Section 110: Mode of instituting criminal proceedings in a Magistrates courts

(1) Criminal proceedings instituted in a Magistrate court may be:
(a) by bringing a suspect arrested without a warrant before the court on a charge contained in a charge sheet specifying the name, address, age, sex and occupation of the suspect charged, the charge against him and the time and place where the offence is alleged to have been committed; and the charge sheets shall be signed by any of the persons mentioned in section 106 of this Act; or
(b) upon receiving a First Information Report for the commission of an offence for which the police are authorised to arrest without a warrant and which may be tried by the court within the jurisdiction where the police station is situate, the particulars in the report shall disclose the offence for which the complaint is brought and shall be signed by the police officer in charge of the case; or
(c) subject to the provision of section 89 of this Act, by complaint to the court, whether or not on oath, that an offence has been committed by a suspect whose presence the Magistrate has power to compel, and an application to the Magistrate, in the manner set out in this section for the issue of either a summons directed to, or a warrant to arrest, the suspect.
(2) The charge sheet filed by the prosecution shall be served on the defendant within seven days of its being filed or such time as the court may allow.
(3) The trial of a charge preferred under subsection (1) paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall commence not later than thirty days from the date of filing the charge, and the trial of the person brought under the charge shall be completed within a reasonable time.
(4) Where a charge is preferred under subsection (1) paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section and the trial does not commence within thirty days of bringing the charge, or trial has commenced but has not been completed after one hundred and eighty daysof arraignment on that charge, the Court shall forward to the Chief Judge the particulars of the charge and reasons for failure to commence the trial or to complete the trial.
(5) A Court seized of criminal proceedings shall make quarterly returns of the particulars of all cases, including charges, remand and other proceedings commenced and dealt with in his Court within the quarter, to the Chief Judge.
(6) In reviewing the returns made by a Court under subsections (4) and (5) of this section, the Chief Judge shall have regard to the need to ensure that:
(a) criminal matters are speedily dealt with;
(b) congestion of cases in courts is drastically reduced;
(c) congestion of prisons is reduced to the barest minimum; and
(d) persons awaiting trial are, as far as possible, not detained in prison custody for a length of time beyond that prescribed in section 293 of this Act.
(7) The Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee, shall have power to consider all returns made to the Chief Judge under subsections (4) and (5) of this section for the purpose of ensuring expeditious disposal of cases, and the National Human Rights Commission set up under the National Human Rights Commission Act shall have access to the returns on request to the Chief Judge.