8Charge sheets

8 Charge sheets

(1) A charge against an accused person must be entered in a charge sheet that is signed and dated by the Director of Military Prosecutions. (2) A charge sheet for the trial of an accused person by a court martial or Defence Force magistrate may contain more than 1 charge if the offences charged: (a) form, or are part of, a series of offences of the same or a similar character; or (b) are founded on the same or closely related acts or omissions; or (c) are founded on a series of acts done or omitted to be done in the prosecution of a single purpose; or (d) are alternative to other charges in the charge sheet. (3) At a trial before a court martial or Defence Force magistrate, 2 or more accused persons may be charged in the same charge sheet with offences alleged to have been committed by them separately if the acts or omissions on which the charges are founded are so connected that it is in the interests of justice that they be tried together. (4) A charge sheet must be in accordance with Schedule 2. (5) If charges against an accused are contained in more than 1 charge sheet, the Director of Military Prosecutions may direct the Registrar to: (a) convene 1 court martial for the trial of the charges on all charge sheets; or (b) refer all of the charges for trial before a single Defence Force magistrate; or (c) do some combination of paragraph (a) and (b).