THE ISSUE.

It is a general rule both in civil and criminal cases that the evidence shall be confined to the point in issue. In criminal proceedings it is even more necessary than in civil actions strictly to enforce the rule of confining the evidence to the points in issue and that no question not relevant to the issues should be put to a witness (except for the purpose of impeaching the credibility of a witness who has sworn to relevant facts), for it is of the utmost importance to a person accused of crime that the facts laid before the jury should relate only to the transaction which forms the subject of the indictment on which he is being tried': 1 Russ. Cri. 2097; cf. p. 1, above. The maxim that evidence must be confined to the issue expresses in a loose form the two-fold exclusion of facts (1) by pleading and substantive law; and (2) by the law of evidence as to relevancy' (T. ss. 298, 316). Phips. 18. These two heads are adopted below.

'Facts in issue are those facts which are necessary by law to establish the claim, liability, or defence forming the subject-matter of the proceedings; and which either by the pleadings or by implication are in dispute between the parties.' Facts relevant to the issue are facts which tend either directly or indirectly to prove or disprove a fact in issue or some relevant fact'; ib. 40. Thus facts not relevant to the main issue may be relevant to one subsidiary, e.g., corroboration of an accomplice': ib. 483, cited under Accomplices.

I. INDICTMENT.

.

'An indictment is nothing else but a plain, brief and certain narrative of an offense committed by any person.' Hale, 2 P. C. 169: 'certain clear. The chief pleading in a criminal case is the indictment.

What is indictable?] There can be no doubt but that all capital crimes whatsoever, and also all kinds of inferior crimes of a public nature as misprisions, and all other contempts, all disturbances of the peace, all oppressions and all other misdemeanors whatsoever of a public evil example against the common law may be indicted; but no injuries of a private nature, unless they some way concern the King. Also, it seems to be a good general ground, that wherever a statute prohibits a matter of public grievance to the liberties and security of a subject, or commands a matter of publick convenience, as the repairing of the common streets of a town, an offender against such statute is punishable, not only at the suit of the party aggrieved, but also by way of indictment for his contempt of the statute, unless such method of proceeding do manifestly appear to be excluded by it.

Also, if a statute extend only to private persons, or if it extend to all persons in general, but chiefly concern disputes of a private nature, as those relating to distresses made by lords on their tenants, it is said that offences against such statute will hardly bear an indictment.

Also, where a statute makes a new offence, which was no way prohibited by the common law, and appoints a particular manner of proceeding against the offender, as by commitment, or action of debt, or information, &c., without mentioning an indictment, it seems to be settled. . that it will not maintain an indictment. 4 Hawk.

P. C. c. 25, s. 4.

It seems that no more general rule can be laid down: cf. 4 Bl. Comm. 218; and see Assault and Cheating at Common Law.

For an instance of an offence not being indictable until found by verdict, see 46-7 V. 51, 52. Cf. Codrington, 1825, and Oates, 1855; and Index (Non-indictable).

The learning of Indictments has been very much affected by the Indictments A. 1915, 5-6 G. 5, 90.

1. The rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act with respect to indictments shall have effect as if enacted in this Act, but those rules may be added to, varied, or annulled by further rules made by the rule committee under this Act.

2.-(1) There shall be established for the purposes of this Act a rule committee consisting of the Lord Chief Justice of England for the time being, and of a judge of the High Court, a chairman of quarter sessions, a recorder, a clerk of assize, a clerk of the peace, and another person having experience in criminal procedure, appointed in each case by the Lord Chief Justice.

(2) The rule committee shall have power from time to time, subject to the approval of the Lord Chancellor, to make rules varying or annulling the rules contained in the First Schedule to this Act and to make further rules with respect to the matters dealt with in those rules, and those rules shall have effect subject to any modifications or additions so made.

(3) Any rules made by the rule committee shall be laid, as soon as may be, before both Houses of Parliament, and, if within forty days on which either House has sat since the rules were so laid before the House a petition is presented to His Majesty by that House praying that the rules or any part of them may be annulled, His Majesty may thereupon by Order in Council annul the same, and the same shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done thereunder.

(4) The term of office of any person who is a member of the committee by virtue of appointment shall be such as may be specified in the appointment.

3.-(1) Every indictment shall contain, and shall be sufficient if it contains, 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.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law or practice, an indictment shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, not be open to objection in respect of its form or contents if it is framed in accordance with the rules under this Act.

4. Subject to the provisions of the rules under this Act, charges for more than one felony or for more than one misdemeanour, and charges for both felonies and misdemeanours, may be joined in the same indictment, but where a felony is tried together with any misdemeanour, the jury shall be sworn and the person accused shall have the same right of challenging jurors as if all the offences charged in the indictment were felonies.

5.-(1) Where, before trial, or at any stage of a trial, it appears to the court that the indictment is defective, the court shall make such order for the amendment of the indictment as the court thinks 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, and may make such order as to the payment of any costs incurred owing to the necessity for amendment as the court thinks fit. (2) Where an indictment is so amended, a note of the order for amendment shall be endorsed on the indictment, and the indictment shall be treated for the purposes of the trial and for the purposes of all proceedings in connection therewith as having been found by the grand jury in the amended form.

(3) Where, before trial, or at any stage of a trial, the court is of opinion that a person accused may be prejudiced or embarrassed in his defence by reason of being charged with more than one offence in the same indictment, or that for any other reason it is desirable to direct that the person should be tried separately for any one or more offences charged in an indictment, the court may order a separate trial of any count or counts of such indictment.

(4) Where, before trial, or at any stage of a trial, the court is of opinion that the postponement of the trial of a person accused is expedient as a consequence of the exercise of any power of the court under this Act to amend an indictment or to order a separate trial of a count, the court shall make such order as to the postponement of the trial as appears necessary.

(5) Where an order of the court is made under this section for a separate trial or for the postponement of a trial

(a) if such an order is made during a trial the court may order that the jury are to be discharged from giving a verdict on the count or counts the trial of which is postponed or on the indictment, as the case may be; and

(b) the procedure on the separate trial of a count shall be the same in all respects as if the count had been found in a separate indictment, and the procedure on the postponed trial shall be the same in all respects (if the jury has been discharged) as if the trial had not commenced; and

(c) the court may make such order as to costs and as to admitting the accused person to bail, and as to the enlargement of recognizances and otherwise as the court thinks fit. (6) Any power of the court under this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other power of the court for the same or similar purposes.

6. Where it appears to the court that an indictment contains unnecessary matter, or is of unnecessary length, or is materially defective in any respect, the court may make such order as to the payment of that part of the costs of the prosecution which has been incurred by reason of the indictment so containing unnecessary matter, or being of unnecessary length, or being materially defective as the court thinks fit.

7. Nothing in this Act shall prevent an indictment being open to objection if it contravenes or fails to comply with the Vexatious Indictments Act, 1859, as amended by section one of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1867, or any other enactment: Provided that an indictment shall not be open to objection under those Acts on the ground that a count is joined with the rest of the indictment which could not at the time of the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment

Act, 1867, be lawfully joined, if that count can be lawfully joined under the law for the time being in force.

8.-(1) Nothing in this Act or the rules thereunder shall affect the law or practice relating to the jurisdiction of a court or the place where an accused person can be tried, nor prejudice or diminish in any respect the obligation to establish by evidence according to law any acts, omissions, or intentions which are legally necessary to constitute the offence with which the person accused is charged, nor otherwise affect the laws of evidence in criminal cases.

(2) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression 'the court' means the court before which any indictable offence is tried or prosecuted.

(3) The provisions of this Act relating to indictments shall apply to criminal informations in the High Court and inquisitions, and also to any plea, replication, or other criminal pleading, with such modifications as may be made by rules under this Act.

9.-(1) The enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column of that schedule.

(2) This Act shall not extend to Scotland or Ireland.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Indictments Act, 1915.

(4) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of April nineteen hundred and sixteen, but shall not apply to indictments in the case of persons committed for trial before that date, or to the trial of any such person.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

RULES.

Sections 1, 2 (2).

1.-(1) An indictment may be on parchment or durable paper, and may be either written or printed, or partly written and partly printed. (2) Each sheet on which an indictment is set out shall be not more than 12 and not less than 6 inches in length, and not more than 14 and not less than 12 inches in width, and if more than one sheet is required, the sheets shall be fastened together in book form.

(3) A proper margin not less than 3 inches in width shall be kept on the left-hand side of each sheet.

(4) Figures and abbreviations may be used in an indictment for expressing anything which is commonly expressed thereby.

(5) There shall be endorsed on the back of an indictment the name of every witness examined or intended to be examined by the grand jury, and the foreman of the grand jury shall write his initials against the name of each witness so examined.

(6) An indictment shall not be open to objection by reason only of any failure to comply with this rule.

2. The commencement of the indictment shall be in the following form:

The King v. A. B.

COURT OF TRIAL [e.g., Central Criminal Court, [or] In the
High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division, [or] Durham
County Assizes held at Durham, [or] Hants Quarter Sessions
held at Winchester].

PRESENTMENT OF THE GRAND JURY.
A. B. is charged with the following offence [offences]:-

3. Charges for any offences, whether felonies or misdemeanours, may be joined in the same indictment if those charges are foundedon the same facts, or form or are a part of a series of offences of the same or a similar character.

4.-(1) A description of the offence charged in an indictment, or where more than one offence is charged in an indictment, of each offence so charged, shall be set out in the indictment in a separate paragraph called a count.

(2) A count of an indictment shall commence with a statement of the offence charged, called the statement of offence.

(3) The statement of offence shall describe the offence shortly in ordinary language, avoiding as far as possible the use of technical terms, and without necessarily stating all the essential elements of the offence, and if the offence charged is one created by statute, shall contain a reference to the section of the statute creating the offence.

(4) After the statement of the offence, particulars of such offence shall be set out in ordinary language, in which the use of technical terms shall not be necessary:

Provided that where any rule of law or any statute limits the particulars of an offence which are required to be given in an indictment, nothing in this rule shall require any more particulars to be given than those so required.

(5) The forms set out in the appendix to these rules or forms conforming thereto as nearly as may be shall be used in cases to which they are applicable, and in other cases forms to the like effect or conforming thereto as nearly as may be shall be used, the statement of offence and the particulars of offence being varied according to the circumstances in each case.

(6) Where an indictment contains more than one count, the counts shall be numbered consecutively.

5.-(1) Where an enactment constituting an offence states the offence to be the doing or the omission to do any one of any different acts in the alternative, or the doing or the omission to do any act in any one of any different capacities, or with any one of any different intentions, or states any part of the offence in the alternative, the acts, omissions, capacities, or intentions, or other matters stated in the alternative in the enactment, may be stated in the alternative in the count charging the offence.

(2) It shall not be necessary, in any count charging a statutory offence, to negative any exception or exemption from or qualification to the operation of the statute creating the offence.

6. (1) The description of property in a count in an indictment shall be in ordinary language and such as to indicate with reasonable clearness the property referred to, and if the property is so described it shall not be necessary (except when required for the purpose of describing an offence depending on any special ownership of property or special value of property) to name the person to whom the property belongs or the value of the property.

(2) Where property is vested in more than one person, and the owners of the property are referred to in an indictment it shall be sufficient to describe the property as owned by one of those persons by name with others, and if the persons owning the property are a body of persons with a collective name, such as Inhabitants," "Trustees, Commissioners,' or 'Club' or other such name, it shall be sufficient to use the collective name without naming any individual.