1915, which directs that the particulars of the offence shall be 'set out in ordinary language.' See also Indictments Pro...

indictment

indictment 1 : the action or the legal process of indicting 2 a : a formal written statement framed by a prosecuting authority and found by a grand jury that charges a person or persons with an offense compare complaint, information b : bill of indictment at bill ...

Traversing Indictment

Traversing Indictment, postponing the trial of it.The (English) Criminal Procedure Act, 1851, s. 16, repeals 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4, c. 4, as to the traverse of indictments in cases of misdemeanour, and provides, by s. 27, that no person prosecuted shall be entitled to traverse or postpone the trial of any indictment found against him at any session of the peace, session of oyer and terminer, or session of gaol delivery; but if the Court upon the application of the person so indicted, or otherwise, thinks that he ought to be allowed a further time to prepare for his defence, or otherwise, such Court may adjourn the trial to the next session, upon such terms as to bail, etc., as shall seem meet, and may respite the recognizances of the prosecutor and witnesses; the prosecutor and witnesses to be bound to attend and prosecute and give evidence, without entering into fresh recognizances....

Indictable

Capable of being or liable to be indicted subject to indictment as an indictable offender or offense...

Indiction, cycle of

Indiction, cycle of, a mode of computing time by the space of fifteen years, instituted by Constantine the Great; originally the period for the payment of certain taxes. Some of the charters of King Edgar and Henry III. Are dated by indictions, Jac. Law Dict....

Objection to indictment

Objection to indictment. On this being taken, the same course is followed as set out under the last title....

Bill of indictment

Bill of indictment, means a bill which charges a person with an indictable offence and is signed by an officer of the court, can become an indicting. It may be preferred by directing or with the consent of a High Court Judge, or by direction of the court of appeal, or where a person is committed for trial by examining Magistrates. In re Practice Direction, (1990) 1 WLR 1633; R. v. Raymond, (1981) 2 ER 246....

bill of indictment

bill of indictment see bill ...

Indicter

One who indicts...

indict

indict [alteration of earlier indite, from Anglo-French enditer, from Old French, to write down, ultimately from Latin indicere to proclaim, from in- toward + dicere to say] : to charge with a crime by the finding or presentment of a grand jury in due form of law compare accuse, arraign, charge ...

Indictment - Law Dictionary Search Results