A lawfully signed ex-officio indictment containing joined Commonwealth and Queensland counts is not rendered wholly invalid by the fact that the person who presented it was authorised to present only the Commonwealth counts; the defect affects only the counts for which the presenter lacked authority. Section 597C of the Criminal Code (Qld) is directed at the arraignment process and does not invalidate an indictment containing some validly presented and some invalidly presented counts. Deliberate delay in pursuing alternative avenues before applying to the court tells against the exercise of discretion to extend time to appeal.
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