Page:Indictments Act 1915 (UKPGA Geo5-5-6-90 qp).pdf/5

 [5 & 6 : 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. 5