Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1968

3 Procedure for shortening arraignments. N.I.

(1) Upon the trial of a person on an indictment containing counts charging offences of a like or of a substantially similar nature, the presiding Judge, if satisfied that that person—

(a) is in possession of a copy of the indictment;

(b) is able to read; and

(c) will not be prejudiced,

may direct the proper officer to use the shortened form of arraignment referred to in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) In using the shortened form of arraignment the proper officer shall make public the nature of the charges on which the accused is to be tried by reading aloud and in full at least one count in respect of each category of offence charged. Each of the other counts relating to the same category of offence may then be put to the accused by referring to the number of the count and adding such other particulars as, without a full reading, may enable the accused to understand the charge and follow it in the copy of the indictment in his possession.

(3) A plea in answer to any such form of arraignment shall be a good and sufficient plea notwithstanding any existing enactment or rule of law or practice; but the presiding Judge may in his discretion, as respects any arraignment in the shortened form, disallow the same and any plea made thereto and direct that the accused be rearraigned on the count or counts in question in the ordinary form.

(4) Where the shortened form of arraignment provided for by this section is used and a plea thereto has been entered, the conditions stated in paragraphs ( a), ( b) and ( c) of subsection (1) shall thereafter be deemed to have been duly satisfied.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence committed after a previous conviction—

(a) an arraignment made in accordance with subsection (2) shall not be held to contravene any enactment or rule of law or practice which operates to require him to be arraigned only upon so much of the indictment as charges the subsequent offence; and

(b) nothing in this section shall affect the operation of any enactment or rule of law or practice which requires the jury to be charged, in the first instance, to enquire concerning the subsequent offence only.

(6) Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of any rule of law or practice requiring the substance of each count in an indictment to be stated to the jury by whom the prisoner is to be tried upon that indictment.

(7) In this section the expression “proper officer” means the [F1 chief clerk] or any other officer acting for the court or his deputy.

F1 SR 1979/103