Exofficio Indictments
Indictments can be presented whether or not the person has been committed for trial: s 561 Criminal Code (Qld). An exofficio indictment is often used where there has been no committal OR where the Magistrate has decided not to commit a matter.
Most commonly these indictments are used at the request of an accused who is pleading guilty and wants to expedite the matter. It also enables the prosecution to proceed where they disagree with the discharge of a matter or the nature of the offence that has been committed. It also enables the prosecution to dispense with the committal, subject to a test of fairness (Barton v R (1980) 147 CLR 75.)
'It is one thing to say that the filing of an ex officio indictment is not examinable by the courts; it is quite another thing to say the courts are powerless to prevent an abuse of process or the prosecution of a criminal proceeding in a manner which will result in a trial which is unfair when judged by reference to accepted standards of justice. The courts exercise no control over the Attorney-General's decision to commence criminal proceedings, but once he does so, the courts will control those proceedings so as to ensure that the accused receives a fair trial...The exercise of this power extends in an appropriate case to the grant of a stay of proceedings so as to permit a preliminary examination to take place...To deny the accused the benefit of committal proceedings is to deprive him of a valuable protection uniformly available to other accused persons, which is of great advantage to him, whether in terminating the proceedings before trial or at trial...It is for the courts, not the Attorney-General to decide in the last resort whether the justice of the case requires that a trial should proceed in the absence of committal proceedings...' Barton v R (1980) 147 CLR 75.
Most commonly these indictments are used at the request of an accused who is pleading guilty and wants to expedite the matter. It also enables the prosecution to proceed where they disagree with the discharge of a matter or the nature of the offence that has been committed. It also enables the prosecution to dispense with the committal, subject to a test of fairness (Barton v R (1980) 147 CLR 75.)
'It is one thing to say that the filing of an ex officio indictment is not examinable by the courts; it is quite another thing to say the courts are powerless to prevent an abuse of process or the prosecution of a criminal proceeding in a manner which will result in a trial which is unfair when judged by reference to accepted standards of justice. The courts exercise no control over the Attorney-General's decision to commence criminal proceedings, but once he does so, the courts will control those proceedings so as to ensure that the accused receives a fair trial...The exercise of this power extends in an appropriate case to the grant of a stay of proceedings so as to permit a preliminary examination to take place...To deny the accused the benefit of committal proceedings is to deprive him of a valuable protection uniformly available to other accused persons, which is of great advantage to him, whether in terminating the proceedings before trial or at trial...It is for the courts, not the Attorney-General to decide in the last resort whether the justice of the case requires that a trial should proceed in the absence of committal proceedings...' Barton v R (1980) 147 CLR 75.