Criminal Code Act 1899

In an indictment for an offence relating to giving information or a document that a person knows is false or misleading, it is enough to state the information or document was ‘false or misleading’ to the person’s knowledge, without specifying whether it was false or whether it was misleading.

In an indictment for an offence which relates to taking or administering an oath or engagement, or to giving false testimony or to making a false statement on solemn declaration or otherwise, or to procuring the giving of false testimony or the making of a false statement, it is not necessary to set forth the words of the oath or engagement or testimony or statement, but it is sufficient to set forth the purport thereof, or so much of the purport as is material.

In an indictment for an offence which relates to giving false testimony, or procuring or attempting to procure the giving of false testimony, it is not necessary to allege the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal before which the false testimony was given, or intended or proposed to be given.

In an indictment in which it is necessary to mention money, such money may be described simply as money, without specifying any particular form of money.

Such an averment, so far as regards the description of the property, will be sustained by proof that the offender obtained or dealt with anything which is included in the term ‘money’, or any portion of the value, in such a manner as to constitute the offence, although the thing was delivered to the offender in order that some part of the value thereof should be returned to the person who delivered the same or to some other person, and has been returned accordingly.

In an indictment in which it is necessary to mention any co-owners of property it is sufficient to name 1 of such persons, adding the words ‘and another’ or ‘and others’, as the case may be, and to state that the property belonged to the person so named and another or others, as the case may be.

In an indictment against a man for an offence committed by him with respect to his wife’s separate property, the property may be alleged to be the property of the wife.

In an indictment for an offence relating to any property of a company which is authorised to sue and be sued in the name of a public officer, the property may be alleged to be the property of the public officer.

In an indictment for an offence relating to any property which by any statute is to be deemed to be the property of any officer of any institution, the property in question may be alleged to be the property of the officer of the institution for the time being by the officer’s name of office.

In an indictment for an offence relating to a testamentary instrument, it is not necessary to allege that the instrument is the property of any person.

In an indictment for an offence relating to anything fixed in a square, street or cemetery or at a crematorium, or in a place dedicated to public use or ornament, or to anything in or taken from a public office, it is not necessary to allege that the thing in respect of which the offence is committed is the property of any person.

In an indictment for an offence relating to a document which is evidence of title to land or an estate in land, the document may be described as being evidence of the title of the person or some 1 of the persons having an estate in the land to which the document relates, the land or some part thereof being described in some manner sufficient to identify it.

In an indictment for stealing a chattel or fixture let to the offender, the chattel or fixture may be described as the property of the person who actually let it to hire.

In an indictment against a person employed in the public service for an offence committed with respect to anything which came into the person’s possession by virtue of the person’s employment, the thing in question may be described as the property of the Sovereign.

In an indictment for an offence respecting any property (whether within the meaning of section 1 or section 408C), if it is uncertain to which of 2 or more persons the property belonged at the time when the offence was committed, the property may be described as being the property of one or other of such persons, naming each of them, but without specifying which of them; and the indictment will be sustained, so far as regards the allegation of ownership, upon proof that at the time when the offence was committed the property belonged to one or other of such persons without ascertaining which of them.

In an indictment for the offence of obtaining or inducing the delivery of anything dishonestly, or of attempting to commit, or to procure the commission of, any such offence, it is not necessary to mention the owner of the property in question.

In an indictment for an offence which involves any fraud or fraudulent pretence, it is not necessary to set forth the details of the fraud or pretence or trick or device. sch 1 pt 8 ch 60 s 566 amd 1979 No. 2 s 6; 1997 No. 3 s 99; 2008 No. 55 s 105; 2011 No. 7 s 9; 2024 No. 6 s 36 sch 1