Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) On the presentation of the indictment or at any later time, the accused person is to be informed in open court of the offence with which he or she is charged, as set forth in the indictment, and is to be called upon to plead to the indictment, and to say whether he or she is guilty or not guilty of the charge.
(2) If the indictment contains more than one count, a plea to any number of counts may, with the consent of the accused person, be taken at one and the same time on the basis that the plea to one count will be treated as a plea to any number of similar counts on the same indictment.
(3) The trial is deemed to begin and the accused person is deemed to be brought to trial when the person is so called upon.
(4) The court may allow anything that must or may be done in relation to the arraignment of the accused person to be done over an audiovisual link or audio link, if the prosecutor and the accused person agree to the use of the link.
(5) For subsection (4), anything done, for the accused person's arraignment, over an audiovisual link or audio link between the person and the court sitting in open court is taken to be done in open court.
(6) The provisions of the Evidence Act 1977 relating to the use of an audiovisual link or audio link in criminal proceedings apply for, and are not limited by, subsection (4).