§ 1189 Defendant to answer, when.

If a judge decides that the criminal charges against a defendant are written properly and rejects any objection to them, the defendant must respond to the charges right away. This means the defendant cannot delay the case by claiming the charges were written incorrectly or unclearly, once a judge has already ruled that they are fine.

In practice, this rule keeps criminal cases moving forward. If someone tries to fight the case by arguing the paperwork itself is flawed, and the judge says the paperwork is actually fine, the person has to move on to the next step. That next step is usually entering a plea, such as guilty or not guilty.