(1) An indictment is to be intituled with the name of the court in which it is
presented, and must, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, set
forth the offence with which the accused person is charged in such a manner,
and with such particulars as to the alleged time and place of committing the
offence, and as to the person (if any) alleged to be aggrieved, and as to the
property (if any) in question, as may be necessary to inform the accused
person of the nature of the charge.
(2) If any circumstance of aggravation is
intended to be relied upon, it must be charged in the indictment.
(3) It is sufficient to describe an
offence in the words of this Code or of the statute defining it.
(3A) An
indictment for an offence may also state the offence is a domestic violence
offence.
Example—
See the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992, section
12A for when a conviction for the offence must also be recorded as a
conviction for a domestic violence offence or entered in the offender’s
criminal history as a domestic violence offence.
(3B) An indictment for an
offence committed in relation to a pregnant person that allegedly resulted in
destroying the life of the person’s unborn child may also state the name, or
a description, of the unborn child.
(4) The place of trial is to be named in
the margin of the indictment.
(5) In this section—
"relevant circumstance of aggravation" means a circumstance of aggravation
that is a previous conviction of the offender.
