Commonwealth Caribbean Criminal Practice and Procedure by Dana S. Seetahal

Author:Dana S. Seetahal
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781136674358
Publisher: Routledge

THE INDICTMENT

The indictment is preferred by the Director of Public Prosecutions4 (or the Attorney General5 in the Bahamas). The document is really the printed accusation of the crime or crimes made at the suit of the State, or the Queen, depending on the jurisdictions. In most Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions, Dominica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago being notable exceptions, the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is still the Head of State, as these jurisdictions are constitutional monarchies.

Statute may provide that the indictment may be signed on behalf of the DPP by a legal officer acting on his behalf.6 In some jurisdictions like Dominica7 and Jamaica,8 statute enables a person ‘authorised’ by the DPP to prefer an indictment on his behalf. In Barbados, although the DPP prepares and files the indictment, it appears that the Registrar may sign it.9 If the officer of the court designated by statute to sign the indictment does not sign the indictment, it will be invalid, and no proper trial can emanate from such an indictment: R v Morais (1988) 87 Cr App R 9. Where an indictment is not served on the defendant in accordance with the requirements of the relevant statutory provisions and he has no notice that he would be tried until the day on which he is called upon to plead, any ensuing conviction must be quashed: Lester v The State (1996) 50 WIR 452.

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