Syllabus
1) Juveniles; Children and Young Person’s Act
2) Coroners
3) Courts Act No.31 of 1965
4) Criminal Procedure Act No.32 of 1965
5) Appeals
6) Anti-Corruption Act of 2000 as Amended
Coroners
Coroners are governed by Cap 9, Laws of Sierra Leone, 1960, Volume 1.
S.1 is the definition section, describing what the Act is.
S.2 defines certain terms. E.g. who a coroner is; a coroner includes the Deputy Coroner.
S.3 describes how and by whom a coroner is appointed. A coroner may be removed at pleasure. Coroners receive fees for sitting as coroners.
The difference between an inquest and an enquiry - A coroner may sit with the aid of jurors and the panel is regarded as a jury. The number of jurors who sit in an inquest is not fixed. What is important is that they sit in odd numbers such as 7,9,11 etc. So, if there happens to be a split, there’ll always be a majority one way or the other. The difference is that in an enquiry, the coroner does not sit with the aid of a jury.
An inquest or enquiry is held whenever death has occurred in suspicious circumstances suggesting foul play. For this reason, even if information is received after the burial of the body, an exhumation may be ordered. In fact it is, invariably, ordered.
When the inquest or enquiry moves to the locus to view the body, it is provided that an inquest or enquiry may be held on a Sunday. In other words, any day which may be declared a public holiday, for that matter.
A coroner receives salary but a deputy coroner receives sitting fees; he is paid by each inquest or enquiry presided over by him.
In an inquest or enquiry, if there be a suspect who is summoned to attend, that suspect is referred to as the Chief Informant.
An inquest or enquiry may be held not only within the district within which the death has occurred; it may be held outside the district which the death occurred; S.8. In the event that the presiding coroner is unable to complete the proceedings, his successor does not start de novo; he continues from where his predecessor has left off.
Evidence of witnesses is taken under oath. Persons summoned to give evidence may be represented by their solicitors.
Look up S.12 for EXAMS!
S.9 provides that an inquest or enquiry may be held on a Sunday.
In the case of an enquiry, if a coroner is unable to continue, a successor may continue.
S.10 provides that an inquest must be held in the event of the death of a prisoner or a mental patient who is confined in a mental home.
Note - When we talk about an inquest, it is where the coroner sits with a jury. An enquiry is where he sits alone.
The finding of the majority is good enough.
S.11 deals with the situation in which the death is executed; an inquest must be held.
In the case of S.10 and S.11, the jurors shall not include any prisoner or lunatic.
S.12 provides for the holding of an inquest in any one of three (3) situations:
1) If there is reason to believe or suspect that death was caused by an accident arising out of the use of a vehicle in a street or public highway.
2) Where death has occurred in any circumstance which should not be allowed to be repeated.
3) Where it is considered reasonable that an inquest should be held then an inquest will be held, notwithstanding that an enquiry has been commenced. S.14 provides that it shall not be necessary to view the body on which an inquest or enquiry is held. Nevertheless, if the coroner considers it desirable, then the jurors and himself may view the body.
S.9 provides that in such cases when an inquest or enquiry is held on a Sunday, then the body must be viewed.
The qualification of a jury for the purposes of an inquest is that the persons must be adult and be house holders. Everyone whose name appears on the jurors list for trial in the High Court are also liable to be called upon to serve as jurors in an inquest. For this purpose, the coroner issues warrants to summon the persons who are to serve as jurors.
A disobedience of a warrant to attend attracts a fine and if such fine is not paid, the property of the disobedient juror may be taken in satisfaction of the fine. If the property is insufficient to meet the fine, the juror is sent to prison.
In the case of witnesses, and not warrants are issued. And like in any judicial proceeding, the jurors and witnesses are put on oath.
It may, on occasions, be necessary to use the services of an interpreter and before performing his duty, he takes an oath.
The evidence given before the coroner, evidence-in-chief, and under cross-examination, is recorded by the coroner. And in the event of a for trial, such evidence is as good as evidence taken during a preliminary investigation before a magistrate.
A finding of a majority of jurors is as good as a finding of them all.
There may be one of three results consequent upon an inquest -
1) A finding of Murder; the person on whose body the inquest is held is said to have been murdered and the person found to be responsible is not said to be guilty. Rather, he is committed for trial and in this case, he is remanded in custody.
2) Manslaughter; a person committed for trial may or may not be put on , depending on the circumstance.
3) Death by Misadventure Note that all magistrates and district officers are ex-officio coroners for their respective districts.
An inquest or enquiry may be transferred from one district to another if the coroner of that area is somehow related to or interested in that particular inquest or enquiry.
Cap 44 - Children and Young Persons Act
S.1 provides that the Act shall apply both to the Western Area and the Provinces; the whole of Sierra Leone.
S.2 is the definition section. This defines who is a child and who is a young person. A child is someone below the age of 14. A young person is someone who is 14 but not above 17.
The Act makes provision for the treatment of Children and Young Persons.
Juvenile court is a Magistrate’s court sitting with the aid of two Justices of the Peace. A juvenile court sits in a different building, or if not possible, in a different room other than that regularly used by magistrates. It does not sit in public.
If in the course of any proceeding it turns out that the person appearing before the magistrate court is a child or young person, the court shall be re-constituted; two Justices of the Peace will be combined so that the panel shall be a magistrate and two justices of the peace. And the public shall be excluded.
In proceedings concerning a child or young person, that child or young person is not asked to take a ; guilty or not guilty. Simpliciter, he is asked if the complaint made against him is true.
If in the course of proceedings against someone presumed to be a child or young person, it shall turn out that in fact he is in excess of the age of 17, the court shall continue sitting but the two Justices of the Peace shall retire.
If, however, a child or young person is charged jointly with an adult, the court shall proceed normally. That is to say, as if both of them are in excess of 17. If at the end of the day they be found guilty, then the child or young person shall be treated as a child or young person for the purposes of punishment.
Treatment of a Child or Young Person
If a child or young person is found at the end of the proceedings to have committed the offences levied against them, they may be placed in the care of their parents or a guardian or a fit and proper person. In the extreme, he may be sent to an approved school.
If sent to an approved school, his parent or guardian may be ordered to contribute financially to his upkeep.
The Approved School
An approved school is not a prison. Rather, it is an institution for the re-adjustment of a delinquent child or young person. It is headed by a manager. The manager receives the child or young person from the magistrate’s court which has ordered that the child or young person be taken to that school. The person or persons conveying the child or young person to the school must be accompanied with a copy of the order of the court. Otherwise, the manager has no authority to receive them.
It is an offence to induce or remove a child or young person from an approved school or from the person/institution to whom the child has been entrusted. It is also an offence to keep a child or young person who has escaped from a remand home or to detain him against his wish if he elects to return to the approved school. All of these are offences punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
The manager of an approved school may make an application to the juvenile court for an extension of the period ordered by the court for the child or young person to remain at the said institution.
The period for which the court normally makes an order for a child or young person to be kept in the remand house is 3 years but in any event, not after he has attained the age of 18.
The court may, however, in special circumstances, extend the term beyond the age of 18. If a person who has been ordered to contribute towards the maintenance of a child or young person fails to do so, then the manager of the institution may make an application to the court to recover the amount as if the same were a civil debt. Therefore, it is a civil application.
Remand Home
This is a place where children and young persons who are on trial and have not been granted bail are kept. (The Act should refer to an order and not to a judgment as that imports finality.)
An appeal lies against any order or judgment of the court. The time within which an appeal may be made is within 7 days of the order.
The Courts Act No.31 1965
Interpretation - This is the beginning which tells you who a magistrate is and about the courts in general.
The courts are divided into judicial districts: Port Loko District (Northern Province), Makeni District, Southern District.
Hierarchy of Courts Magistrates Court High Court Court of Appeal Supreme Court They also have their jurisdictions. You go first to Magistrates Court and then to the High Court, then you proceed to the Court of Appeal, before finally going to the Supreme Court.
On occasion, you may go directly to the Supreme Court. E.g. In matters of interpretation, you go directly to the Supreme Court.
Magistrates Court - This court is presided over by a qualified magistrate (called to the bar) who sits alone. Otherwise, it is presided over by two Justices of the Peace. They are posted to different districts; the Magistrate who covers Port Loko is also in charge of Lungi, Lunsar and two other districts.
Magistrates in Freetown may also deal with matters arising from Lungi Airport. More so, if it tends towards the convenience of the parties, the qualified magistrates are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission. They are answerable to the Chief Justice, who has the power to transfer them from one district to another whenever he deems it necessary. By their performances, they may be elevated to the High Court Bench.
Magistrates deal with both summary and preliminary investigations. As regards summary cases, they are finalized in Magistrates Court, subject to the right of appeal to the High Court. The cases which Magistrates may try summarily are minor matters and those cases which are not listed in the Second Schedule. They may not try summarily, matters for Treason, Murder or Manslaughter.
In the event a magistrate finds their workload to be too much to be disposed of within a reasonable time, he may summon the assistance of two Justices of the Peace and assign some of the matters to them for disposal.
The Anti-Corruption Act 2000
The Anti-Corruption Act 2000 created, for the first time in Sierra Leone, the institution known as the Anti-Corruption Commission. This Commission is headed by a commissioner, presently Professor H.M. Joko-Smart. The Act also makes provision for a Deputy Commissioner who assists the Commissioner and acts in his place whenever he is out of the or is, for any other reason, absent from duty.
The Commission is empowered to investigate corrupt practices and, if there being sufficient evidence to justify the prosecution of any person/persons whom it shall have investigated, proof of such findings shall be forwarded to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, who has the final say on whether or not to prosecute such person/persons.
The offences presently as spelled out in the Act, and more particularly in sections 7-15 of the Act (Part 4), are as follows -
1) Corrupt acquisition of wealth.
2) Soliciting or accepting advantage. For this purpose, advantage includes any gift, loan, fee, reward or of any valuable security or other property or interest in property.
3) Using influence for contracts.
4) Corrupting a Public Officer - Soliciting or accepting advantage for a public officer etc.
5) Misappropriation of public funds or property.
6) Impeding foreign investment.
7) Corrupt transactions with agents.
Although embodied in criminal law, the punishment here is different and the process swifter. S.136 of the Criminal Procedure Act is analogous to bringing people to trial under the Anti-Corruption Act.
There is an investigation department in the Anti-Corruption Commission office, whose duty it is to investigate reports. Reports may be received directly from members of the public, which may or may not be treated as confidential depending on the request made by the reporter. In other words, the reporter may say, “Don’t let them know that I reported this matter to you, as my life could be at stake.” Therefore, the reporter is deserving of confidentiality.
Anyone who discovers the identity of any reporter who is treated confidentially should be liable to prosecution and upon shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment or both.
Rewards of up to Le20 Million are offered for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of persons who practice corruption under the Act.
Any person against whom a report shall be made shall be liable to be invited or arrested with or without warrant to appear in the office of the Commission and, there, to make a statement. Such person or persons may or may not be detained and if not detained, may be released on bail. Failure to report back, as shall be requested, constitutes an offence. Witnesses may also be invited to make statements.
The officers of the Commission (investigators) have the power to search any premises with a view to recovering any exhibits touching or concerning the offence reported. If such premises be a dwelling house, such search shall be authorized by the Commissioner in writing. Any property found in consequence of such search may be seized, retained and treated as exhibit.
The Commission is also empowered under S.24 of the Act to apply to the court, , for a restraining order directed to, for example, banks, to freeze the assets of any person/persons who is/are being investigated.
The Courts Act No.31 of 1965 and the Criminal Procedure Act No.32 of 1965 have both been amended.
Hierarchy of the Courts
The Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court Magistrates’ Court The Freetown Judicial District - The Magistrates’ Courts in the Freetown area are said to be in this district. Thereafter, are the Sherbro district and the Provincial district. After Magistrates’ Court is the High Court. Again, although it is said that there is only one High Court in Sierra Leone, High Court judges are assigned both to Freetown and the Provinces.
Immediately above the High Court is the Court of Appeal and right on top is the Supreme Court. The Magistrates’ Courts are presided over by magistrates appointed by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and are assigned to their various locations by the Chief Justice. A magistrate assigned to a particular judicial district or in Freetown may be transferred to any other Magistrates’ Court by the Chief Justice.
In the Provincial or Sherbro districts, whenever a Magistrate’s Court is overloaded with cases, the magistrate is empowered or authorized to appoint two or more justices of the peace to assist the Magistrates’ court. A qualified barrister and solicitor presides alone over his court as a magistrate. However, JP’s do not sit alone; there must be at least two.
In the High Court, the judge sits alone. In the CA, the full court comprises three judges. In the Supreme Court, the full court is made up of at least five judges. Magistrates’ Courts sit as courts of first instance; they try criminal cases and they also conduct preliminary investigations.
There are certain offences referred to as Hybrid offences; they are triable in the Magistrates’ Court or may be committed for trial in the High Court. There are also cases which are simpliciter summary and are tried summarily by the magistrate. These are also indictable cases; triable on in the High Court.
In the High Court, trial commences with a document referred to as the Indictment. The Indictment is also occasionally, but seldom, referred to as Information. Generally, however, the word ‘Information’ is used in the Magistrates’ Court.
The person at whose instance some other is prosecuted is called the complainant and the person prosecuted is called the accused or the .
Generally, if the prosecution is private (a common criminal action against B by way of summons), then you have a complainant and a defendant. If it is at the instance of the police or law officers department (the Attorney General) you have the accused person.
The High Court is both a court of 1st instance and also a Court of Appeal with respect to cases decided by the magistrate.
Occasionally, the Court of Appeal may sit with less than 3. This is so with respect to Summonses of Direction and other proceedings. E.g. you are refused bail by the High Court. Your next port of call is the Court of Appeal. The CA will not then be sitting on a case; it’s just hearing an application for bail. The same applies to the Supreme Court. For example, the Omrie Golley case; refused bail many times
- CA - now Supreme Court.
In the High Court, cases may be tried by judge and jury or by the judge alone, but not if the offence is one punishable by death. Those cases are bound to be attended by judge and jury. Whereas, cases come before the High Court by committal, there is also what’s called Ex Officio Proceeding or S.136 of the Criminal Procedure Act, as amended.
The Courts Act tells us how many courts there are; hierarchy of courts - The Supreme Court Court of Appeal High Court Magistrates’ Court Juvenile Court Cases commence in the Magistrates’ Court.
In the CA, there are 3 judges, but for interlocutory matters, 2 may sit. For example, where someone has been sentenced to imprisonment, fined etc. the next thing his solicitor should advise him to do is to apply for a pending appeal. In such situations, 2 judges may sit but for the hearing of the appeal itself, you need the full court; 3 judges.
The CA can (i) grant bail pending appeal; (ii) grant a stay of execution pending appeal. Also, for the purposes of the appeal itself, you wait until the records of the High Court proceedings have been compiled. After the compilation and distribution of the records to the parties concerned, a date is given for the commencement of a hearing of the appeal.
What obtains presently is that the court orders the parties ( and ) to prepare a synopsis of your appeal; the grounds and short form of your argument and your authorities. You are given 7 days to do this. Thereafter, a date is fixed for the hearing of the appeal itself. Naturally, the appellant starts and then the respondent is heard and, if necessary, the appellant replies and either party must be prepared to face barrages of questions from the bench.
At the end of the day, three consequences may follow -
1) The appeal may be allowed, in which case, the sentence imposed on the appellant is set aside and so to consequential orders. E.g. fine and compensation.
2) The appeal may be dismissed.
3) A re-trial may be ordered.
This applies to cases in which the accused person in a High Court, having been convicted, appeals to the Court of Appeal. The other possibility is where you have the appellant, in the event the appellant is , the State has the right of appeal.
The CA, here, has the right, if the appeal is upheld, to convict and to pass such sentence and consequential order as the High Court could have done. This seldom happens. Rather, a re-trial is ordered.
Magistrates’ Court
You may have either private prosecution or State prosecution. Anyone can sue out a summons without going through the police. In this case, the parties are the complainant against the defendant. The defendant is not placed in the dock but he stands in the well of the court. In fact, both parties stand in the well of the court.
In the case of a police prosecution, the Inspector General of Police vs. XYZ, the accused. When it comes up into the High Court, it is the State vs. XYZ, the accused.
The Supreme Court
There is the Chief Justice and two other judges of the Supreme Court when attending to Interlocutory Applications. For the full court, there are five judges, including the Chief Justice. In the event the Chief Justice is made to sit, the most senior of the judges in attendance heads the panel.
The Chief justice has the power to nominate a judge or judges outside Sierra Leone from countries practicing laws similar to ours in Sierra Leone. But, in any event, such judge or judges must be in the minority. So, for a panel of five judges, you cannot/do not have more than two foreign judges. The Chief Justice, again, has the power to nominate a CA judge to preside over specific matters in the High Court. And so too, a High Court judge may be nominated to sit in the CA for a specific court for a specific matter and a supreme court judge may also sit in the CA for a specific matter.
Such situation will arise in the event the matter, for example, in the CA is one adjudicated upon by a member (judge) of the CA; he will have to give way to someone else to sit in his place.
Criminal Procedure
Criminal procedure, by its very wording, is an explanation of how the criminal law itself is practiced. There is the presumption that every accused person is presumed to be innocent until he is found guilty. So, naturally, he himself has the right to be heard.
There are trials as well as preliminary investigations in Magistrates’ courts. There are certain offences which are not triable in Magistrates’ courts. For example, treason, murder and manslaughter. There may also be situations dictated by the gravity of the punishment the offence attracts.
Trials in the Magistrates’ courts are commenced by criminal summonses or charge sheets. Almost invariably, criminal summonses are used in private prosecution, in which case, the accuser is the complainant and the accused is the defendant. The charge is read and the defendant or the accused takes his plea. Evidence is led on behalf of the complainant or the prosecution. At the end of the evidence of each witness, cross-examination follows. And if there be any doubt in the course of the cross-examination, the prosecution has the right to re-examine the witness. RE-examination is limited only to matters arising in the course of cross-examination which call for clarification. I.e. questions are asked to clear doubts.
At the end of the case for the prosecution, there may be a submission of no case to answer. It is here that you’ll find counsel who is alert picking up faults touching and concerning jurisdiction. For instance, if it’s the wrong court or it’s a case of conspiracy and you charge one person without stating that he conspired with others.
Thereafter follows the ruling; the submission may be overruled or upheld. If it is upheld, the accused or defendant goes free. Not all submissions which are upheld bring a case to its final conclusion.
In some cases, the accused person or defendant may be charged again to court. If a submission is overruled, then the defence is called upon to lead evidence. At the evidence of each witness, the prosecution has the right to cross-examine. if there be any doubts arising during cross-examination, the defence may re-examine to clear doubt. At the end of the case for the accused person or defendant/respondent, addresses follow. If the defence does not lead any evidence, the prosecution addresses first. Otherwise, it is the reverse. After the addresses by both sides, the Magistrate delivers his judgment.
Note that in most cases, the proceedings are not commenced the same day it is mentioned in court for the first time. In such situations, the accused/defendant is put on bail unless the Magistrate thinks otherwise. If there be a conviction, the accused is either fined or imprisoned or is made to suffer both, if the law so permits. And thereafter, the accused/defendant has a right of appeal.
If the prosecution is found to be vexatious, the complainant may be asked to pay to the defendant his costs which may be addressed by the Magistrate if there is no consent/agreement by both sides.
Preliminary Investigations
A preliminary investigation is not a trial and, therefore, no plea is taken. The purpose of a preliminary investigation is to ascertain if the accused person, having regard to the evidence led against him, ought to be put on trial in the High Court.
According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act 1965, a preliminary investigation ought not to be held in public. In practical terms, however, it is held in open court in the public view.
The charge is read to the accused person and no plea is taken. The prosecution leads evidence, not to show that he is guilty of the offence, but to establish that he ought to be put on trial. Almost invariably, the accused person is not called upon to give evidence or to lead any witness to give evidence on his behalf.
If the proceedings are not concluded, depending on the nature of the offence, he may be put on bail. Bail is not normally granted in respect of capital offences such as treason or murder.
At the end of the evidence adduced on behalf of the prosecution, the presiding magistrate considers and decides, if there is sufficient evidence, to put the accused on trial in the High Court. If he so decides, then he is committed to the High Court to face trial. He may or may not be put on bail, pending trial.
The accused has certain privileges in law when committed for trial. He is asked by the Magistrate if he has anything to say. He is also asked if he will be calling witnesses in the High Court. If so, their names and addresses are recorded. This, however, doesn’t mean that if he doesn’t give names or addresses, he cannot call a witness at trial; it is not compulsory but if he gives, it must be recorded.
The session of the High Court to which he is committed for trial is also recorded. There is some technicality about this. In the provision, it is stated that if an accused person is not tried in the session to which he’s committed, on the third occasion, the last criminal session but one, to which he has been committed, he may apply to be discharged for want of prosecution.
Assuming the Magistrate decides that the evidence is insufficient for trial, he is discharged.
There are also hybrid offences, meaning that instead of committing the accused for trial, the magistrate may decide to try him at the magisterial level and this applies to hybrid offences.
Then, if the Magistrate so decides, the charge is read to the accused and he is invited to take a plea.
Note that the Magistrate may, in the course of such trial, reconvert to preliminary investigation.
In criminal trials, on indictments, the accused or defendant may be tried by a judge alone or by judge and jury. The accused or defendant may apply to the court upon giving the necessary notice for him to be tried by judge alone. So too, the prosecution may apply to the court for the trial to be by judge alone instead of by judge and jury.
In the case of an application by the prosecution, the application is signed by the Attorney-General or by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Certain offences cannot be tried by judge alone. These are offences which, if proved, carry the death penalty.
Qualifications to Serve as a Juror - Both male and female are eligible to serve as a juror. For a male to serve as a juror, he must have attained the age of 21. In the case of a female, the age is 30. He or she must be literate in English and must not have been convicted of any offence. The number of jurors to be empanelled to try a case is 12. If, for any reason, such as illness, the court may proceed with the trial, provided that the continuing jurors are not below 10 in number.
For offences other than capital offences, majority verdict is available. That is to say, if you have a split verdict where some jurors say “guilty” whilst others say “not guilty”, the verdict of the majority will prevail.
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Empanelling the Jury
The under-sheriff has the duty of summoning jurors from among a list of persons which list is settled by the Magistrate for each district and, in the case of the Western area, by the most senior principal Magistrate in Freetown. It is an offence to disobey such summons. There is a list of certain persons who are either disqualified or exempt from serving as jurors.
You will be disqualified if, for example, you had not attained the required age or you have a criminal record or you are not literate in English or you are a judge or Magistrate. Certain other persons are exempt because of the nature of their calling. E.g. persons in the medical profession and their servants (nurses). Look up S.151 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Act. Note that S.151 (1) has been amended by Act No.12 of 1972. Under S.151, the provision is for males only; now male 21, female 30.
An accused person has the right to object to the empanelling of intended jurors. It is the duty of the court registrar to warn the accused person (defendant) by informing him that the jurors who are about to be sworn are the jurors who are going to try him and that if he has any objection, he must raise it before they are sworn. It has been held in a decided case that such objection may be raised after the swearing of the juror has commenced but before the swearing is complete.
There are two types of objections; an objection to the array and an objection to the entire jurors. There’s also an objection to the polls.
There are four grounds on which an objection to the polls may be made -
1) Propter Honoris Repectum - Lords cannot try commoners.
2) Propter Defectum - Person has a defect; they cannot speak English.
3) Propter Affectum - The juror has some relationship with the complainant.
4) Propter Delictum - He has not attained the proper age or he has a bad reputation.
Indictment
S.50 and S.51 of the Criminal Procedure Act lay down some basic information regarding indictments. There are two important ingredients when drafting information - First, there is the Rule Against Duplicity which provides that no one court should charge more than one offence. If it does, then it is bad law.
Secondly, there are Continuing Offences where, for example, A is in control of a vehicle, runs through a market and about six persons are injured. This is only one act but there are so many victims and in a decided case, A killed two deer and it was established that he fired his pistol but the one bullet went through both deer as a result of which they died. It was held that there was only one act.
It would appear by parity of reasoning that when that car went through the market, causing injury to six persons, it was only one act. If, for example, a pilot discharges a bomb in a football field and kills fifty spectators, it is only one act even though so many people were killed.
If in doubt, it is a good idea to split up the indictment. The indictment itself which relates also to information is a document which informs the accused person of the offences with which he is charged.
We use the word “information” for offences charged in the Magistrates’ Court and the word “indictment” for offences charged in the High Court.
The heading is ‘In the Magistrates’ Court Holden at Freetown’ or ‘In the High Court Holden at Freetown’. It is addressed to the accused person or persons, warning them to take note or to take notice that the following offence or offences have been charged against them. It carries the heading ‘The State vs. John Doe’ and the offences are split into courts. For more than one offence, court 1, court 2 etc. For instance, Court 1 - - “contrary to so&so Act”; you quote the authority. You will not quote any authority if the offence is murder. This is called the ‘Statement of Offence’.
Immediately following, there are ‘Particulars of Offence’. There is no set form but the particulars must state the time or date of the offence if known, and if unknown, the practice is to say “on a day unknown, between the 1st day of April and the 30th day of April, 2007 etc.
A stabs B on the 1st day of April, 2007. B is admitted on the same day and he died on the 7th of April, 2007 in consequence of the stabbing. There is no doubt that A has committed murder, but when?
State the place. State the time. State the offence he has committed.
Sign your indictment.
In a decided case, it was said that the signature, although appearing at the top of the document, does not render the indictment bad.