[Note. See also sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Indictments Act 1915267 and section 2 of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933268. Under section 2(1) of the 1933 Act, a draft indictment (in the Act, a ‘bill of indictment’) becomes an indictment when it is ‘preferred’ in accordance with these rules. See rule 10.2.

Part 3 contains rules about the court’s general powers of case management, including power to consider applications and give directions for (among other things) the amendment of an indictment and for separate trials under section 5 of the Indictments Act 1915. See in particular rule 3.29 (Application for joint or separate trials, etc.).

Under section 51D of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998269, the magistrates’ court must notify the Crown Court of the offence or offences for which the defendant is sent for trial. Part 9 (Allocation and sending for trial) contains relevant rules.

A Crown Court judge may approve a proposed indictment on approving a deferred prosecution agreement. Part 11 (Deferred prosecution agreements) contains relevant rules.

A prosecutor may apply to a High Court judge for permission to serve a draft indictment under rule 10.9.

Under section 22B of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, one of the prosecutors listed in that section may re-institute proceedings that have been stayed under section 22(4) of that Act270 on the expiry of an overall time limit (where such a time limit has been prescribed). Section 22B(2) requires the service of a draft indictment within 3 months of the date on which the Crown Court ordered the stay, or within such longer period as the court allows.

The Court of Appeal may order a retrial under section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 (on a defendant’s appeal against conviction) or under section 77 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (on a prosecutor’s application for the retrial of a serious offence after acquittal). Section 8 of the 1968 Act and section 84 of the 2003 Act require the arraignment of a defendant within 2 months. See also rules 27.7 and 39.14.

Where a magistrates’ court sends a defendant to the Crown Court for trial under section 51 or 51A of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, in some circumstances the Crown Court may try the defendant for other offences: see section 2(2) of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 (indictable offences founded on the prosecution evidence), section 40 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988271 (specified summary offences founded on that evidence) and paragraph 6 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (power of Crown Court to deal with related summary offence sent to that court). An offence of theft under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 which is low-value shoplifting under section 22A of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980272 is a summary offence unless the defendant chooses to be tried in the Crown Court.]