§ MR. PATRICK A. M'HUGHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the usual course of procedure by the Crown in England in regard to persons charged with indictable offences against whom, after magisterial investigation, informations were refused; and have bills been sent up against such persons in England within the twelve months ended 31st December 1895; and, if so, will he state the number of such cases and the places in which the magisterial investigations were held?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYSubject to the provisions of the Vexatious Indictments Act, an indictment may be preferred by any person after a case has been dismissed by the magistrates, which is, I assume, what the hon. Member means by the informations being refused. The Crown in this respect is in the same position as a private prosecutor. Whether or not in any particular instance an indictment is preferred, obviously depends on the circumstances of the case.