A trial conducted on an indictment on which the accused has not been arraigned, no plea taken, and the jury not sworn to return a verdict is a nullity or at minimum a fundamental miscarriage of justice requiring convictions to be set aside. The Criminal Code (Qld) does not permit joinder of separate indictments for a single trial; s 597A contemplates multiple offences charged on a single indictment but not trial on separate indictments. Where proceedings are a nullity, a new trial may be ordered.
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