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CRIMINAL AND OTHER OFFENCES
(PROCEDURE) ACT, 1960 ACT 30
COMPARATIVE TABLE
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE (CAP.
10) – CRIMINAL AND OTHER
OFFENCES (PROCEDURE)
ACT (ACT 30)
Criminal Criminal Criminal
Criminal Criminal Criminal
Procedure and other Procedure
Code and other Procedure and
Code (Cap. 10) Offences (Cap.
10) Offences Code (Cap. Other
(Procedure)(Procedure)10)
Offences
Act (Act Act (Act (Procedure)
30) 30) Act (Act
30)
1 .................... – 30
.................... 28 59
................ 55
2 .................... 414 31
.................... 29 60
................
3 .................... 1 32
.................... 30 61
................ 56
4 .................... 3 33
.................... 31 61A
(Supp. 57
I)
5 .................... 4 34
.................... 32 61B
(Supp. 59
I)
6 .................... 5 35
.................... 33 62
................ 60
7 .................... 6 36
.................... 34 63
................ 61
8 .................... 7 37
.................... 35 64
................ 62
9 .................... 8 38
.................... 36 65
................ 63
10 .................. 9 39
.................... 37 66
................ 64
11 .................. 10 40
.................... 38 67
................ 65
12 .................. 11 41
.................... 39 68
................ 66
13 .................. 12 42
.................... 40 69
................ 67
14 .................. 13 43
.................... 10 (j) 70
................ 68
15 .................. 14 44
.................... 50 71
................ 69
16 .................. 15 45
.................... – 72
................ 70
17 .................. 16 46
.................... 41 73
................ 71
18 .................. 17 47
.................... 42 74
................ 72
19 .................. 18 48
.................... 43 75
................ 73
20 .................. 19 49
.................... 44 76
................ 74
21 .................. 20 50
.................... 45 77
................ 75
22 .................. 21 51
.................... 46 78
................ 76
23 .................. 22 52
.................... 47 79
................ 77
24 .................. 23 53
.................... 48 80
................ 78
25 .................. – 54
.................... 49 81
................ 79
26 .................. 24 55 82
................ 80
27 .................. 25 56 83
................ 81
28 .................. 26 57 84
................ 83
29 .................. 27 58
.................... 54 85
................ 84
86 .................. 85 123
.................. 123 158
.............. 162
87 .................. 86 124
.................. 124 159
.............. 163
88 .................. 87 125
.................. 125 164
89 .................. 88 126
.................. 126
90 .................. 89 127
.................. 127 160
.............. 165
91 .................. 90 128
.................. 128 161
.............. 166
92 .................. 91 129
.................. 129 162
.............. 167
93 .................. 92 130
.................. 130 163
.............. 168
94 .................. 93 131
.................. 131 164
.............. 59
95 .................. 95 132
.................. 132 165
.............. 169
96 .................. 96 133
.................. 133 166
.............. 170
97 .................. 97 134
.................. 134 167
.............. 171
98 .................. 98 135
.................. 135 168
.............. 172
99 .................. 99 136
.................. 136 169
.............. 173
100 ................ 100 137
.................. 137 170
.............. 174
101 ................ 101 138
.................. 138 171
.............. 175
102 ................ 102 139
.................. 139 172
.............. 176
103 ................ 103 140
.................. 140 173
.............. 177
104 ................ 104 141
.................. 141 174
.............. 177 (3)
105 ................ 105 142
.................. 142 175
.............. 113, 117
(1)
106 ................ 106 143
.................. 143 176
.............. 179
107 ................ 107 144
.................. 144 177
.............. 181
108 ................ 109 145
.................. 145 178
.............. 185
109 ................ 110 146
.................. 146 179
.............. 182
110 ................ 111 147
.................. 150 180
.............. –
111 ................ 112 148
.................. 151 181
.............. 169, 186
112 ................ 113 149
.................. 152 182
.............. 182, 184
(4)
113 ................ 114 150
.................. 153 188
114 ................ 115 151
.................. 154 183
.............. 187
115 ................ 116 152
.................. – 184
.............. 188
116 ................ 117 153
.................. 156 185
.............. 184 (5)
117 ................ 118 154
.................. 157 186
.............. 184 (4),
(),
118 ................ 119 155
.................. 157 190 (2),
118 ................ 119 155
.................. 157 190 (2),
(3)
119 ................ 120 156
.................. 159 187
.............. –
120 ................ 121 157
.................. 159 188
.............. 192
121 ................ 122 157A
(Supp. I) 161 189 ..............
163
122 ................ 123 157B
160 190 .............. 191
(1959/73)
191 ................ 96 226
.................. 214 263
.............. 250
192 ................ 189 227
.................. 215 264
.............. 251
193 ................ – 228
.................. 216 265
.............. 252
194 ................ 194 229
.................. 217 266
.............. 253
195 ................ 195 230
.................. 218 267
.............. 254
196 ................ 196 231
.................. 219 268
.............. 255
197 ................ 197 232
.................. 220 269
.............. 256
198 ................ – 233
.................. 221 270
.............. 257
199 ................ 193 235
.................. 223 271
.............. 258
200 ................ – 236
.................. 224 272
.............. 259
201 ................ 266 236
.................. 225 273
.............. 260
202 ................ – 237
.................. 226 274
.............. 261
203 ................ – 239
.................. 227 275
.............. 262
204 ................ 182 240
.................. 228 276
.............. 263
(3)
205 ................ 183 241
.................. 229 277
.............. 264
206 ................ [1952/1 s.
242 .................. 230 278
.............. 265
2]
243 .................. 231 279
.............. 266
207 ................ – 244
.................. 232 280
.............. 267
208 ................ 217 245
.................. 233 281
.............. –
209 ................ – 246
.................. 234 282
.............. –
210 ................ – 247
.................. 235
211 ................ 232 (4) (5)
248 .................. 236 283
.............. 269
212 ................ 183 249
.................. 237 284
.............. 270
213 ................ 201 250
.................. 238 285
.............. 271
214 ................ 202 234
.................. 222 286
.............. 272
215 ................ 203 251
.................. 239 287
.............. 273
216 ................ 204 252
.................. 240 288
.............. 275
217 ................ 205 253
.................. 241 274
217A .............. 206 254
.................. 242 288
.............. 275
218 ................ 207 255
.................. 243 289
.............. 276
219 ................ 208 256
.................. 244 290
.............. 277
220 ................ 209 257
.................. 245 291
.............. 278
221 ................ 210 258
.................. – 292
.............. 279
222 ................ 211 259
.................. 246 293
.............. 280
223 ................ 212 260
.................. 247 294
.............. 281
224 ................ – 261
.................. 248 295
.............. 282
225 ................ 213 262
.................. 249 296
.............. 283
297 ................ 284 326
.................. 324 356
.............. 407
298 ................ 285 327
.................. 357
.............. 408
299 ................ 286 328
.................. 325 358
.............. 409
300 ................ 287 329
.................. 326 359
.............. 410
301 ................ 288 330
.................. 327 360
.............. 411
302 ................ 289 331
.................. 328 361
.............. 412
303 ................ 290 332
.................. 329
304 ................ 291 333
.................. 330
305 ................ 292 334
.................. 331
306 ................ 293 335
.................. 332
307 ................ 304 336
.................. 333
308 ................ 305 337
.................. 334
309 ................ 306 338
.................. 335
310 ................ 307 339
.................. 336
311 ................ 308 340
.................. 337
312 ................ 309 341
.................. 338
313 ................ 310 342
.................. 339
314 ................ 311 343
..................
315 ................ 312 344
..................
316 ................ 313 345
..................
316A 147 346 ..................
(1959/82)
317 ................ 315 347
.................. Part VIII
318 ................ 316 348
..................
319 ................ 317 349
..................
320 ................ 318 350
..................
321 ................ 319 351
..................
322 ................ 320 352
.................. 403
323 ................ 321 353
.................. 404
324 ................ 322 354
.................. 405
325 ................ 323 355
.................. 406
3 .................... 354
4 .................... 355 3
...................... 394 3
.................. 371
5 .................... 356 4
...................... 395 4
.................. 372
6 .................... 357 5
...................... 396 5
.................. 373
7 .................... 358 6
...................... 397 6
.................. 375
8 .................... 359 7
...................... 398 7
.................. 376
9 .................... 360 8
...................... 399 8
.................. 377
10 .................. 361 9
...................... 94 9
.................. 378
11 .................. 362 10
.................... – 10
................ 379
12 .................. 363 11
.................... 400 11
................ 380
13 .................. 364 12
.................... 401 12
................ 381
14 .................. 365 13
.................... 108 13
................ 382
15 .................. 366 14
................ 383
16 .................. 367 15
................ 384
17 .................. 368 16
................ 385
17 ................ 386
18 ................ 387
19 ................ 388
20 ................ 389
21 ................ 390
22 ................ 391
23 ................ 392
24 ................ 393
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART ONE
General Provisions
Procedure
1. Procedure for criminal and
other offences.
2. Mode of trial.
Arrest Generally
3. Mode of arrest.
4. Search of place entered by
person sought to be arrested.
5. Power to break out of any
house for purpose of liberation.
6. Unnecessary restraint.
7. Notification of substance of
warrant.
8. Search of arrested person.
9. Arrested persons to be taken
to police station.
9A. Destruction of narcotic drug
before trial.
Arrest without Warrant
10. Arrest by police officer
without warrant.
11. Refusal to give name and
residence.
12. Arrest by private person
without warrant.
13. Arrest by owners of
property.
14. Custody of person arrested
by private person.
15. Custody of persons arrested
without warrant.
16. Police to report arrests.
17. Offence committed in
District Magistrate’s presence.
18. Arrest by District
Magistrate.
Escape and Retaking
19. Recapture of person
escaping.
20. Sections 4 and 5 to apply to
arrest under section 19.
21. Assistance to District
Magistrate or police officer.
Security for Keeping the Peace
and for Good Behaviour
22. Execution of bond for
keeping the peace.
23. Security for good behaviour
for suspected persons.
24. Order to be made.
25. Procedure in respect of
person present in Court.
26. Summons or warrant in case
of absence.
27. Copy of order under section
24 to accompany summons or
warrant.
28. Dispensing with personal
attendance.
29. Enquiry as to truth of
information.
30. Order to give security.
31. Discharge of person informed
against.
Proceedings Subsequent to Order
to Furnish Security
32. Commencement of period of
security.
33. Contents of bond.
34. Power to reject sureties.
35. Failure of person to give
security.
36. Release of persons
imprisoned for failure to give
security.
37. Cancellation of bond.
38. Discharge of sureties.
Prevention and Investigation by
Police
39. Police to prevent offences.
40. Information of design to
commit offences.
PART TWO
Provisions relating to Criminal
Proceedings
Place of Enquiry or Trial
41. General authority of Courts
to bring accused persons before
them.
42. Accused person to be
remitted in certain cases to
another Court.
43. Removal under warrant.
44. Bringing case before Higher
Court or Circuit Court.
45. Determination of place of
investigation and trial.
46. Offences at sea or out of
the Republic.
46A. Repealed.
47. Offences committed on a
journey.
48. Court to decide in case of
doubt.
49. Cause commenced in wrong
place.
Information as to Offences
against the State
50. Power to require
information.
51. Saving for privileged
communications.
52. Restrictions on use of
information obtained.
53. Punishment for failure to
give information.
Control of Attorney-General over
Criminal Proceedings
54. Nolle prosequi.
55. Attorney-General may
delegate certain powers as to
nolle prosequi.
Appointment of Public
Prosecutors and Conduct of
Prosecutions
56. Appointment and duties of
public prosecutors.
57. Public prosecutor to
intervene in private
prosecutions.
58. Prosecutions on indictment.
59. Withdrawal from prosecution
and preliminary investigations.
Institution of Proceedings
60. Method of instituting
criminal proceedings.
61. Making a complaint.
Issue of Summons
62. Form and contents of
summons.
63. Service of summons.
64. Service when person summoned
cannot be found.
65. Procedure when service
cannot be effected as before
provided.
66. Service on civil servant.
67. Service on company.
68. Service outside local limits
of jurisdiction.
69. Proof of service.
70. Dispensing with personal
attendance of accused.
Issue of Warrant of Arrest
71. Warrant when issued.
72. Summons disobeyed.
73. Form, contents and duration
of warrant of arrest.
74. Taking direct security.
75. Warrants to whom directed.
76. Execution of warrant
directed to police officer.
77. Appearance before the Court
without delay.
78. Execution of warrant of
arrest.
79. Forwarding of warrant for
execution outside jurisdiction.
80. Direction to police officer
for execution outside
jurisdiction.
81. Procedure on arrest of
person outside jurisdiction.
Miscellaneous Provisions
regarding Processes
82. Summons, warrants on Sunday.
83. Irregularities in processes.
84. Bond for appearance.
85. Arrest on breach of bond for
appearance.
86. Appearance of prisoner
before the Court.
87. Application of Part to
summonses and warrants.
Search Warrants
88. Issue of search warrant and
procedure.
p
89. Execution of search warrant.
90. Persons in charge of closed
place to allow ingress.
91. Detention of articles
seized.
92. Provisions applicable to
search warrants.
93. Search without a warrant in
certain cases.
94. Search of premises without
warrant.
95. Saving with respect to
certain postal matter.
Bail and Recongisances Generally
96. Granting of bail.
97. General provisions as to
recognisances.
98. Discharge from custody.
99. Deposit instead of
recognisance.
100. Variation of a
recognisance.
101. Discharge of sureties.
102. Recognisances in respect of
juveniles.
103. Persons bound by
recognisance absconding may be
committed.
104. Forfeiture of recognisance.
105. Appeal from and review of
orders.
106. Order of fresh security
upon original order.
107. Levy of amount due on
certain recognisances.
108. Photographs and
fingerprints.
Joinder of Charges and Accused
109. Joinder of charges.
110. Joinder of accused.
111. Separate trials.
112. Statement of charges in
necessary documents.
Previous Acquittal or Conviction
113. Retrial.
114. Retrial on separate charge.
115. Consequences supervening or
not known at time of former
trial.
116. Original Court not
competent to try subsequent
charge.
117. Proof of previous
conviction or acquittal.
Offences by Aliens within
Territorial Waters
118. Trial of aliens for
offences committed in
territorial waters.
Examination of Witnesses
119. Power to call and recall
witnesses.
120. Evidence to be given on
oath.
121. Certain scientific reports
to be evidence in all Courts.
122. Documents or copies to be
evidence.
123. Evidence of wife or husband
of accused.
Commissions for the Examination
of Witnesses
124. Issue of commission for
examination of witness.
125. Application for issue of
commission.
126. Parties may examine
witnesses.
127. Return of commission.
128. Adjournment of enquiry or
trial.
Evidence for Defence
129. Evidence of witnesses.
130. Evidence of person charged.
131. Alibi.
132. Right of reply.
Lunacy of Accused and Defence of
Lunacy
133. Enquiry as to lunacy of
accused.
134. Procedure when certified as
capable of making defence.
135. Resumption of proceedings.
136. Defence of lunacy at
preliminary proceedings.
137. Defence of lunacy on trial
on indictment.
138. Procedure when accused does
not understand proceedings.
Costs and Compensation
139. Costs against accused and
against private prosecutor.
140. Order to pay costs
appealable.
141. Compensation in case of
frivolous or vexatious charge.
142. Recovery of costs and
compensation.
143. Award of expenses or
compensation out of fine.
Disposal and Restitution of
Articles and Property
144. Order for destruction of
articles.
145. Restitution of property
found on person arrested.
146. Restitution of property
stolen.
147. Restriction on disposal of
property of accused person.
147A. Payments of money made by
accused persons.
147B. Order for recovery of
property or its value.
147C. Definition of an offence
involving dishonesty.
148. Offender to make
compensation.
149. Effect of payment of
compensation.
150. Property in possession of
police.
151. Regulations relating to
unclaimed property in possession
of police.
Summary Procedure in Perjury
152. Perjury.
Conviction for Offence Other
than Charged
153. Person accused of an
offence may be convicted of
attempt.
154. When offence proved is
included in offence charged.
155. Conviction of extortion on
charge of corruption.
156. Conviction of receiving on
charge of stealing.
157. Conviction of false
pretences on charge of stealing.
158. Conviction of extortion on
charge of robbery.
159. Conviction of kindred
offence on charge of rape or
defilement.
160. Conviction of
treason-felony or charge of
treason.
161. Conviction of motoring
offence on charge of
manslaughter.
162. Conviction on other charges
pending.
PART THREE
Summary Trial
163. Summary trial.
164. Application.
Procedure on Summary Trial
165. Publicity.
166. Non-appearance of
prosecutor.
167. Non-appearance of accused.
168. Appearance of both parties.
169. Adjournment.
170. Non-appearance of parties
after adjournment.
pp p j
171. Accused to be called upon
to plead.
172. Procedure on plea of not
guilty.
173. Acquittal of accused when
no case to answer.
174. The defence.
175. Address to the Court.
176. Variance between charge and
evidence.
177. The decision.
178. Committal for sentence.
179. Offences appear unsuitable
for summary determination.
180. Questions of title to land
involved.
180A. Repealed.
PART FOUR
Committal for Trial for
Indictable Offence
Preliminary Hearing by District
Court
181. Procedure.
182. Bill of indictment and
summary of evidence.
183. Authentication of
indictment and summary of
evidence.
184. Conduct of preliminary
hearing.
185. A public Court.
186. Adjournments.
187. Taking statement of accused
person.
188. Witnesses for the defence.
189. Refusal to enter into
recognisance.
190. Order of committal for
trial.
191. Option of accused
respecting trial.
192. Proceedings against
corporations.
193. Returns to Court and
Attorney-General.
193A. Errors not to invalidate
committal.
Preservation of Testimony in
Certain Cases
194. Depositions of persons
dangerously ill.
195. Notice to be given in
certain cases.
196. Transmission of statements.
197. Use of statement in
evidence.
Procedure before Trial Court
198. Directions for trial.
199. Plea of guilty.
200. Evidence of witness before
trial.
The Bill of Indictment
201. Form of bill of indictment.
202. General provisions as to
indictments.
PART FIVE
Trial on Indictment
Procedure on Indictment
203. Trial on indictment.
204. Jury or assessors.
Qualifications and Attendance of
Jurors
205. Qualifications of jurors.
206. Qualifications of female
jurors.
207. Exemptions from jury
service.
208. Disqualifications of
jurors.
209. Preparation of lists of
jurors.
210. Information to be given
when required.
211. Lists to be settled.
212. Copies of lists to be sent
to Registrars.
213. Yearly revision of lists.
214. How jury panel formed.
215. Certain names to be passed
over.
216. Names of jurors may be
added to list or expunged.
217. Sheriff to summon jurors.
218. Sheriff to excuse
attendance of jurors.
219. Inability to locate jurors.
220. Sheriff to deliver panel to
registrar.
221. Trials for which no jurors
list prepared.
222. Penalty on jurors not
attending.
223. Punishment, summary, how
enforced, Court may remit fines.
224. Notice to persons fined in
absentia.
225. Travelling allowance for
certain jurors.
226. Exemption from serving.
Qualifications and Attendance of
Assessors
227. Qualifications of
assessors.
228. Sheriff or deputy sheriff
to summon assessors.
229. Sheriff or deputy sheriff
to deliver paper to Court.
230. Application of sections to
assessors.
Arraignment, Supplementary
Provisions
231. Accused to be unfettered.
232. Separate trial and
postponement of trial.
233. Indictment not to be held
insufficient for certain
omissions.
234. Quashing indictment.
235. Procedure in case of
previous convictions.
236. Plea of “not guilty”.
237. Plea of autrefois acquit
and autrefois convict.
238. Refusal to plead.
239. Plea of “guilty”.
240. Proceedings after plea of
“not guilty”.
241. Power to postpone or
adjourn proceedings.
Mode of Trial
242. Trial by jury where charge
not capital.
243. Trial by the Court with
assessors.
244. Composition of jury.
245. Capital cases.
Trial with a Jury
246. Names of jurors to be drawn
from ballot boxes.
247. Provision for new jury.
248. Deficiency of jurors.
249. Warning accused to
challenge.
250. Peremptory challenge.
251. Challenges for cause.
252. Trial of challenges for
cause.
253. Foreman of jury.
254. Duty of foreman.
255. Giving the accused in
charge.
256. Illness of accused.
257. Absence of a juror, trial
postponed, or fresh jury called.
258. When jury to be kept
together.
259. Jurors to attend
adjournment.
j
Trial with Assessors
260. Selection of assessors.
261. Effect of decision of Court
and assessors.
262. Where an assessor is unable
to attend trial may proceed.
263. Adjournment.
264. Decision.
Case for the Prosecution
265. Opening of case for
prosecution.
266. Additional witnesses for
prosecution.
267. Cross-examination of
witnesses for the prosecution.
268. Police statement.
269. Proof of statement of
accused in lower Court.
270. Dying declaration.
271. Consideration of case to
answer.
Case for the Defence
272. Judge to inform undefended
accused of accused’s rights.
273. Procedure to be followed
where accused is undefended.
274. Where accused is defended.
275. Additional witnesses to the
defence.
276. Evidence by prosecution in
rebuttal.
Close of Hearing in Trials by
Jury
277. Summing up by Justice.
278. Duty of Justice.
279. Duty of jury.
280. Jury to consider verdict.
281. Delivery of verdict.
282. Procedure where jury
differ.
283. Verdict on each charge.
284. Amending a verdict.
285. Action on verdict.
286. Retrial of accused after
discharge of jury.
In Cases Tried with Assessors
287. Delivery of opinions by
assessors.
Passing Sentence
288. Calling on the accused.
289. Motion in arrest of
judgment.
290. Sentence.
291. Power to reserve decision
on question raised at trial.
292. Objections cured by
verdict.
293. Evidence for arriving at a
proper sentence.
PART SIX
Punishments
Different Kinds of Punishment
294. Different kinds of
punishment.
295. Death sentence not to be
pronounced on juvenile.
296. General rules for
punishment.
297. Rules relating to fines.
298. Consequences of
imprisonment for three years or
more.
299. Recognisance for keeping
the peace.
300. Previous convictions.
301. Sentences consecutive
unless the Court otherwise
directs.
302. Several crimes, or several
acts done in execution of one
criminal purpose.
303. Saving in respect of
concurrent sentences.
PART SEVEN
Proceedings after Trial
Capital Sentences
304. Form of sentence of death.
305. Accused to be informed of
right to appeal.
306. Where body of person
executed to be buried.
307. Justice to report to
Minister.
308. Communication of the order
of the Minister.
309. Form of order.
310. Warrant to be executed by
Director of Prisons or other
officer.
311. Order to be sufficient
authority.
312. Enquiry into pregnancy of
woman.
Sentences other than Capital
313. Application.
313A. Pregnant woman convicted
of a non-capital offence.
314. Persons under 15 not to be
sentenced to imprisonment.
315. Warrants to be issued in
respect of sentence of
imprisonment.
316. Persons sentenced to fine
may be searched for money to pay
fine.
317. Levy of fine by distress.
318. Suspension of execution of
sentence of imprisonment.
319. Commitment for warrant of
distress.
320. Commitment in lieu of
distress.
321. Payment in full after
commitment.
322. Part payment after
commitment.
323. Issue of warrant.
PART EIGHT
Appeals
Appeals from District Courts
324. Where an appeal lies.
325. Limitation.
326. Petition of appeal.
327. Appellant in prison.
328. Summary dismissal of
appeal.
329. Notice of time, place and
hearing.
330. Power of Court.
331. Order of High Court to be
certified to District Court.
332. Suspension of sentence
pending appeal.
333. Further evidence.
334. Abatement of appeals.
335. Appeals to Supreme Court.
336. Limitation, procedure of
appeals under section 335.
Determination of Appeals from
High Court or Circuit Court
337. Appeals from High Court or
Circuit Court to the Supreme
Court.
338. Power of Court to state
case for the consideration of
the Supreme Court.
339. Power of the Court stating
a case to postpone judgment or
execution.
PART NINE
Procedure in Juvenile Courts
340.
Juvenile Courts.
341.
Exclusive jurisdiction and
transfer.
342.
Remission of juvenile to
Juvenile Court for sentence.
343.
Presumption and determination of
age.
344.
Remand of juveniles.
345.
Power to order parent to pay
fine instead of juvenile.
346.
Methods of dealing with
offenders.
347.
Committal to fit persons.
348.
Duration of probation and
supervision orders.
349.
Power to bring before court in
certain cases.
350.
Approval of children’s homes.
351.
General provisions as to court
orders relating to juveniles.
PART TEN
Probation and Discharge of
Offenders
352.
Interpretation.
353.
Absolute and conditional
discharge.
354.
Power of courts to make
probation orders.
355.
Probation order.
356.
Costs, damages and compensation.
357.
Commission of further offences
by probationers.
358.
Failure by probationer to comply
with probation order.
359.
Probation order disqualification
or disability.
360.
Transmission of documents, when
case remitted to another court.
361.
Amendment of probation orders.
362.
Discharge of probation orders.
363.
Transmission of copies of order
for amendment of discharge of
probation
orders.
364.
Selection of probation officers.
365.
Institutions.
366.
Appointments.
367.
Regulations.
368.
Delegation of powers.
369.
Contribution towards expenses of
residence at a probation home.
PART ELEVEN
Industrial Schools and Borstal
Institutions
370.
Minister.
Establishment and Supervision of
Industrial Schools and Borstal
Institutions
371. Establishment of industrial
schools and Borstal
institutions.
372. Establishment of remand
homes.
373. Supervision of schools,
remand homes and institutions.
374. Visits and inspections.
Detention in Schools and
Institutions
375. Power to order detention in
a school or institution.
376. Contents of detention
order.
377. Conveyance to school or
institution.
378. Duration of detention
order.
379. Extension of period of
detention in school or
institution.
Powers of Minister to Transfer
Young Offenders
380. Powers of Minister to
transfer.
381. Power to transfer from
prison to school or institution.
382. Transfer of incorrigibles
to prison.
Licence, Release, Supervision
and Discharge
383. Powers to release on
licence.
384. Supervision after
expiration of term of detention.
385. Power of Minister to
discharge young offenders.
Offenders
386. Harbouring or concealing
young offender.
387. Penalty for escape or
absence from school or
institution.
388. Power of magistrate to
require production of young
offender.
389. Penalty for instigating
offence.
Miscellaneous
390. Appointment of officers and
employees.
391. Expenses.
392. Contributions by parents of
juveniles.
393. Regulations.
PART TWELVE
Release and Supervision of
Convicts
394. Release of convict on
licence.
395. Notice of residence by
convict on licence.
396. Arrest and imprisonment of
convicts on licence.
397. Revocation of convict’s
licence.
398. Release of convict from
obligations of licence.
399. Notice of residence by
person under parole.
400. Production of licence on
demand.
401. Notice to police of release
of certain prisoners.
PART THIRTEEN
Preventive Custody
402. Preventive custody.
PART FOURTEEN
Supplementary Provisions
Irregular Proceedings
403. Proceedings in wrong place.
404. Trial by jury of offence
triable with assessors.
405. Trial with assessors of
offence triable by jury.
406. Finding or sentence when
reversible by reason of error of
omission.
407. Distress not illegal nor
distrainer a trespasser for
defect or want of form.
408. Error or omission not to
affect legality of execution.
Miscellaneous
409. Shorthand notes of
proceedings.
410. Copies of proceedings.
411. Forms.
412. Fees.
413. Repeals.
414. Interpretation.
415. This Act to be construed
with Criminal Offences Act.
416. Commencement.
417. Amendment of Courts Act,
1960.
SCHEDULES
First Schedule Convict’s Licence
Second Schedule List of Forms
Third schedule Section 412
Fourth schedule Female Juror’s
Notice
Fifth schedule Repeals
Sixth schedule Rules as to
Taking Statement of Accused
Person
ACT 30
CRIMINAL AND OTHER OFFENCES
(PROCEDURE) ACT, 19601(1)
AN ACT to consolidate and amend
enactments providing for the
procedure to be followed in
criminal and other offences and
to provide for related matters.
PART ONE
General Provisions
Procedure
1. Procedure for criminal and
other offences
(1) A criminal offence under the
Criminal Offences Act, (Act 29)
1960 shall be enquired into,
tried
and dealt with in accordance
with this Act.
(2) An offence under any other
enactment shall, subject to that
enactment, be enquired into,
tried and
dealt with in accordance with
this Act.
2. Mode of trial
(1) An offence shall be tried
summarily if
(a) the enactment creating the
offence provides that it is
punishable on summary
conviction, and
does not provide for any other
mode of trial; or
(b) the enactment creating the
offence does not make a
provision for the mode of trial
and the
maximum penalty for the offence
on first conviction is a term of
imprisonment not exceeding
six months, whether with or
without a fine.
(2) An offence shall be tried on
indictment if
(a) it is punishable by death or
it is an offence declared by an
enactment to be a first degree
felony; or
(b) the enactment creating the
offence provides that the mode
of trial is on indictment.
(3) Any other offence is triable
on indictment or summarily.
(4) Subject to the limitations
on the jurisdiction of the
Court,
(a) the High Court or a Circuit
Court is the venue for a trial
on indictment;
(b) the High Court, a Circuit
Court or a court of summary
jurisdiction, is the venue for a
summary trial.
Arrest Generally
3. Mode of arrest
In making an arrest a police
officer or any other person
making the arrest, shall
actually touch or
confine the body of the person
to be arrested, unless there is
a submission to the custody
verbally or by
conduct.
4. Search of place entered by
person sought to be arrested
(1) Where a person acting under
a warrant of arrest, or a police
officer having authority to
arrest has
reason to believe that the
person to be arrested has
entered into or is within a
place, the person residing in
or in charge of the place shall,
on demand, allow the person so
acting or the police officer
free entry to the
place and afford reasonable
facilities to search the place
for the person sought to be
arrested.
(2) Where entry to the place
cannot be effected in accordance
with subsection (1),
(a) the person acting under the
warrant, or
(b) the police officer, in a
case in which a warrant may
issue, but cannot be obtained
without
affording an opportunity for the
escape of the person to be
arrested,
may enter the place and search
the place for the person to be
arrested.
(3) A person acting under a
warrant or a police officer who
has authority to arrest may, if
after
notification of authority and
purpose and demand of
admittance, is unable to obtain
admittance, may
forcibly enter through an outer
or inner door or window of any
house or place.
5. Power to break out of any
house for purpose of liberation
A police officer or a person
authorised to make an arrest may
break out of any house, or for
the
purpose of the liberation of the
police officer or any other
person who, having lawfully
entered for the
purpose of making an arrest, is
detained within the house.
6. Unnecessary restraint
A person arrested shall not be
subjected to more restraint than
is necessary to prevent the
escape of the
person arrested.
7. Notification of substance of
warrant
Except when the person arrested
is in the actual course of the
commission of a criminal offence
or is
pursued immediately after escape
from lawful custody, a police
officer or a person making the
arrest shall
inform the person arrested of
the cause of the arrest, and, if
the police officer or other
person is acting
under the authority of a warrant
shall notify the person to be
arrested of the content of the
warrant and, if
so required, shall show the
warrant to the person to be
arrested.
8. Search of arrested person
(1) When a person is arrested by
a police officer or any other
person, the police officer
making the
arrest or to whom the other
person, makes over the person
arrested, may search the person
arrested, and
place in safe custody the
articles, other than necessary
wearing apparel, found on the
arrested person.
(2) Where the person arrested
can be legally admitted to bail
and bail is furnished, the
person arrested
shall not be searched unless
there are reasonable grounds to
believe that the person arrested
has in
possession
(a) a stolen article, or
(b) an instrument of violence,
or
(c) tools connected with the
kind of offence the person
arrested is alleged to have
committed, or
(d) articles which may
incriminate the person arrested
in respect of the offence
alleged to have
been committed.
(3) The search shall be made
with strict decency and where a
woman is to be searched, the
search
shall be made by another woman.
(4) The right to search a person
arrested does not include the
right to examine the private
part of that
person.
(5) A police officer or a person
making an arrest may take from
the person arrested an offensive
weapon which is found on the
person arrested.
9. Arrested person to be taken
to police station
(1) A person who is arrested,
whether with or without a
warrant, shall be taken with
reasonable
dispatch to a police station, or
other place for the reception of
arrested persons, and shall
without delay be
informed in a language which the
person arrested understands and
in detail of the nature of the
charge that
initiated the arrest.
(2) A person arrested shall,
while in custody, be given
reasonable facilities for
obtaining legal advice,
taking steps to furnish bail,
and otherwise making
arrangements for a defence or
release.
(3) A person having the custody
of a person arrested shall
comply with article 15 of the
Constitution.
9A. Destruction of narcotic drug
before trial1a(2)
Where the offence involves a
narcotic drug the court shall,
(a) on an application by or on
behalf of the Attorney-General,
order the destruction of
quantity,
leaving a reasonable quantity of
the seized narcotic drug which
is the subject matter of the
offence; and
(b) make an order that the
remaining quantity be taken as
conclusive evidence of the
seized
narcotic drug for the purposes
of the trial of the offence and
any appeal after conviction.
Arrest without Warrant
10. Arrest by police officer
without warrant
(1) A police officer may arrest
without warrant a person who
(a) commits an offence in the
presence of the police officer;
(b) obstructs a police officer
in the execution of that police
officer’s duty;
(c) has escaped or attempts to
escape from lawful custody;
(d) possesses an implement
adapted or intended for use to
unlawfully enter a building, and
does
not give a reasonable excuse for
the possession of the implement;
or
(e) possesses a thing which may
reasonably be suspected to be
stolen property.
(2) A police officer may arrest
without warrant a person whom
the police officer suspects on
reasonable grounds
(a) of having committed an
offence;
(b) of being about to commit an
offence, in order to prevent the
commission of the offence;
(c) of being about to commit an
offence, where the police
officer finds that person in any
highway, yard, building or other
place during the night;
(d) of being a person for whom a
warrant of arrested has been
issued by a Court;
(e) of being a deserter from the
Armed Forces; or
(f) of having been concerned in
an act committed outside the
Republic which, if committed in
the Republic would have been
punishable as an offence, and
for which that person is, under
an enactment, liable to be
arrested and detained in the
Republic.
11. Refusal to give name and
residence
(1) Where a person, other than a
person liable to be arrested
without an order or a warrant
under
section 10, who has been accused
of committing an offence refuses
on demand of a police officer to
give
personal details of the name and
residence, or gives a name or
residence which the officer has
reason to
believe is false, that person
may be arrested by the officer
in order to ascertain the name
or residence.
(2) When the true name and
residence of that person have
been ascertained that person
shall be
released on executing a bond,
with or without sureties, to
appear before a Court as
required.
(3) Where that person is not
resident in the Republic the
bond shall be secured by a
surety or sureties
resident in the Republic.
(4) Where the true name and
residence of that person is not
ascertained within twenty-four
hours from
the time of arrest, or that
person fails to execute the
bond, or fails as required to
furnish sufficient sureties,
that person shall forthwith be
brought before the nearest Court
having jurisdiction.
12. Arrest by private person
without warrant
(1) A private person may arrest
without warrant a person who in
the presence of that private
person
commits
(a) an offence involving the use
of force or violence;
(b) an offence by which bodily
harm is caused to another
person;
(c) an offence in the nature of
stealing or fraud;
(d) an offence involving injury
to public property; or
(e) an offence involving injury
to property owned by, or in the
lawful care or custody, of that
private person.
(2) A private person may arrest
without warrant a person whom
that private person reasonably
suspects of having committed an
offence mentioned in subsection
(1) where an offence of that
nature has
been committed.
13. Arrest by owners of property
Repealed.2(3)
14. Custody of person arrested
by private person
(1) A private person who,
without a warrant, arrests
another person shall without
unnecessary delay
hand over the person so arrested
to a police officer or, in the
absence of a police officer,
shall take the
arrested person to the nearest
police station.
(2) Where there is reason to
believe that the actions of that
person falls within the ambit of
section 10,
a police officer shall re-arrest
that person.
(3) Where there is reason to
believe that the person arrested
has committed a felony or
misdemeanour
and refuses to disclose personal
details of name and residence,
or gives a name or residence
which the
officer has reason to believe is
false, the arrested person shall
be dealt with in accordance with
section 11
or otherwise released.
15. Custody of persons arrested
without warrant
(1) A person taken into custody
without a warrant in connection
with an offence shall be
released
from custody not later than
forty-eighty hours after arrest
unless that person is earlier
brought before a
court of competent
jurisdiction.3(4)
(2) A person referred to in
subsection (1), may, at any time
whether before or after the
expiration of
the period of thirty days be
required to enter into a bond
with or without sureties for a
reasonable amount
to appear before the Court or at
the police station or place and
at the time as stated in the
bond.
(3) The bond may be enforced as
if it were a bond executed by
order of a Court and conditioned
for
the appearance of that person
before a Court.
(4) Repealed.4(5)
16. Police to report arrests
An officer in charge of a police
station shall report monthly to
the nearest District Magistrate
the cases
of the persons arrested without
warrant within the limits of the
area of authority of the police
station and
not subsequently charged with an
offence, whether those persons
have been admitted to bail or
not.
17. Offence committed in
District Magistrate’s presence
Where an offence is committed in
the presence of a District
Magistrate within the area of
jurisdiction
of the Magistrate, the
Magistrate may arrest or order a
person to arrest the offender,
and may, subject to
the conditions of the grant of
bail, commit the offender to
custody.
18. Arrest by District
Magistrate
Within the area of the
jurisdiction of a District
Magistrate, the Magistrate may
arrest or direct the
arrest in the presence of the
Magistrate a person whose arrest
on a warrant could have been
lawfully
ordered if the facts known at
the time of making or directing
the arrest had been stated
before the District
Magistrate on oath by another
person.
Escape and Retaking
19. Recapture of person escaping
Where a person in lawful custody
escapes or is rescued, the
person from whose custody that
person
escapes or is rescued may
immediately pursue and arrest
that person in any place in the
Republic.
20. Sections 4 and 5 to apply to
arrest under section 19
Sections 4 and 5 shall apply to
an arrest under section 19,
although the person who makes
the arrest is
not acting under a warrant and
is not a police officer with
authority to arrest.
21. Assistance to District
Magistrate or police officer
Every person shall assist a
District Magistrate or a police
officer who reasonably demands
aid
(a) in the taking or preventing
the escape of any other person
whom the Magistrate or police
officer is authorised to arrest;
(b) in the prevention or
suppression of a breach of the
peace, or in the prevention of a
criminal
offence involving unlawful
violence to person or property.
Security for Keeping the Peace
and for Good Behaviour
22. Execution of bond for
keeping the peace
(1) When a District Magistrate
is informed on oath that a
person is likely
(a) to commit a breach of the
peace or disturb the public
peace, or
(b) to do a wrongful act that
may probably occasion a breach
of the peace or disturb the
public
peace,
the Magistrate may require that
person to show cause why that
person should not be ordered to
execute a
bond, with or without sureties,
for keeping the peace for a
period determined by the
Magistrate.
(2) Proceedings shall not be
taken under subsection (1)
unless the person informed
against, or the
place where the breach of the
peace or disturbance is
apprehended is within the area
of jurisdiction of the
Magistrate.
23. Security for good behaviour
for suspected persons
When a District Magistrate is
informed on oath
(a) that a person is taking
precautions to conceal that
person’s presence within the
area of
jurisdiction of the Magistrate,
and
(b) that there is reason to
believe that that person is
taking precautions with a view
to
committing an offence,
the Magistrate may require that
person to show cause why that
person should not be ordered to
execute a
bond, with sureties for good
behaviour for a period
determined by the Magistrate.
24. Order to be made
When a District Magistrate
acting in compliance with
section 22 or 23, thinks it
necessary to require a
person to show cause as
specified under any of those
sections, the District
Magistrate shall make an order
in writing setting forth
(a) the substance of the
information received;
(b) the amount of bond to be
executed;
(c) whether the bond is for
keeping the peace or for good
behaviour;
(d) the period for which it is
to be in force; and
(e) the number, character, and
class of sureties required.
25. Procedure in respect of
person present in Court
Where the person in respect of
whom the order is made is
present in Court, the order
shall be read over
to that person or, if that
person so desires the substance
of the order shall be explained.
26. Summons of warrant in case
of absence
(1) Where the person in respect
of whom the order is made is not
present in Court, the Magistrate
shall issue a summons requiring
the appearance of, or, if in
custody, a warrant directing the
officer in
change of the custody to bring,
that person before the Court.
(2) Where it appears to the
Magistrate, on the report of a
police officer or on any other
information,
that there is reason to fear the
commission of a breach of the
peace, and that the breach of
the peace
cannot be prevented otherwise
than by the immediate arrest of
that person, the Magistrate may
at any time
issue a warrant for the arrest.
27. Copy of order under section
24 to accompany summons or
warrant
(1) A summons or warrant issued
under section 26 shall be
accompanied with a copy of the
order
made under section 24.
(2) The copy shall be delivered
by the officer serving or
executing the summons or warrant
to the
person served with or arrested
under the warrant.
28. Dispensing with personal
attendance
The Magistrate may, on
sufficient grounds, dispense
with the personal attendance of
a person called
upon to show cause why that
person should not be ordered to
execute a bond for keeping the
peace, and
may permit that person to appear
by an advocate.
29. Enquiry as to truth of
information
(1) When an order under section
24 has been read or explained
under section 25 to a person
present in
Court, or when a person appears
or is brought before a
Magistrate in compliance with or
in execution of a
summons or warrant issued under
section 26, the Magistrate shall
proceed to enquire into the
truth of the
information on which the action
has been taken, and to take any
further evidence as may appear
necessary.
(2) The enquiry shall be made,
as nearly as may be practicable,
in the manner prescribed for
conducting trials before
District Courts but a charge
need not be framed.
(3) Pending the completion of
the enquiry under subsection
(1), and on the grounds that it
is necessary
for the
(a) prevention of a breach of
the peace or disturbance of the
public peace, or
(b) commission of an offence, or
(c) public safety,
the Magistrate may for reasons
to be recorded in writing,
direct the person in respect of
whom the order
under section 24 has been made
to execute a bond with or
without sureties, for keeping
the peace or
maintaining good behaviour until
the conclusion of the enquiry.
(4) The Magistrate may detain in
custody the person in respect of
whom the order under section 24
has been made until the bond is
executed or in default of
execution until the enquiry is
concluded.
(5) The conditions of the bond
to be executed under subsection
(3) as regards
(a) the amount of the bond, or
(b) the provision of sureties,
or
(c) the number of sureties, or
(d) the pecuniary extent of
their liability or otherwise,
shall not be more onerous than
those specified in the order
under section 24.
(6) A person shall not be
remanded in custody under the
powers conferred by this section
for a period
exceeding fifteen days at a
time.
(7) Where two or more persons
have been associated together in
the matter under enquiry, they
may
be dealt with in the same or
separate enquiries as the
Magistrate considers just.
30. Order to give security
(1) Where on the completion of
the enquiry it is proved that,
for keeping the peace or
maintaining
good behaviour, the person in
respect of whom the enquiry is
made should execute a bond, with
or
without sureties, the Magistrate
shall make an order accordingly.
(2) A person shall not be
ordered to give security of a
nature different from, or of an
amount larger
than, or for a period longer
than, that specified in the
order made under section 24.
(3) The amount of a bond shall
be fixed with due regard to the
circumstances of the case and
shall not
be excessive.
(4) Where the person in respect
of whom the enquiry is made is a
minor, the bond shall be
executed
by the minor’s sureties.
(5) A person ordered to give
security for good behaviour or
keeping the peace under this
section may
appeal against the order, and
Part Eight shall apply to the
appeal.
31. Discharge of person informed
against
Where on an enquiry under
section 29 it is not proved that
it is necessary for keeping the
peace or
maintaining good behaviour, that
the person in respect of whom
the enquiry is made should
execute a
bond, the Magistrate shall make
an entry on the record to that
effect, and where that person is
in custody
only for the purpose of the
enquiry, the Magistrate shall
release that person or where not
in custody
discharge that person.
Proceedings Subsequent to Order
to Furnish Security
32. Commencement of period of
security
(1) Where a person in respect of
whom an order requiring security
is made under section 30 is, at
the
time the order is made,
sentenced to or undergoing a
sentence of imprisonment, the
period for which the
security is required shall
commence on the expiration of
the sentence.
(2) In other cases the period
shall commence on the date of
the order unless the Magistrate,
for
sufficient reason, fixes a later
date.
33. Contents of bond
The bond to be executed by a
person shall bind that person to
keep the peace or to be of good
behaviour, and in the latter
case, the commission or attempt
to commit or the aiding,
abetting,
counselling, or procuring the
commission anywhere within the
Republic at any time during the
continuance of the bond, of an
offence punishable with
imprisonment, whenever it is
committed, is a
breach of the bond.
34. Power to reject sureties
A Magistrate may refuse to
accept a surety offered under
any of the provisions of this
Act on the
ground that, for reasons to be
recorded by the Magistrate, the
surety is an unfit person.
35. Failure of person to give
security
(1) Where a person ordered to
give security for a period not
exceeding one year does not give
the
security on or before the date
on which the period for which
the security is to be given
commences, that
person shall, except in the case
mentioned in subsection (2), be
committed to prison, or, if that
person is
already in prison, be detained
in prison until the period
expires or until within that
period that person
gives the security to the Court
which, or Magistrate who made
the order requiring it.
(2) Where a person under
subsection (1) has been ordered
by a Magistrate to give security
for a period
exceeding one year, the
Magistrate shall, if that person
does not give the security,
issue a warrant
directing that person to be
detained in prison pending the
orders of the High Court or a
Circuit Court, and
the proceedings shall be laid as
soon as conveniently may be
before that Court.
(3) The High Court or Circuit
Court, after examining the
proceedings and requiring from
the
Magistrate the further
information or evidence which it
considers necessary, may make an
appropriate
order.
(4) The period for which a
person is imprisoned for failure
to give security shall not
exceed six
months.
(5) Where the security is
tendered to the officer in
charge of the prison, the
officer shall forthwith
refer the matter to the Court
which, or the Magistrate who,
made the order and shall await
the order of the
Court or Magistrate.
(6) Imprisonment for failure to
give security for keeping the
peace shall be without hard
labour.
(7) Imprisonment for failure to
give security for good behaviour
may be with or without hard
labour
as the District Court in each
case directs.
36. Release of persons
imprisoned for failure to give
security
Where a District Magistrate is
of opinion that a person
imprisoned for failing to give
security may be
released without hazard to the
community, the Magistrate shall
make an immediate report of the
case for
the order of the High Court, and
the Court may order that person
to be discharged.
37. Cancellation of bond
The High Court may at any time,
for substantive reasons to be
recorded in writing, cancel a
bond for
keeping the peace or for good
behaviour executed under this
Act.
38. Discharge of sureties
(1) A surety for the peaceful
conduct or good behaviour of
another person may at any time
apply to a
District Magistrate to cancel a
bond executed under this Act
within the area of the District
Magistrate’s
jurisdiction.
(2) On the application being
made, the Magistrate shall issue
a summons or warrant, as
appropriate,
requiring the person for whom
the surety is bound to appear or
to be brought before the
Magistrate.
(3) When that person appears or
is brought before the
Magistrate, the Magistrate shall
cancel the bond
and shall order that person to
give, for the unexpired portion
of the term of the bond, fresh
security of the
same description as the original
security.
(4) An order given under
subsection (3) is for purposes
of sections 33 to 37, an order
under section
30.
Prevention and Investigation by
Police
39. Police to prevent offences
A police officer may interpose
for the purpose of preventing,
and shall to the best of the
police
officer’s ability prevent the
commission of an offence.
40. Information of design to
commit offences
A police officer who receives
information of a design to
commit an offence shall
communicate the
information to the police
officer’s superior, and to any
other officer whose duty it is
to prevent or take
cognisance of the commission of
that offence.
PART TWO
Provisions relating to Criminal
Proceedings
Place of Enquiry or Trial
41. General authority of Courts
to bring accused persons before
them
A District Court has authority
to cause to be brought before it
a person who is within the area
of its
jurisdiction and is charged with
an offence committed within the
Republic or which according to
law may
be dealt with as if it has been
committed within the Republic
and to deal with the accused
according to its
jurisdiction.
42. Accused person to be
remitted in certain cases to
another Court
(1) A District Court, in this
section and in section 43,
before which a person who is
within the area of
its jurisdiction is charged with
having committed an offence
within the area of the
jurisdiction of another
District Court is brought shall,
unless authorised to proceed in
the case,
(a) send that person in custody
to the District Court within the
area of whose jurisdiction the
offence was committed, or
(b) require that person to give
security for surrender to the
receiving District Court, there
to
answer the charge and to be
dealt with according to law.
(2) For purposes of this section
and section 43, a District Court
remitting a case is referred to
as the
remitting Court to the Court to
which the case is remitted as
the receiving Court.
(3) Where the offence was
committed in an area within
which one or more Courts have
concurrent
jurisdiction, the remitting
Court shall, unless authorised
to proceed in the case,
(a) send the person charged in
custody to any one of those
Courts as can most conveniently
deal
with the case, or
(b) require that person to give
security for surrender to the
receiving Court there to answer
the
charge and to be dealt with
accordingly to law.
(4) The remitting Court shall
send to the receiving Court an
authenticated copy of the
information,
summons, warrant, and any other
process or documents in its
possession, relative to that
person.
43. Removal under warrant
(1) Where a person is to be sent
in custody in pursuance of
section 42, a warrant shall be
issued by the
remitting Court, and that
warrant shall be sufficient
authority to a person to whom it
is directed to receive
and detain the person named in
the warrant and to carry and
deliver that person to the
District Court
within whose jurisdiction the
criminal or any other offence
was committed, or may be
enquired into or
tried.
(2) The person to whom the
warrant is directed shall
execute it according to its
tenor without delay.
44. Bringing case before High
Court or Circuit Court
(1) A criminal case for trial on
indictment shall not be brought
before the High Court or Circuit
Court,
unless it has previously been
brought before a District Court
and the accused person has been
committed
for trial to the High Court or
Circuit Court.
(2) Subject to subsection (1),
(a) the High Court or Circuit
Court may issue a summons or
warrant for the commencement of
a
criminal case irrespective of
which Court the case is to be
tried; and
(b) sections 60 to 87 shall with
the necessary modifications,
apply in relation to the High
Court
and a Circuit Court as they
apply to the District Court.
(3) The High Court may hear and
determine a criminal case
although the summons or warrant
for the
commencement of the case was
issued by a District Court.
45.
Determination of place of
investigation and trial
Subject to section 44 and to the
powers of transfer conferred by
any other enactment, the place
for the
investigation and trial of an
offence shall be determined
according to the following
rules:
General rule
(a) An offence shall ordinarily
be enquired into and tried by a
Court within the area of whose
jurisdiction it was committed.
Accused tried where act done, or
where consequence ensues
(b) Where a person is accused of
the commission of an offence by
reason of a thing which has
been done, or of a thing which
has been omitted to be done, and
of the consequence which
has ensued, the offence may be
enquired into or tried in a
Court within the area of whose
jurisdiction that thing has been
done or omitted to be done, or
the consequence has ensued.
When offence constituted by
relation to another offence
(c) Where an act is an offence
by reason of its relation to
another act which is also an
offence or
which would be an offence if the
doer were capable of committing
an offence, a charge of
the first mentioned offence may
be enquired into or tried by a
Court within the area of whose
jurisdiction either act was
done.
When place uncertain or offence
distributed
(d) In any of the cases
following, that is to say,
(i) where it is uncertain in
which of several areas an
offence was committed, or
(ii)
where an offence is committed
partly in one area and partly in
another, or
(iii)
where an offence is a continuing
one, and continues to be
committed in more areas
than one, or
(iv)
where it consists of several
acts done in different local
areas,
the offence may be enquired into
or tried by a Court having
jurisdiction over any of those
areas.
When offences bind
(e) Where a person is charged
with more than one offence in
the same complaint, charge sheet
or indictment, a Court which
enquires into or tries any of
those offences may at the same
time enquire into or try any
other offences in the same
complaint, charge sheet or
indictment,
which may, under this Act, be
enquired into or tried at the
same time as the first mentioned
offence.
When accused bind
(f) A Court which enquires into
or tries an offence against a
person may also enquire into or
try
an offence against any other
person which, under this Act,
may be enquired into or tried at
the same time as the first
mentioned offence.
46. Offences at sea or out of
the Republic
Where a person is accused of the
commission of an offence at sea
or elsewhere out of the Republic
which according to the law may
be dealt with in the Republic,
the offence may, subject to
section 118, be
enquired into and tried at a
place in the Republic to which
the accused person is first
brought or to which
the accused is taken
subsequently.
46A. Repealed.5(6)
47. Offence committed on a
journey
An offence committed whilst the
offender is in the course of
performing a journey or voyage
may be
enquired into or tried by a
Court through or into the area
of whose jurisdiction the
offender or the person
against whom or the thing in
respect of which the offence was
committed passed in the course
of that
journey or voyage.
48. Court to decide in case of
doubt
(1) Where a doubt arises as to
the Court in which an offence
should be enquired into or
tried, the
Court entertaining the doubt may
report the circumstances to the
High Court, and the High Court
shall
decide in which Court the
offence shall be enquired into
or tried.
(2) A decision of the High Court
under subsection (1) is subject
to clause (1) of article 137 of
the
Constitution, but the accused
person may show that the High
Court does not have jurisdiction
in the
case.6(7)
49. Cause commenced in wrong
place
Where a cause is commenced in a
place other than that in which
it ought to have been commenced,
the
cause may be tried in that place
unless the defendant objects to
this at or before the time when
the
defendant is called upon to
plead or to state an answer in
the cause.
Information as to Offences
against the State
50. Power to require information
(1) For the purpose of detecting
the commission of an offence
under Chapter 1 of Part Four of
the
Criminal Offences Act, 19607(8)
(Act 29) or any activity
prejudicial to
(a) the defence of the Republic,
(b) the relations of the
Republic with other countries,
or
(c) the security of the
Republic,
the Attorney-General may give to
a person in the Republic, or an
individual outside the Republic
who is a
citizen of the Republic or
ordinarily resident in the
Republic, directions requiring
that person within the
time and in the manner specified
in the directions, to furnish to
the Attorney-General or to a
person
designated in the directions as
a person authorised to require
it, an information in that
person’s possession
or control which the
Attorney-General or the person
so authorised, may require.
(2) A person required by those
directions to furnish
information shall also produce
the books,
accounts or any other documents
in that person’s possession or
control as are required by the
Attorney-General, or by the
person authorised to require the
information.
(3) The Attorney-General or the
other person to whom any of the
documents are produced may take
copies of those documents or a
part of those documents.
51. Saving for privileged
communications
Section 50 does not require a
person who has acted as counsel
or solicitor for any other
person to
disclose a privileged
communication made to that
person in that capacity.
52. Restrictions on use of
information obtained
Answers given in compliance with
directions under section 50 and
copies of documents taken under
that section, are not admissible
in evidence in legal proceedings
other than proceedings for an
offence
under Chapter 1 of Part Four of
the Criminal Offences Act, 1960
(Act 29) or under section 53 of
this Act
or proceedings for perjury
committed in the course of
proceedings for that offence.
53. Punishment for failure to
give information
A person who fails to comply
with a direction under section
50, whether in respect of the
furnishing of
information or the production of
documents, or who in furnishing
an information in compliance
with
directions under section 50
makes a statement which that
person knows to be false in a
material particular
or recklessly makes a statement
which is false in a material
particular commits a
misdemeanour.
Control of Attorney-General over
Criminal Proceedings
54. Nolle prosequi
(1) In a criminal case, and at
any stage of a criminal case
before verdict or judgment, and
in the case
of preliminary proceedings
before the District Court,
whether the accused has or has
not been committed
for trial, the Attorney-General
may enter a nolle prosequi, by
stating in Court or by informing
the Court
in writing that the Republic
does not intend to continue the
proceedings.
(2) Where the Attorney-General
enters a nolle prosequi under
subsection (1),
(a) the accused shall be
discharged immediately in
respect of the charge for which
the nolle
prosequi is entered, or
(b) the accused shall be
released where the accused has
been committed to prison, or
(c) the recognisances of the
accused shall be discharged
where the accused is on bail.
(3) The discharge of the accused
shall not operate as a bar to
subsequent proceedings against
the
accused in respect of the same
case.
(4) Where the accused is not
before the Court when the nolle
prosequi is entered, the
Registrar or
clerk of the Court shall ensure
that notice in writing of the
entry of the nolle prosequi is
given to the
keeper of the prison in which
the accused is detained and
where the accused has been
committed for trial,
to the District Court by which
the accused was committed.
(5) The District Court shall
cause a similar notice in
writing to be given to a witness
bound over to
prosecute and to the sureties,
and also to the accused and the
sureties of the accused where
the accused
has been admitted to bail.
55.
Attorney-General may delegate
certain powers as nolle prosequi
(1) The Attorney-General may
order in writing that the powers
expressly vested in the
Attorney-General by section 54
be vested for the time being in
a person appointed to sign
indictments or
to represent the Republic at
trials on indictment, and that
those powers may be exercised by
that person
accordingly.
(2)
The Attorney-General may in
writing revoke an order made
under subsection (1).
Appointment of Public
Prosecutors and Conduct of
Prosecutions
56.
Appointment and duties of public
prosecutors
(1) Subject to article 88 of the
Constitution, the
Attorney-General may, by
executive instrument
appoint generally, or for a
specified class of criminal
cause or matter, or for a
specified area, public
officers to be public
prosecutors, and may appoint a
legal practitioner in writing to
be a public prosecutor
in a particular criminal cause
or matter.
(2) A public prosecutor
appointed under subsection (1)
may appear and plead before a
Court or
Tribunal designated by the
Attorney-General in the
executive instrument or in
writing.
(3)
The Attorney-General may give
express directions in writing to
the public prosecutor.8(9)
57.
Public prosecutor to intervene
in private prosecutions
Repealed.9(10)
58.
Prosecutions on indictment
Proceedings shall not be
instituted for the trial of an
accused on indictment except by
or on behalf of
the Attorney-General.
59.
Withdrawal from prosecution and
preliminary investigations
(1) In any trial or preliminary
proceedings before a District
Court a prosecutor, with the
consent of the
Court, or on the instructions of
the Attorney-General at any time
before judgment is pronounced or
an
order of committal is made, may
withdraw from the prosecution of
a person generally or in respect
of any
one or more offences with which
that person is charged.
(2)
On the withdrawal under
subsection (1),
(a) if it is made in the course
of an enquiry under Part Four,
the accused shall be discharged
in
respect of the offence or
offences; or
(b) if it is made in the course
of a trial,
(i)
before the case of the
prosecution has been closed, the
accused shall be charged in
respect of the offence or
offences;
(ii) after the case for the
prosecution has been closed, the
accused shall be acquitted in
respect of the offence or
offences.
(3) Repealed.10(11)
(4) A discharge of an accused
under this section shall not
operate as a bar to subsequent
proceedings
against the accused on account
of the same facts.
(5) The provisions of the
preceding subsections shall
apply mutatis mutandis to
summary trials before
the High Court or a Circuit
Court.
Institution of Proceedings
60. Method of instituting
criminal proceedings
(1) Subject to article 88 of the
Constitution, criminal
proceedings may be instituted
before a District
Court,
(a) by making a complaint and
applying for the issue of a
warrant or a summons in the
manner
prescribed under section 61, or
(b) by bringing a person
arrested without a warrant
before the Court on a charge
contained in a
charge sheet specifying
(i) the name and occupation of
the person charged,
(ii) the charge against that
person, and
(iii) the time when and the
place where the offence is
alleged to have been committed.
(2) The charge sheet shall be
signed by the police officer or
public prosecutor in charge of
the case.
(3) The validity of the
proceedings instituted or
purporting to be instituted
under subsection (1) shall
not be affected by a defect in
the complaint or charge sheet or
by the fact that a summons or
warrant was
issued without a complaint or,
in a case of a warrant without a
complaint on oath.
(4) Omitted.11(12)
(5) Omitted.12(13)
61. Making a complaint
(1) A person who believes from a
reasonable and probable cause
that an offence has been
committed
by another person may make a
complaint of the offence to a
District Magistrate who has
jurisdiction to
try or enquire into the alleged
offence, or within the area of
whose jurisdiction the person
accused is
alleged to reside or is.
(2) A complaint shall be made
orally or in writing, but if
made orally shall be reduced
into writing by
the Magistrate and in either
case shall be signed by the
complainant and the Magistrate.
(3) On receiving a complaint the
Magistrate may refuse to issue
process, recording reasons for
the
refusal, or may issue a summons
or warrant, to compel the
attendance of the accused person
before the
District Court which the
Magistrate is empowered to hold,
or if the offence appears to be
one which the
Magistrate is not empowered to
try or enquire into, before any
other competent Court having
jurisdiction
in that area.
(4) A warrant shall not be
issued in the first instance
unless the complaint has been
made on oath by
the complainant or by a material
witness or witnesses.
Issue of Summons
62. Form and contents of summons
(1) A summons issued by a
District Court under this Act
shall be in writing, in
duplicate, signed by
the presiding officer of the
Court or by any other officer
directed by the Rules of Court
or the Chief
Justice.
(2) A summons shall be directed
to the person summoned and shall
require that person to appear at
the time or place appointed in
the summons before a District
Court having jurisdiction to
enquire into and
deal with the complaint or
charge.
(3) The summons shall state
shortly the offence with which
the person against whom it is
issued is
charged.
63. Service of summons
(1) A summons shall be served by
a police officer or by an
officer of the Court issuing it
or any other
public officer, and shall, if
practicable, be served
personally on the person
summoned by delivering or
tendering to that person one of
the duplicates of the summons.
(2) A person on whom a summons
is served shall, if so required
by the serving officer, sign a
receipt
of the summons on the back of
the other duplicate.
64. Service when person summoned
cannot be found
Where the person summoned
cannot, by the exercise of due
diligence be found, the summons
may be
served by leaving one of the
duplicates for the person
summoned with a person
apparently over the age of
eighteen at the usual or last
known place of abode or business
of that person.13(14)
65. Procedure when service
cannot be effected as before
provided
Where service in the manner
provided by sections 63 and 64
cannot, by the exercise of due
diligence
be effected, the serving officer
shall affix one of the
duplicates of the summons to a
conspicuous part of
the house or homestead in which
the person summoned ordinarily
resides, and the summons shall
be
considered to have been duly
served.
66. Service on civil servant
(1) Where the person summoned is
in the public service, the
District Court issuing the
summons shall
ordinarily send it in duplicate
to the head of the department in
which that person is employed,
and the
head of department shall on
receipt of the summons cause the
summons to be served in the
manner
provided by section 63 and shall
return it to the Court under
personal signature with the
endorsement
required by that section.
(2) The signature of the head of
department is evidence of the
service.
67. Service on company
(1) Service of a summons on a
body corporate may be effected
by serving it on the secretary,
local
manager, or principal officer of
the body corporate or by
registered letter addressed to
the chief officer of
the body corporate in the
Republic at its registered
office.
(2) Where service of summons is
by registered letter, service
shall be considered to have been
effected
when the letter arrives in the
ordinary course of post.
68. Service outside local limits
of jurisdiction
Where a District Court desires
that a summons issued by it
shall be served at any place
outside the area
of its jurisdiction, it shall
send the summons in duplicate to
a District Magistrate within the
area of whose
jurisdiction the person summoned
resides or is, to be served
there.
69. Proof of service
(1) Where the officer who served
a summons is not present at the
hearing of the case, and where a
summons issued by a District
Court has been served outside
the area of its jurisdiction,
(a) an affidavit purporting to
be made before a Magistrate that
the summons has been served,
and
(b) a duplicate of the summons
purporting to be endorsed in the
prescribed manner by the person
to whom it was delivered or
tendered or with whom it was
left,
is admissible in evidence, and
the statements made in the
summons shall be deemed to be
correct until the
contrary is proved.
(2) The affidavit mentioned in
this subsection (1) may be
attached to the duplicate of the
summons
and returned to the Court.
70. Dispensing with personal
attendance of accused
(1) Where a District Magistrate
issues a summons in respect of
an offence other than a felony,
the
Magistrate may, if necessary,
and shall when the offence with
which the accused is charged is
punishable
only by a fine or by
imprisonment not exceeding three
months, dispense with the
personal attendance of
the accused, where the accused
pleads guilty in writing or
appears by counsel.
(2) The Magistrate enquiring
into or trying a case may at a
subsequent stage of the
proceedings, direct
the personal attendance of the
accused, and, if necessary,
enforce the attendance in the
manner provided
for in this section.
(3) Where a Magistrate imposes a
fine on an accused person whose
personal attendance has been
dispensed with under this
section and the fine is not paid
within the time prescribed, the
Magistrate may
forthwith issue a summons
calling upon the accused to show
cause why the accused should not
be
committed to prison.
(4) Where the accused person
does not attend on the return of
the summons, the Magistrate may
forthwith issue a warrant and
commit the accused person to
prison for a term determined by
the
Magistrate.
(5) Where under this section the
attendance of an accused is
dispensed with, and previous
convictions
are alleged against the accused
and are not admitted in writing
or through the accused’s
counsel, the
Magistrate may adjourn the
proceedings and direct the
personal attendance of the
accused, and, if
necessary, enforce the
attendance in the prescribed
manner.
(6) Wherever the attendance of
an accused has been so dispensed
with and the accused’s
attendance is
subsequently required, the cost
of the adjournment shall be
borne by the accused.
Issue of Warrant of Arrest
71. Warrant when issued
(1) A warrant may be issued at
any time before or after the
time appointed in the summons
for the
appearance of the accused
although a summons may have been
issued.
(2) A warrant shall not be
issued under subsection (1)
unless a complaint or charge has
been made on
oath.
72. Summons disobeyed
(1) Where the accused does not
appear at the time and place
appointed in and by the summons,
and
the accused’s personal
attendance has not been
dispensed with under section 70,
the Court may issue a
warrant to arrest the accused
and cause the accused to be
brought before the Court.
(2) The warrant shall not be
issued unless a complaint or
charge has been made on oath.
73. Form, contents and duration
of warrant of arrest
(1) A warrant of arrest shall be
personally signed by the Judge
or Magistrate issuing it.
(2) A warrant of arrest shall
state shortly the offence with
which the person against whom it
is issued
is charged and shall name or
otherwise describe that person,
and it shall order the person to
whom it is
directed to arrest the person
against whom it is issued and
bring that person before a Court
issuing the
warrant or before any other
Court having jurisdiction in the
case, to answer to the charge
mentioned in the
warrant and to be dealt with
according to law.
(3) The warrant shall remain in
force until it is executed or
until it is cancelled by the
Court which
issued it.
74. Taking direct security
(1) A Court issuing a warrant
for the arrest of a person in
respect of an offence other than
murder or
treason, may by endorsement on
the warrant direct that the
person named in the warrant, on
arrest, be
released where that person
enters into a bond in the amount
specified, with or without
sureties, or the
appearance of that person before
the Court as the time stated in
the endorsement.
(2) The endorsement shall
specify
(a) the number of sureties,
(b) the amount in which they and
the person named in the warrant
are respectively to be bound,
(c) the Court before which the
person arrested is to attend,
and
(d) the time at which the person
is to attend, including an
undertaking to appear at the
subsequent times directed by the
Court.
(3) When an endorsement is made,
the officer in charge of a
police station to which on
arrest the
person named in the warrant is
brought shall release that
person where that person enters
into a bond with
or without sureties approved by
that officer, in accordance with
the endorsement, conditioned for
the
appearance of that person before
that Court, at the time and
place named in the bond.
(4) Where security is taken
under this section the officer
who takes the bond shall forward
it to the
Court before which the person
named in the warrant is bound to
appear.
75. Warrants to whom directed
(1) A warrant of arrest may be
directed
(a) to one or more police
officers,
(b) to one police officer and to
all other police officers of the
area within which the Court has
jurisdiction,
(c) generally to the police
officers of the area.
(2) A Court issuing a warrant
may if its immediate execution
is necessary and a police
officer is not
immediately available, direct it
to any other person and that
other person shall execute it.
(3) Where a warrant is directed
to more than one officer or
person, it may be executed by
all or by any
one or more of them.
76. Execution of warrant
directed to police officer
A warrant directed to a police
officer may be executed by any
other police officer whose name
is
endorsed on the warrant by the
officer to whom it is directed
or endorsed.
77. Appearance before the Court
without delay
Subject to section 74, the
police officer or person
executing a warrant of arrest
shall without
unnecessary delay bring the
person arrested before the Court
which the police officer or that
person is
required by the warrant or the
requirements of section 81 to
produce, and shall return the
warrant to the
Court with an endorsement on the
warrant showing the time and the
place of its execution.
78. Execution of warrant of
arrest
A warrant of arrest may be
executed at any place in the
Republic.
79. Forwarding of warrant for
execution outside jurisdiction
(1) Where a warrant of arrest is
to be executed outside the area
of the jurisdiction of the Court
issuing
it, the Court may, instead of
directing the warrant to a
police officer, forward it by
post or otherwise to a
District Magistrate within the
area of whose jurisdiction it is
to be executed.
(2) The Magistrate to whom the
warrant is forwarded shall
endorse the warrant with the
name of the
Magistrate, and if practicable,
cause it to be executed in the
prescribed manner within the
area of the
Magistrate’s jurisdiction.
80. Direction to police officer
for execution outside
jurisdiction
(1) Where a warrant of arrest
directed to a police officer is
to be executed outside the area
of the
jurisdiction of the Court
issuing it, the police officer
shall take it for endorsement to
a District Magistrate
within the area of whose
jurisdiction is to be executed.
(2) The Magistrate shall endorse
the warrant with the name of the
Magistrate and the endorsement
shall be sufficient authority to
the police officer to whom the
warrant is directed to execute
it within the
limits, and the local police
officers shall, if so required,
assist that officer in executing
the warrant.
(3) Where there is reason to
believe that the delay
occasioned by obtaining the
endorsement of the
Magistrate within the area of
whose jurisdiction the warrant
is to be executed will prevent
the execution,
the police officer to whom it is
directed may execute it without
the endorsement in a place
outside the
area of the jurisdiction of the
Court which issued it.
81. Procedure on arrest of
person outside jurisdiction
(1) Where a warrant of arrest is
executed outside the area of the
jurisdiction of the Court by
which it
was issued, the person arrested
shall, unless the Court which
issued the warrant is within
twenty miles of
the place of arrest, or is
nearer than the District
Magistrate within the area of
whose jurisdiction the arrest
was made, or unless security is
taken under section 74, be taken
before the District Magistrate
within the
area of whose jurisdiction the
arrest was made.
(2) The Magistrate shall, if the
person arrested appears to be
the person intended by the Court
which
issued the warrant, direct that
person’s removal in custody to
the Court.
(3) Where that person has been
arrested for an offence, other
than murder or treason, and is
ready and
willing to give bail to the
satisfaction of the Magistrate,
or if a direction has been
endorsed under section
74 on the warrant and that
person is ready and willing to
give the security required by
the direction, the
Magistrate shall take bail or
security, and shall forward the
bond to the Court which issued
the warrant.
(4) This section shall not
prevent a police officer from
taking security under section
74.
Miscellaneous Provisions
regarding Processes
82. Summons, warrants on Sunday
A Summons or warrant may be
issued and executed on any day
of the week.
83. Irregularities in processes
(1) An irregularity or a defect
in the substance or form of a
summons or warrant, and a
variance
(a) between a summons or warrant
and the written complaint, or
(b) between a summons or warrant
and the evidence adduced at an
enquiry or a trial on the part
of the prosecution against an
accused whose attendance has
been procured by the summons
or warrant,
shall not affect the validity of
the proceedings at or subsequent
to the hearing of the case.
(2) Where the Court considers
that the variance may have
deceived or misled the accused,
the Court
may, at the request of the
accused, adjourn the hearing of
the case to a future date and in
the meantime
remand the accused or admit the
accused to bail in the
prescribed manner.
(3) A warrant, summons or any
other process issued by a
Justice or Magistrate under this
Act or
otherwise shall not be
invalidated by reason of the
Justice or Magistrate who signed
it, dying or ceasing to
hold office or to have
jurisdiction.
84. Bond for appearance
(1) Where a person for whose
appearance or arrest the officer
presiding in a Court is
empowered to
issue a summons or warrant is
present in Court, the officer
presiding may require that
person to execute a
bond, with or without sureties,
for the appearance of that
person in the Court.
(2) When the bond is taken from
a person accused on complaint,
the taking of the bond is, for
the
purpose of this Act, the issue
of process against the person
accused on the complaint.
85. Arrest on breach of bond for
appearance
Where a person who is bound by a
bond taken under this Act to
appear before a Court does not
appear,
the Court may issue a warrant
directing that person to be
arrested and produced before it.
86. Appearance of prisoner to be
brought before the Court
(1) Where a person for whose
appearance or arrest a Court is
empowered to issue a summons or
warrant is confined in a prison
within the area of the
jurisdiction of the Court, the
Court may issue an
order to the officer in charge
of the prison requiring the
officer to bring the prisoner in
proper custody, at
the time named in the order,
before the Court.
(2) The officer, on receipt of
the order, shall act in
accordance with the order, and
shall provide for the
safe custody of the prisoner
during the prisoner’s absence
from the prison.
87. Application of Part to
summonses and warrants
The provisions in this Part
relating to a summons and
warrant, and their issue service
and execution,
shall apply to a summons and a
warrant of arrest issued under
this Act or any other enactment.
Search Warrants
88. Issue search warrant and
procedure
(1) Where a District Magistrate
is satisfied, by evidence on
oath, that there is reasonable
ground for
believing that there is in a
building, vessel, carriage, box,
receptacle, or place
(a) a thing on or in respect of
which an offence has been or is
suspected to have been
committed,
for which according to law, the
offender may be arrested without
warrant, or
(b) a thing which there is
reasonable ground for believing
will afford evidence as to the
commission of an offence, or
(c) a thing which there is
reasonable ground for believing
is intended to be used for the
purpose
of committing an offence against
the person for which, according
to law, the offender may
be arrested without warrant,
the Magistrate may at any time
personally issue a warrant
authorising a constable to
search the building,
vessel, carriage, box,
receptacle, or place for that
thing, and to seize and carry it
before the Magistrate
issuing the warrant or any other
Magistrate to be dealt with
according to law.
(2) Where the thing to be
searched for is gunpowder or any
other explosive or dangerous or
noxious
substance or thing, the person
making the search shall have the
powers and protection as are
given by law
to a person lawfully authorised
to search for that thing, and
the thing itself shall be
disposed of in the
manner as directed by law or, in
default of the direction, as
directed by the Superintendent
of Police.
89. Execution of search warrant
A search warrant may be issued
and executed on a Sunday and
shall be executed between the
hours of
6.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m., but the
Court may, by the warrant,
authorise the police officer or
other person to
whom it is addressed to execute
it at any hour.
90. Persons in charge of closed
place to allow ingress
(1) Where a building or any
other place liable to search is
closed, a person residing in or
being in
charge of the building or place
shall, on demand of the police
officer or other person
executing the search
warrant, allow the police
officer or that other person
free entry and afford reasonable
facilities for a search
within the building or place.
(2) Where entry into the
building or other place cannot
be obtained, the police officer
or other person
executing the search warrant may
proceed in the manner prescribed
by sections 4 and 5.
(3) Where a person in or about
the building or place is
reasonably suspected of
concealing about that
person’s body an article for
which search should be made,
that person may be searched.
(4) Where the person to be
searched is a woman, the
provisions of section 8 (3)
shall be observed.
91. Detention of articles seized
(1) Where an article is seized
under a search warrant and
brought before a Magistrate, the
Magistrate
may detain or cause it to be
detained, taking reasonable care
that it is preserved until the
conclusion of the
case.
(2) Where an appeal is made, the
Magistrate may order the further
detention of the article for the
purpose of or pending the
appeal.
(3) Where an appeal is not made,
the Magistrate shall, subject to
subsections (4) and (5), direct
the
article to be restored to the
person from whom it was taken,
unless the Magistrate is
authorised or
required by law to dispose of it
otherwise.
(4) Where under a warrant, there
is brought before a Magistrate a
forged bank note, bank note
paper,
instrument or a thing the
possession of which, in the
absence of lawful excuse, is an
offence according to
law, the Magistrate may direct
it to be detained for production
in evidence or to be otherwise
dealt with as
the case may require.
(5) Where under a warrant, there
is brought before a Magistrate a
counterfeit coin or other thing,
the
possession of which, with
knowledge of its nature and
without lawful excuse, is an
offence according to
law, it shall be delivered up to
the Superintendent of Police, or
to any other person authorised
by the
Superintendent to receive it, as
soon as it has been produced in
evidence, or as soon as it
appears that it
will not be required to be so
produced.
92. Provisions applicable to
search warrants
Sections 73 (1) and (3), 75, 76,
78, 79, 80 and 83 shall apply to
search warrants issued under
section
88.
93. Search without a warrant in
certain cases
(1) Where a police officer has
reasonable cause to believe that
an article
(a) which has been stolen or
unlawfully obtained,
(b) in respect of which a
criminal offence has been, is
being or is about to be
committed,
is being conveyed, is concealed,
or being carried on a person in
a public place, or is concealed
or
contained in a package in a
public place for the purpose of
being conveyed, the police
officer may, where
the exigencies of the case so
require, without a warrant or
written authority arrest, seize
and search that
person, package or article.
(2) A police officer who arrests
a person, conducts a search or
seizure, may take possession of
and
detain an article together with
the package containing it, any
may also arrest a person
conveying,
concealing or carrying the
article.
94. Search of premises without
warrant
(1) A police officer not below
the rank of Assistant
Superintendent of Police, or who
being below the
rank is authorised in writing so
to do by a police officer not
below the rank, may enter a
house, shop,
warehouse, yard, ship, boat,
vessel, beach or any other
premises which the police
officer has reasonable
cause to believe contains
property which has been stolen
or dishonestly received.
(2) The police officer may
search for, seize, and secure,
the property which the police
officer has
reasonable cause to believe has
been stolen, or dishonestly
received as if the police
officer had a search
warrant and the property seized
corresponded to the property
described in the search warrant.
(3) Authorisations, searches,
and seizures, given or made
under this section shall not be
confined to a
particular property, but may be
general.
95. Saving with respect to
certain postal matter
Sections 88 and 93 shall not
apply to the case of postal
matter in transit by post,
except where the
postal matter has been, or is
suspected of having been,
dishonestly appropriated during
the transit.
Bail and Recognisances Generally
96. Granting of bail
(1) Subject to this section, a
Court may grant bail to a person
who appears or is brought before
it on a
process or after being arrested
without warrant, and who
(a) is prepared at any time or
at any stage of the proceedings
or after conviction pending an
appeal to give bail, and
(b) enters into a bond in the
prescribed manner with or
without sureties, conditioned
for that
person’s appearance before that
Court or any other Court at the
time and place mentioned in
the bond.
(2) Despite anything in
subsection (1) or in section 15,
but subject to this section, the
High Court or a
Circuit Court may direct that a
person be admitted to bail or
that the bail required by a
District Court or
police officer be reduced,
although subsection (1) or
section 15 provides otherwise.
(3) The amount and conditions of
bail shall be fixed with due
regard to the circumstances of
the case
and shall not be excessive or
harsh.
(4) A Court shall not withhold
or withdraw bail merely as a
punishment.
(5) A Court shall refuse to
grant bail if it is satisfied
that the defendant
(a) may not appear to stand
trial, or
(b) may interfere with a witness
or the evidence, or in any way
hamper police investigations, or
(c) may commit a further offence
when on bail, or
(d) is charged with an offence
punishable by imprisonment
exceeding six months which is
alleged to have been committed
while the defendant was on bail.
(6) In considering whether it is
likely that the defendant may
not appear to stand trial the
Court shall
take into account
(a) the nature of the
accusation,
(b) the nature of the evidence
in support of the accusation,
(c) the severity of the
punishment which conviction will
entail,
(d) whether the defendant,
having been released on bail on
a previous occasion, has
wilfully
failed to comply with the
conditions of the recognisance
entered into by the defendant on
that occasion,
(e) whether or not the defendant
has a fixed place of abode in
the Republic, and is gainfully
employed,
(f) whether the sureties are
independent, of good character
and of sufficient means.
(7) A Court shall refuse to
grant bail
(a) in a case of acts of
terrorism, treason, subversion,
murder, robbery, offences listed
in Parts I
and II of the Narcotic Drugs
(Control, Enforcement and
Sanctions) Law, 1990 (P.N.D.C.L.
236), hijacking, piracy, rape,
defilement or escape from lawful
custody, or13a(15)
(b) where a person is being held
for extradition to a foreign
country.14(16)
97. General provisions as to
recognisances
(1) Where in respect of a bond,
the amount has been fixed in
which the sureties are to be
bound, the
bond need not be entered into
before the Court, but may,
subject to the Rules made in
pursuance of this
Act be entered into
(a) by the parties before any
other Court or before a clerk of
a Court; or
(b) before a Sub-Inspector of
Police or other officer of
police of equal or superior rank
or in
charge of a police station; or
(c) before the Superintendent or
other keeper of the prison where
any of the parties is in prison,
and the consequences of the law
shall ensue and the provisions
of this Act with respect to
bonds taken
before a Court shall apply as if
the bond had been entered into
before a Court.
(2) Where a person is required,
as a condition of the release,
to enter into a bond with
sureties, the
bond of the sureties may be
taken separately and before or
after the bonds of the
principal, and if so taken
the bonds of the principal and
sureties are as binding as if
they had been taken together and
at the same
time.
(3) Without limiting the power
of the Court to vary an order at
a subsequent hearing, a bond for
the
appearance of a person before
the Court may be conditioned for
that person’s appearance at
every time
and place to which, during the
course of the proceedings the
hearing may be adjourned.
98. Discharge from custody
(1) Where the execution of a
bond is a condition of the
release of a person, that person
shall be
released as soon as the bond has
been executed and if that person
is in prison or police custody,
the Court
shall issue an order of release
to the officer in charge of the
prison or any other place of
detention and the
officer on receipt of the order
shall release that person.
(2) Subsection (1) or section 96
shall not require the release of
a person liable to be detained
for a
matter, other than that in
respect of which the bond was
executed.
99. Deposit instead of
recognisance
(1) Where a person is required
by a Court or an officer to
execute a bond, with or without
sureties, the
Court or officer may, except in
the case of a bond for good
behaviour, permit that person to
deposit a sum
of money of an amount determined
by the Court or officer in lieu
of executing the bond, as
security for
the due performance of the
conditions imposed on that
person by the Court or officer
requiring the
execution of the bond.
(2) On a breach of a condition,
proceedings under section 104
may be taken for the forfeiture
of the
deposit in the same manner and
to the same extent as if a bond
for the amount of the deposit
had in fact
been executed.
100. Variation of a recognisance
(1) Where at any time after a
bond has been entered into it
appears to the Court that for a
reason the
sureties are unsuitable or that
having regard to the
circumstances of the case, the
amount of the bond is
insufficient, the Court may
issue a summons or warrant for
the appearance of the principal.
(2) On the principal coming
before the Court, the Court may
order the principal to execute a
fresh
bond in another amount or with
any other surety or sureties,
and on failing to do so may
commit the
principal to prison for a term
not exceeding the maximum term
for which the principal could
have been
committed to prison had the
principal failed to produce a
surety in the first instance.
101. Discharge of sureties
(1) A surety for the appearance
or behaviour of a person may at
any time apply to a District
Magistrate to discharge the bond
wholly or so far as it relates
to the applicant.
(2) On the application being
made the Magistrate shall issue
the warrant of arrest directing
that the
person so released be brought
before the Magistrate.
(3) On the appearance of the
person pursuant to the warrant,
or on that person’s voluntary
surrender,
the Magistrate shall direct the
bond to be discharged wholly or
so far as it relates to the
applicant, and
shall call on that person to
find other sufficient sureties,
and on failing to do so that
person may be
committed to prison.
102. Recognisances in respect of
juveniles
Where the person in respect of
whom a Court makes an order
requiring that a bond be entered
into is a
juvenile, the Court shall not
require the juvenile to execute
the bond, but shall require a
relative, guardian
or any other fit person with or
without sureties to execute a
bond on condition that the
juvenile shall do
what is required under the
Court’s order.15(17)
103. Persons bound by
recognisance absconding may be
committed
Where it appears to a Court, on
information on oath, that a
person bound by bond to appear
before a
Court or police officer is about
to leave the Republic, the Court
may cause that person to be
arrested and
may commit that person to prison
until the trial, unless the
Court admits that person to bail
on further
recognisance
104. Forfeiture of recognisance
(1) Where it is proved to the
satisfaction of a Court by which
a recognisance under this Act
has been
taken, or when the recognisance
is for appearance before a
Court, to the satisfaction of
that Court, that the
recognisance has been forfeited,
the Court shall record the
grounds of proof, and may call
on a person
bound by the recognisance to pay
the penalty or the forfeiture,
or to show cause why it should
not be
paid.
(2) Where sufficient cause is
not shown and the penalty is not
paid, the Court may proceed to
recover
it by forfeiting the sum of
money deposited in pursuance of
section 99 or by issuing a
warrant for the
attachment and sale of the
movable property belonging to
that person or the estate of
that person if
deceased.
(3) The warrant may be executed
within the area of the
jurisdiction of the Court which
issued it; and it
shall authorise the attachment
and sale of movable property,
belonging to that person, when
endorsed by a
Magistrate within whose area of
jurisdiction the property is
found.
(4) Where the penalty is not
paid and cannot be recovered by
attachment and sale, the person
so
bound is liable, by order of the
Court which issued the warrant,
to imprisonment without hard
labour for a
term not exceeding six months.
(5) Repealed.16(18)
(6) Where a surety to a
recognisance dies before the
recognisance is forfeited, the
estate of the surety
shall be discharged from the
liability in respect of the
recognisance.
(7) Where a person who has
furnished security is convicted
of an offence the commission of
which
constitutes a breach of the
conditions of that person’s
recognisance, a certified copy
of the judgment of
the Court by which that person
was convicted may be used as
evidence in proceedings under
this section
against the surety of that
person and, if the certified
copy is so used, the Court shall
presume that the
offence was committed by that
person unless the contrary is
proved.
105. Appeal from and review of
orders
The orders passed under section
104 by a Magistrate may be
appealed against and may be
reviewed by
the High Court.
106. Order of fresh security
upon original order
Where a surety to a recognisance
becomes insolvent or dies or
when a recognisance is forfeited
under
section 104, the Court may order
the person from whom the
recognisance was demanded to
furnish fresh
security in accordance with the
directions of the original
order, and, if the security is
not furnished, the
Court may proceed as if there
had been default in complying
with the original order.
107. Levy of amount due on
certain recognisances
The High Court or a Circuit
Court may direct a District
Magistrate to levy the amount
due on a
recognisance to appear and
attend at that Court.
108. Photographs and
fingerprints
(1) Where a person is prosecuted
and charged before a Court with
an offence which amounts to a
felony, or involves fraud or
dishonesty, then whether the
offence is triable summarily or
on indictment, or
whether that person has or has
not been admitted to bail, a
competent police authority of
the locality may
cause to be taken for use and
record in the Police Service the
photographs, descriptions,
measurements,
thumbprints and fingerprints of
the person as that competent
police authority thinks fit.
(2) Where that person is not
convicted as a result of or in
connection with that
prosecution, the
photographs and the records of
that person’s thumbprints and
fingerprints shall be destroyed.
(3) A competent police authority
is hereby authorised and
empowered to take the necessary
action and
to do the things that the proper
and efficient execution of this
section may reasonably require.
Joinder of Charges and Accused
109. Joinder of charges
(1) For each distinct offence of
which a person is accused there
shall, subject to subsection
(2), be a
separate charge or count.
(2) Charges or counts for
offences may be joined in the
same complaint, charge sheet, or
indictment
and tried at the same time if
the charges or counts are
founded on the same facts, or
form or are a part of a
series of offences of the same
or a similar character.
110. Joinder of accused
(1) The following persons may be
charged and tried together,
namely,
(a) persons accused of the same
offence committed in the course
of the same transaction;
(b) persons accused of an
offence and persons accused of
abetment, or of an attempt to
commit
the offence;
(c) persons accused of different
offences where the offences are
founded on the same facts, or
form or are part of a series of
offences of the same or a
similar character;
(d) persons accused of different
offences committed in the course
of the same transaction.
(2) A trial shall not be
invalidated by reason only that
two or more persons have wrongly
been tried
together on one complaint,
charge sheet or indictment
unless objection is made by any
of the accused at
the time or before the accused
was called upon to plead.
111. Separate trials
Without prejudice to sections
109 and 110, where before a
trial or at any stage of a
trial, the Court is of
opinion that the person accused
may be prejudiced or embarrassed
in that person’s defence by
reason of
being charged with more than one
offence in the same complaint,
charge sheet, or indictment, the
Court
may order a separate trial of
any count or counts of the
complaint, charge sheet, or
indictment.
112. Statement of charges in
necessary documents
(1) Subject to the special rules
as to indictments mentioned in
this section, a charge,
complaint,
summons, warrant, or any other
document laid, issued or made
for the purpose of or in
connection with
proceedings before a Court for
an offence shall be sufficient
if it contains a statement of
the offence with
which the accused person is
charged together with the
particulars necessary for giving
reasonable
information as to the nature of
the charge and although there
may be a rule of law to the
contrary it shall
not be necessary for it to
contain any further particulars
other than necessary
particulars.
(2) The statement of offence
shall describe the offence
shortly in ordinary language,
avoiding as far as
possible the use of technical
terms, and without necessarily
stating all of the essential
elements of the
offence and where the offence is
one created by an enactment may
contain a reference to the
enactment.
(3) Where an enactment applies
to an act committed before its
commencement a charge under the
enactment in respect of that act
shall contain a reference to the
section of the enactment under
which the
accused is charged, although the
enactment was not in force at
the time when that act is
alleged to have
been committed.
(4) After the statement of the
offence, necessary particulars
of the offence shall be set out
in ordinary
language, in which the use of
technical terms is not required.
(5) The following rules are
applicable in cases in which it
may be necessary to refer to the
ownership
or description of property in a
complaint, summons, warrant,
charge sheet, or as indictment:
(a) if the property belonged to
or was in the possession of more
than one person, whether as
partners in trade or otherwise,
it may be laid in the name of
one of these persons and any
other or others. This rules
applies to bodies corporate,
clubs, societies, joint tenants,
tenants
in common, partners and
trustees;
(b) property of a body
corporate, club, or society
having a recognised manager or
agent in the
Republic or a recognised
secretary, may be laid as the
property of the secretary,
manager, or
agent, and others, without
naming the secretary, manager or
agent;
(c) property belonging to or
provided for the use of a public
establishment, service or
department, may be laid as the
property of the Republic;
(d) coins and bank or currency
notes may be described as money,
and an averment as to money,
so far as regards the
description of the property,
shall be sustained by proof of
the amount of
coin or of the bank or currency
note, although the particular
species of coin of which the
amount was composed or the
particular nature of the bank or
currency note shall not be
provided;
(e) property in a monument,
memorial, tree, shrub or any
other thing in a cemetery or
burial
place, or of a thing buried in a
grave may be laid in the
Republic;
(f) property in respect of a
postal matter, or of a chattel,
money or valuable security sent
by
post, or of a public telegraph
line or works may be laid in the
Republic.
Previous Acquittal or Conviction
113. Retrial
In accordance with clause (7) of
article 19 of the Constitution,
a person who has been once tried
by a
court of competent jurisdiction
for an offence, and convicted or
acquitted of the offence, shall
not be tried
again on the same facts for the
same offence or any other
offence of which that person
could have
lawfully been convicted at the
first trial unless a retrial is
ordered by a Court having power
to do so.
114. Retrial on separate charge
Omitted.17(19)
115. Consequences supervening or
not known at time of former
trial
A person convicted or acquitted
of an act causing consequences
which together with the act
constitute
a different offence from that
for which that person was
convicted or acquitted, may be
afterwards be tried
for that last-mentioned offence,
if the consequences had not
happened at the time when that
person was
acquitted or convicted.
116. Original Court not
competent to try subsequent
charge
A person convicted or acquitted
of an offence may be
subsequently charged with and
tried for any
other offence constituted by the
same acts which that person may
have committed, if the Court by
which
that person was first tried was
not competent to try the offence
subsequently charged.
117. Proof of previous
conviction or acquittal
(1) In an enquiry, trial or
other proceedings under this
Act, a previous conviction or
acquittal may be
proved, in addition to any other
mode provided by any other
enactment
(a) by an extract certified, and
personally signed by the officer
having the custody of the
records
of the Court in which the
conviction or acquittal was
recorded, to be a copy of the
sentence
or order or acquittal; or
(b) by a certificate signed by
the officer in charge of the
prison in which the punishment
or a
part of the punishment was
inflicted, or by the production
of the warrant of commitment
under which the punishment was
suffered,
together with, in each case,
evidence as to the identity of
the accused with the person so
convicted or
acquitted.
(2) A certificate in the form
prescribed by the Minister
responsible for the Police
signed personally by
an officer appointed by the
Minister in that behalf, who has
compared the fingerprints of an
accused
person with the fingerprints of
a person previously convicted is
prima facie evidence of the
facts set forth
in the certificate where it is
produced by the person who took
the fingerprints of the accused.
(3) A previous conviction in a
place outside the Republic may
be proved by
(a) the production of a
certificate purporting to be
signed personally by a police
officer in the
country where the conviction
occurred, containing a copy of
the sentence or order;
(b) the fingerprints or
photographs of the fingerprints
of the person convicted together
with
evidence that the fingerprints
of the person convicted are
those of the accused person; or
(c) a certificate personally
signed by the officer appointed
by the Minister under subsection
(2)
that the officer has compared
the fingerprints or photographs
of the person previously
convicted with the fingerprints
of the accused person and that
they are those of one and the
same person.
(4) A certificate issued in
accordance with subsection (3)
is prima facie evidence of the
facts specified
in the certificate without proof
that the officer purporting to
sign it did in fact sign it and
was empowered
to do so.
Offences by Aliens within
Territorial Waters
118. Trial of aliens for
offences committed in
territorial waters
Proceedings for the trial of a
person, who is not a citizen for
a felony or a misdemeanour
committed
within the territorial waters of
the Republic shall be instituted
in accordance with article 88 of
the
Constitution.18(20)
Examination of Witnesses
119. Power to call and recall
witnesses
Repealed.19(21)
120. Evidence to be given on
oath
Repealed.20(22)
121. Certain scientific reports
to be evidence in Courts
(1) A document purporting to be
an original report signed by a
Government medical practitioner,
analyst, chemical examiner or
geologist, or of an assayer or a
mineralogist recognised by a
Minister for
the purposes of this section by
notification published in the
Gazette, on a substance or thing
submitted for
examination or analysis and
report, may, if it is directed
to the Court or is produced by a
police officer to
whom it is directed or any other
person acting on behalf of the
police officer, be used as
evidence of the
facts stated in that document in
an enquiry, a trial, or any
other proceedings under this
Act.
(2) A document purporting to be
an original report signed by a
qualified medical practitioner
relating
to the nature or extent of the
injuries of a person certified
to have been examined by the
practitioner may,
if it is directed to the Court
or is produced by a police
officer to whom it is addressed
or by a person
acting on behalf of the police
officer be admitted as evidence
of the facts stated in that
report in a trial
before a District Court.
(3) A document purporting to be
an original report signed by a
person gazetted as holding the
office
of the chief transport officer
or as an engineer transport
officer relating to the
condition of a motor vehicle
or trailer, may, if it is
directed to the Court or
produced by a police officer to
whom it is addressed or by a
person acting on behalf of the
police officer be admitted as
evidence of the facts stated in
that report in a
trial before a District Court.
(4) For the purposes of
subsection (3), “motor vehicle”
and “trailer” have the meanings
respectively
assigned to them under the Road
Traffic Ordinance.21(23)
(5) The Court may presume that
the signature to the document is
genuine, and that the person
signing
it held the office the person
professed to hold or was
recognised as an assayer or
mineralogist at the time
when that person signed the
document.
(6) On receiving the report in
evidence the Court shall, in the
interests of justice, summon and
examine the medical
practitioner, analyst, chemical
examiner, geologist, assayer or
mineralogist, or a
person gazetted in accordance
with subsection (3), as a
witness or cause evidence to be
taken on
commission under this Act as the
case may require.
122. Documents or copies to be
evidence
(1) Subject to this section
where, at the trial of a person,
it is necessary or desirable to
produce an
official document issued by an
authority or officer of the
Armed Forces,
(a) a document purporting to be
an original document signed by
an officer of the Armed Forces,
and certified by the officer
having the custody of the
document as being produced from
the
officer’s custody, or
(b) a copy of a document or of
an entry in a document which is
certified and personally signed
by the officer having the
custody of the original document
to be a true copy of the
original
document or entry,
may be admitted in evidence
without the officer who signed
or certified the document or
copy or who has
the custody of the original
being called to attend to give
evidence on oath, if the
document or copy has
been directed to the Court by
the appropriate military
authority, or is produced to the
Court by the
prosecutor or by a police
officer.
(2) Where, at a trial, it is
intended to put in evidence a
document or copy as provided in
subsection
(1), the prosecution, at least
two days before the accused is
brought before the Court, shall
serve written
notice of the intention on the
accused together with a copy of
the relevant entry in, or part
of, the
document.
(3) The Court, for the purposes
of this section may presume that
the signature of a military
authority
or officer is genuine, and that
the person signing or certifying
had the requisite authority.
(4) This section shall not
prevent the Court, in the
interests of justice, from
summoning or examining
as a witness at any stage of the
proceedings, the authority or
officer concerned, or from
causing that
witness’ evidence to be taken on
commission under this Act.
123. Evidence of wife or husband
of accused
Repealed.22(24)
Commissions for the Examination
of Witnesses
124. Issue of commission for
examination of witness
(1) Where the High Court or a
Circuit Court is satisfied
(a) that examination of a
witness is necessary for the
ends of justice, and
(b) that the attendance of that
witness cannot be procured
without the delay, expense or
inconvenience which, in the
circumstances of the case, would
be unreasonable,
the Court may dispense with the
attendance and issue a
commission to a District
Magistrate, within the
area of whose jurisdiction the
witness resides, to take the
evidence of the witness.
(2) The Magistrate to whom the
commission is issued shall
proceed to the place where the
witness is
or shall summon the witness and
after the Magistrate is
satisfied that sufficient notice
has been given to
the parties to the proceedings,
the Magistrate shall take down
the evidence of the witness in
the same
manner, and may for this purpose
exercise the same powers, as in
the case of a trial.
125. Application for issue of
commission
Where in the course of an
enquiry, a trial, or any other
proceedings under this Act
before a District
Magistrate it appears
(a) that a commission ought to
be issued for the examination of
a witness whose evidence is
necessary for the ends of
justice, and
(b) that the attendance of that
witness cannot be procured
without the delay, expense, or
inconvenience which in the
circumstances of the case, would
be unreasonable,
the Magistrate shall apply to
the High Court or a Circuit
Court stating the reasons for
the application; and
the Court may issue a commission
in the prescribed manner
provided or reject the
application.
126. Parties may examine
witnesses
(1) The parties to proceedings
under this Act in which a
commission is issued may
respectively
forward the interrogatories in
writing which the Court
directing the commission may
think relevant to the
issue, and the District
Magistrate to whom the
commission is directed shall
examine the witness on those
interrogatories.
(2) A party to proceedings under
this Act may appear before the
Magistrate by counsel, or in
person,
and may examine, cross-examine,
and re-examine the witness.
(3) It is not necessary for the
deposition to be taken in the
presence of the accused if the
accused or
counsel of the accused had the
opportunity to cross-examine the
witness.
127. Return of commission
(1) After the commission issued
under section 124 or section 125
has been duly executed it shall
be
returned, together with the
deposition of the witness
examined to the Court which
issued it and the
commission, the return of the
commission, and the deposition
shall be open, during normal
working
hours, to inspection of the
parties, and may, subject to the
just exceptions, be read in
evidence in the case
by either party, and shall form
part of the record.
(2) A deposition so taken may
also be received in evidence at
any subsequent stage of the case
before
another Court.
128. Adjournment of enquiry or
trial
Where a commission is issued
under section 124 or 125 the
enquiry, trial, or other
proceeding may be
adjourned for a specified time
reasonably sufficient for the
execution and return of the
commission.
Evidence for Defence
129. Evidence of witnesses
(1) A person charged and called
as a witness under this Act
shall not be asked, and if asked
shall not
be required to answer, a
question tending to show that
the witness has committed, or
has been convicted
of, or has been charged with, an
offence other than that with
which the witness is then
charged, or that the
witness is of bad character,
unless,
(a) the proof of the witness
having committed or having been
convicted of the other offence
is
admissible evidence to prove the
offence then charged; or
(b) the witness has personally
or by counsel asked questions of
a witness for the prosecution
with a view to establishing the
witness’s own good character or
has given or called evidence
of the accused’s own good
character.
(2) Paragraph (b) of subsection
(1) does not authorise the
accused to be asked or to
require the
accused to answer a question
tending to show that the accused
has committed or has been
convicted of or
been charged with an offence
other than that with which the
accused is charged or an offence
involving
dishonesty or false statement.
(3) A person called as a witness
in pursuance of this Act shall,
unless otherwise ordered by the
Court,
give evidence from the witness
box or any other place from
which the other witnesses give
their evidence.
130. Evidence of person charged
Repealed.23(25)
131. Alibi
(1) Where an accused intends to
put forward as a defence a plea
of alibi, the accused shall give
notice
of the alibi, to the prosecutor
or counsel with particulars as
to the time and place and of the
witnesses by
whom it is proposed to prove,
(a) prior, in the case of a
summary trial, to the
examination of the first witness
for the
prosecution, and
(b) prior, in the case of trial
on indictment, to the sitting of
the trial Court on the date to
which
the case of trial has been
committed for trial.
(2) Where the notice is given
the Court may, on the
application of the prosecution,
grant a reasonable
adjournment.
(3) Where the accused puts
forward a defence of alibi
without having given notice, the
Court shall call
on the accused to give notice to
the prosecution of the
particulars mentioned in
subsection (1) forthwith or
within the time allowed by the
Court and after the notice has
been given shall, if the
prosecution so
desires, adjourn the case.
(4) Where the accused refuses to
furnish the particulars as
required the case shall proceed
but
evidence in support of a plea of
alibi is not admissible in
evidence.
132. Right of reply
(1) Where the right of reply
depends on the question whether
evidence has been called for the
defence, the calling of the
accused as a witness shall not
of itself confer on the
prosecution the right of
reply.
(2) Any of the following
officers when appearing
personally as counsel for the
prosecution shall, have
the right of reply, namely,
(a) the Attorney-General, the
Deputy Attorney-General, the
Solicitor-General, the Director
of
Public Prosecutions or the
Director of Legislative
Drafting;
(b) a Chief State Attorney,
Principal State Attorney, Senior
State Attorney or State
Attorney;
(c) a Police Officer who is not
less than three years standing
as a lawyer.
Lunacy of Accused and Defence of
Lunacy
133. Enquiry as to lunacy of
accused
(1) Where in the course of a
trial or preliminary proceedings
the Court has reason to believe
that the
accused is of unsound mind and
consequently incapable of making
a defence, it shall enquire into
the fact
of the unsoundness by causing
the accused to be medically
examined and shall after the
examination take
medical and any other available
evidence regarding the state of
the accused’s mind.
(2) Where the Court is satisfied
from evidence on oath that there
is a prima facie case against
the
accused, but is of opinion that
the accused is of unsound mind
and consequently incapable of
making a
defence, it shall record a
finding to that effect and
postpone further proceedings in
the case.
(3) Where the case is one in
which bail may be taken, the
Court may release the accused on
sufficient
security being given that the
accused shall be properly taken
care of and shall be prevented
from causing
personal injury or injury to any
other person, and for the
accused’s appearance at a stated
time, or when
required, before the Court or an
officer appointed in that behalf
by the Court.
(4) Where the case is one in
which bail may not be taken, or
if sufficient security is not
given, the
Court
(a) shall order the accused to
be detained in safe custody in a
place and manner it may
determine, and
(b) shall transmit the Court
record or a certified copy of
the record to the Minister
through the
Judicial Secretary.
(5) On consideration of the
record the Minister may by
warrant signed personally by the
Minister
directed to the Court order the
accused to be confined as a
criminal lunatic in a lunatic
asylum or other
suitable place of custody and
the Court shall give the
directions necessary to carry
out the order.
(6) A warrant of the Minister
under subsection (5) is
sufficient authority for the
detention of the
accused until the Minister makes
a further order in the matter or
until the Court finding the
accused
incapable of making a defence
orders the accused to be brought
before it again in the manner
prescribed
under sections 134 and 135.
134. Procedure when certified as
capable of making a defence
(1) Where an accused confined in
a lunatic asylum or other place
of custody under section 133 is
found by the medical officer in
charge of the asylum or place to
be capable of making a defence,
the
medical officer shall forthwith
forward a certificate to that
effect to the Attorney-General.
(2) The certificate shall state
whether, in the opinion of the
medical officer, the accused
person is fit to
be unconditionally discharged.
(3) The Attorney-General shall
on receipt of the certificate
inform the Court which recorded
the
finding against the accused
under section 133 whether it is
the intention of the Republic
that the
proceedings against the accused
shall continue or otherwise.
(4) In the former case the Court
shall order the removal of the
accused from the place of
detention and
shall cause the accused to be
brought in custody before it in
the manner described by section
135.
(5) Where the Attorney-General
informs the Court that the
Republic does not intend to
continue the
proceedings,
(a) if the medical officer has
certified that the accused is
fit to be unconditionally
discharged, the
Court shall forthwith make an
order for the accused’s release;
and
(b) in any other case, the Court
shall make a note on the record
to that effect, and the accused
may be dealt with in like manner
as a criminal lunatic under
subsections (3) to (5) of
section
137.
135. Resumption of proceedings
(1) After a postponement under
section 133, the Court may at
any time, subject to section
134, resume
the preliminary proceedings or
trial and require the accused to
appear or be brought before the
Court, and
if the Court considers the
accused capable of making a
defence, the preliminary
proceedings or trial shall
proceed, or begin de novo, as
the Court considers proper.
(2) A certificate given to the
Attorney-General under section
134 may be given in evidence in
proceedings under this section
without further proof unless it
is proved that the medical
officer purporting
to sign it did not in fact sign
it.
(3) Where the Court considers
the accused as still incapable
of making a defence it shall act
as if the
accused were brought before it
for the first time.
136. Defence of lunacy at
preliminary proceedings
Where the accused appears to be
of sound mind at the time of the
preliminary proceedings the
Court,
although that it is alleged that
at the time when the act was
committed, in respect of which
the accused
person is charged, the accused
was by reason of unsoundness of
mind incapable of knowing the
nature of
the act or that it was wrong or
contrary to law, shall proceed
with the case, and, if the
accused ought to be
committed for trial on
indictment the Court shall
commit the accused.
137. Defence of lunacy on trial
on indictment
(1) Where a person is charged
with an offence and evidence at
the trial shows that person as
being so
insane as not to be responsible
according to section 27 or 28 of
the Criminal Offences Act, 1960
(Act 29)
for that person’s action, then,
if it appears to the Court or in
the case of a trial by jury if
it appears to the
jury that, that person did the
act charged but was insane at
the time when the act was
committed, the
Court or jury shall return a
special verdict to the effect
that the accused is guilty of
the offence charged
but was insane when it was
done.24(26)
(2) Where the special verdict is
found the Court shall forward
the court record or a certified
copy of
the court record to the Minister
and shall order the accused to
be kept in custody as a criminal
lunatic, in a
place, and in a manner directed
by the Court till the
President’s pleasure is known.
(3) The Minister may
(a) signify the President’s
pleasure by warrant signed
personally by the Minister,
(b) from time to time give an
order for the safe custody of
the accused as a criminal
lunatic
during pleasure in a place of
detention, prison or any other
suitable place of custody and in
a
manner the Minister considers
fit.
(4) The Minister may by warrant
signed personally by the
Minister, at any time discharge
a criminal
lunatic from custody.
(5) A discharge under subsection
(4) may be absolute or subject
to the conditions the Minister
imposes.
(6) Where a criminal lunatic is
conditionally discharged under
this section, reports on the
criminal
lunatic shall be made to the
Minister at the times, and by
the persons, and containing the
particulars
specified in the warrant of
discharge.
(7) The Minister may at any time
revoke a conditional discharge
if it appears to the Minister
that any
of the conditions imposed has
been contravened or not complied
with, or for any other cause
which the
Minister considers sufficient,
and the Minister may by warrant
direct that the criminal lunatic
be again
kept in custody during pleasure
and be detained in a place and
in a manner the Minister
considers
appropriate.
138. Procedure when accused does
not understand proceedings
(1) Where the accused, though
not insane, cannot be made to
understand the proceedings, the
Court
may proceed with the preliminary
proceedings or trial.
(2) In the case of a Court other
than the High Court, if the
investigation results in a
committal for trial,
or if the trial results, in a
conviction, the proceedings
shall be forwarded to the High
Court with a report
of the circumstances, and the
High Court shall make an
appropriate order.
Costs and Compensation
139. Costs against accused and
against private prosecutor
Repealed.25(27)
140. Order to pay costs
appealable
Repealed.26(28)
141. Compensation in case of
frivolous or vexatious charge
(1) Where on the discharge or
acquittal of an accused the
Court is of opinion that the
charge was
frivolous or vexatious, the
Court may order the complainant
to pay to the accused a
reasonable sum of
money not exceeding an amount of
money equivalent to five penalty
units as compensation for the
trouble and expense to which the
accused person may have been put
by reason of the charge.27(29)
(2) This section does not apply
to a police officer acting bona
fide in the course of official
duties.
(3) A person who has been
directed to pay compensation
under this section shall not by
reason of the
order, be exempted from civil or
criminal liability in respect of
the complaint made by that
person.
(4) An amount paid to an accused
under this section shall be
taken into account in awarding
compensation to the accused in a
subsequent civil suit relating
to the same matter.
(5) A complainant who has been
ordered under subsection (1) to
pay compensation may appeal from
the order, where the order
relates to the payment of the
compensation, as if it were an
appeal against a
conviction.
(6) When an order for payment of
compensation is made in a case
which is subject to appeal under
subsection (5), the compensation
shall not be paid to the accused
before the period allowed for
the
presentation of the appeal has
elapsed, or if an appeal is
presented, before the appeal has
been decided
and, where the order is made in
a case which is not so subject
to appeal, the compensation
shall not be
paid before the expiration of
the month from the date of the
order.
142. Recovery of costs and
compensation
The sum of money allowed for
compensation shall be specified
in the conviction or order, and
is
recoverable in like manner as a
penalty may be recovered under
this Act, and in default of
payment of
compensation or of distress, the
person in default is liable to
imprisonment with or without
hard labour
for term not exceeding three
months unless the compensation
is sooner paid.28(30)
143. Award of expenses or
compensation out of fine
Repealed.29(31)
Disposal and Restitution of
Articles and Property
144. Order for destruction of
articles
(1) Although there may be a
provision to the contrary in
this Act or in any other
enactment, when a
person is convicted of an
offence the Court may make the
orders that it considers fit for
the destruction or
for the forfeiture and disposal
of an article produced before it
regarding which an offence
appears to have
been committed, or which has
been used for the commission of
an offence.
(2) When an order is made under
subsection (1), where an appeal
lies, the order shall not,
except
when the article is live-stock
or is subject to speedy and
natural decay, be carried out
until the period
allowed for presenting an appeal
has passed or, when an appeal is
presented within that period,
until the
appeal has been disposed of.
(3) In this section, “article”
includes, in the case of an
article regarding which an
offence appears to
have been committed, the
original article and any other
article or property into or for
which, it may have
been converted or exchanged and
anything acquired by the
conversion or exchange whether
immediately
or otherwise.
(4) Where the Court under this
section orders the forfeiture of
an article but does not give
directions
as to its disposal, the article
shall be disposed of in
accordance with the directions
of the Minister.
(5) An order shall not be made
under this section in respect of
an article unless the article is
owned by
the accused, or is in the
possession of the accused with
the consent of the owner in
circumstances which
show that the owner was aware
that an offence would be
committed in respect of that
article, or that it
would be used for the commission
of an offence.
(6) A person who claims to be
the owner of the article is
entitled to appear and be heard
before an
order is made under this
section.
(7) For the purposes of this
subsection (6), “owner” includes
a person with an interest in the
article.
145. Restitution of property
found on person arrested
Where, on the arrest of a person
charged with an offence,
property is taken from that
person, the Court
before which that person is
charged may order that the
property or a part of the
property be restored to the
person who appears to the Court
to be entitled to the property,
and, where that person is the
person
charged, that it be restored to
that person or to any other
person the Court may direct, or
that it be applied
to the payment of the
compensation directed to be paid
by the person charged.30(32)
146. Restitution of property
stolen
Where a person is convicted of
having stolen or having obtained
property fraudulently or by
false
pretences, the Court convicting
that person may order that the
property or a part of the
property be
restored to the person who
appears to the Court to be
entitled to it.
147. Restriction on disposal of
property of accused person
Where money or any other
property in respect of which a
person is charged before a Court
with an
offence involving dishonesty is
in the custody or possession of
a person other than the accused,
the trial
Court
(a) of its own motion or on the
application of the prosecutor or
the alleged victim of the
offence,
or
(b) any other Court on the
application of the prosecutor or
the alleged victim of the
offence,
may order that the person in
whose custody or possession the
money or property is shall not
part with or
dispose of the money or property
until directed by the
Court.31(33)
147A. Payments of money made by
accused persons
(1) Where a person convicted of
an offence involving dishonesty
has, since the commission of the
offence, made payments of money
or transferred property to any
other person, the payments or
transfers
shall be considered to have been
made out of the proceeds of the
offence, and accordingly the
Court may,
on the application of the
prosecutor or the victim of the
offence, order the person to
whom the payments
or transfers have been made to
return the money or property to
the person specified by the
Court unless it
is shown to the satisfaction of
the Court by the person in
respect of whom the order has
been made
(a) that valuable consideration
was given commensurate with
payments of money or transfers
of
property made to that person, or
(b) that that person is a
dependant of the person
convicted and that the payments
of money were
that person’s reasonable living
expenses made as dependant.
(2) An order under subsection
(1) is, for the purposes of this
Act, an exercise of the civil
jurisdiction
of the Court in an action
between the person in whose
favour the order has been made
as plaintiff and the
person against whom the order
has been made as defendant, and
is enforceable in the manner and
is
subject to an appeal as are
orders for the return of money.
(3) Although the value of the
money or property exceeds the
limits of the civil jurisdiction
of the
Court, the Court shall have
jurisdiction under this section.
147B. Order for recovery of
property or its value
(1) Where sentence is imposed
for an offence involving
dishonesty and property
including money is
not recovered, the Court, on
sentencing the offender, on its
own motion or on the application
of the
prosecutor or the victim of the
offence, may make an order for
the return by the offender to
the victim of
the property not recovered and
for payment, in default, of the
value of the property not
returned.
(1a) Where sentence is imposed
for an offence involving an act
of terrorism, the court on
sentencing
the offender, on its own motion
or on the application of the
prosecutor or the victim of the
offence may
make an order for the offender
to pay for the value of any
property damaged as a result of
the terrorist act
without limiting any civil
action the victim may
take.31a(34)
(2) An order under subsection
(1) is, for the purpose of this
Act, an exercise of the civil
jurisdiction of
the Court in an action between
the victim of the offence as
plaintiff and the offender as
defendant, and is
enforceable in the manner and is
subject to an appeal as are
orders for the return of
chattels or of money.
(3) Where there is a dispute as
to the value of the property the
issue shall be tried by the
Court as if it
were a civil action.
(4) Although the value of the
property involved exceeds the
limits of the civil jurisdiction
of the
Court, the Court shall have
jurisdiction under this section.
(5) An order under this section
may be enforced during the term
of the sentence imposed, or at
any
time within ten years after the
expiry of the sentence.
147C. Definition of an offence
involving dishonesty
For the purposes of sections
147, 147A and 147B, an offence
involving dishonesty means any
of the
following offences under Chapter
1 of Part Three of the Criminal
Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29),
namely,
stealing, fraudulent breach of
trust, robbery, extortion,
defrauding by false pretences
and dishonest
receiving.
148. Offender to make
compensation
(1) A person who is convicted of
felony or misdemeanour may be
ordered by the Court to make
compensation to any other person
injured by that offence.
(2) A person who is convicted of
an offence on summary conviction
may be ordered by the Court to
make compensation, not exceeding
an amount of money equivalent to
five hundred penalty units, to
any
other person injured by that
offence.32(35)
(3) The compensation may be in
addition to or in substitution
for any other punishment.
149. Effect of payment of
compensation
Where a person who is injured by
an offence receives compensation
for the injury under the order
of
the Court, the receipt of
compensation shall be taken into
account in assessing damages in
a civil action
for the same injury.
150. Property in possession of
police
Where property has come into the
possession of the Police in
connection with a criminal
offence it
shall be dealt with in
accordance with section 3533(36)
of the Police Service Act, 1970
(Act 350).
151. Regulations relating to
unclaimed property in possession
of police
Repealed.34(37)
Summary Procedure in Perjury
152. Perjury
(1) Where it appears to it that
a person is guilty of perjury in
a proceeding before it, the
Court may
(a) commit that person for trial
on indictment for perjury and
bind any other person by
recognisance to give evidence at
the trial; or
(b) commit that person to prison
for a term not exceeding six
months with or without hard
labour, or impose a fine not
exceeding one hundred and fifty
penalty units, or impose both
penalties on that person in each
case as for a contempt of
court.35(38)
(2) Where the Court is a
District Court, the penalties
shall be limited to three
months’ imprisonment
or to a fine not exceeding one
hundred penalty units or to both
the imprisonment and the
fine.36(39)
(3) On imposing a penalty as for
a contempt of court under this
section,
(a) the Magistrate shall make
and keep a minute recording the
facts of the penalty; and
(b) the Magistrate shall
forthwith send a copy of the
minute to the appropriate
Justice of the
High Court.
(4) Except where the order of
the Magistrate is set aside by a
Justice of the High Court, a
penalty
imposed under this section is a
bar to any other criminal
proceedings in respect of the
same offence.
Convictions for Offence Other
than Charged
153. Person accused of an
offence may be convicted of
attempt
(1) A person charged with an
offence may be convicted of
having attempted to commit that
offence
although the attempt is not
separately charged.
(2) Where a person is charged
with an attempt to commit an
offence and the evidence
establishes the
commission of the offence, the
accused may not be convicted of
the offence but may be convicted
of the
attempt.
154. When offence proved is
included in offence charged
(1) Where a person is charged
with an offence consisting of
several particulars, a
combination of
some only of which constitutes a
complete lesser offence, and the
combination is proved but the
remaining particulars are not
proved, that person may be
convicted of the lesser offence
although not
charged with it.
(2) Where a person is charged
with an offence and facts are
proved which reduce it to a
lessor
offence, that person may be
convicted of the lesser offence
although not charged with it.
155. Conviction of extortion on
charge of corruption
(1) Where a person is charged
with an extortion as a public
officer or juror and corruption
is proved,
that person may be convicted of
corruption although not charged
with that offence.
(2) Where a person is charged
with corruption as a public
officer or juror and extortion
is proved, that
person may be convicted of
extortion although not charged
with that offence.
156. Conviction of receiving on
charge of stealing
Where a person is charged with
stealing a thing and receiving
the thing knowing it to have
been stolen
is proved that person may be
convicted of receiving although
not charged with that offence.
157. Conviction of false
pretences on charge of stealing
(1) Where a person is charged
with stealing a thing and it is
proved that the thing was
obtained in a
manner that would amount under
the Criminal Offences Act, 1960
(Act 29) to defrauding by false
pretences, that person may be
convicted of defrauding by false
pretences although not charged
with that
offence.
(2) Where a person is charged
with defrauding by false
pretences and stealing is proved
that person
may be convicted of stealing it
although not charged with that
offence.
158. Conviction of extortion on
charge of robbery
(1) Where a person is charged
with robbery and extortion is
proved that person may be
convicted of
robbery although not charged
with that offence.
(2) Where a person is charged
with extortion and robbery is
proved that person may be
convicted of
robbery although not charged
with that offence.
159. Conviction of kindred
offence on charge of rape or
defilement
(1) Where a person is charged
with rape, unnatural carnal
knowledge or defilement and the
original
charge is not proved, that
person may be convicted of the
lesser offence of indecent
assault although not
charged with that offence.
(2) Where a person is charged
with an offence under section
106 of the Criminal Offences
Act, 1960
(Act 29) (which relates to a
householder permitting
defilement of a child on
premises belonging to the
householder) the householder may
be convicted of an offence under
section 273 of the Criminal
Offences
Act, 1960 (Act 29) (which
relates to permitting persons
under sixteen years to be in
brothels) although
that person was not charged with
that offence.37(40)
160. Conviction of
treason-felony or charge of
treason
Repealed.38(41)
161. Conviction of motoring
offence on charge of
manslaughter
Where a person is charged with
manslaughter in connection with
the driving of a motor vehicle
by that
person and the Court finds that
person not guilty of that
offence but is guilty of an
offence under the Road
Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) that
person may be convicted of that
offence although not charged
with it.
162. Conviction on other charges
pending
Where an accused person is found
guilty of an offence, the Court
may, in passing sentence, take
into
consideration any other charge
then pending against the accused
if the accused admits the other
charge
and desires it to be taken into
consideration and if the
prosecutor of the other charge
consents.
PART THREE
Summary Trial
163. Summary trial
(1) A reference in an enactment
to an offence as a summary
offence, triable summarily, or
punishable
summarily, means that the
offence shall be tried in
accordance with this Part.
(2) Where it is not provided as
to whether an offence is triable
summarily or on indictment, the
offence shall be triable as a
summary offence.39(42)
164. Application
This Part applies to the summary
trial of an offence by a
District Court, a Circuit Court
or the High
Court.
Procedure on Summary Trial
165. Publicity
The room or place in which the
Court sits to hear and determine
a charge is an open and public
Court,
to which the public generally
may have access as far as it can
conveniently contain them.
166. Non-appearance of
prosecutor
(1) Where the accused comes
before the Court on summons or
warrant, or otherwise,
originally or on
adjournment, then if the
prosecutor, having had notice of
the time and place appointed for
the hearing or
adjourned hearing of the charge,
does not appear, the Court shall
dismiss the charge, unless the
Court
thinks it proper to adjourn or
further adjourn the hearing of
the case to another date, on the
terms
determined by the Court.
(2) Where the accused does not
appear personally and pleads
guilty in writing or by counsel
under
section 70, the Court may
proceed to conviction although
the prosecutor or the counsel of
the accused is
absent.
167. Non-appearance of accused
Where the accused does not
appear personally and does not
plead guilty in writing or by
counsel under
section 70, the Court shall
issue a warrant to arrest the
accused and cause the accused to
be brought before
the Court as provided for under
section 72.
168. Appearance of both parties
Where at the time appointed for
the hearing of the case both the
prosecutor and the accused are
present
before the Court, or if the
prosecutor appears personally or
by counsel and the personal
attendance of the
accused person has been
dispensed with under section 70,
the Court shall proceed to hear
the case.
169. Adjournment
(1) Before or during the hearing
of a case, the Court
(a) may adjourn the hearing to a
certain time and place to be
then appointed and stated in the
presence and hearing of the
parties or their respective
counsel then present, and
(b) in the meantime may suffer
the accused to go at large, or
may commit the accused to
prison,
or may release the accused on
the entry into a bond with or
without sureties, conditioned
for
the accused person’s appearance
at the time and place to which
the hearing or further hearing
is adjourned.
(2) The adjournment shall not be
for more than thirty clear days
or if the accused person has
been
committed to prison, for more
than fourteen clear days.40(43)
(3) The day following that on
which the adjournment is made
shall be counted as the first
day.
170. Non-appearance of parties
after adjournment
(1) Where at the time or place
to which the hearing or further
hearing has been adjourned, the
accused
does not appear before the Court
which made the order of
adjournment, the Court may,
unless the accused
person is charged with felony,
proceed with the hearing or
further hearing as if the
accused were
present.41(44)
(2) Where a Court is satisfied
that a person accused of an
offence who is bound by bond to
appear at a
hearing or adjourned hearing of
the case, is by reason of
illness or accident unable at
the date of the
hearing or further hearing to
appear personally before the
Court, it may, in the absence of
the accused,
order a further adjournment for
a time that is lawful and
reasonable and the time
conditioned in the
accused’s bond shall be
considered to be varied
accordingly.
(3) Where the Court convicts the
accused in the absence of the
accused, it may set aside the
conviction on being satisfied
that the absence of the accused
was from causes over which the
accused did
not have a control, and that the
accused had a probable defence
on the merits.
(4) Where a sentence is passed
in the accused’s absence under
subsection (1), the Court shall
give
directions for the carrying out
of the sentence and shall issue
its commitment or other warrant
and in
addition to authorising the
carrying out of the sentence,
the warrant shall, if necessary,
be deemed to
authorise the arrest of the
convicted person for the purpose
of carrying out the sentence.
(5) The person effecting an
arrest shall endorse the date of
the arrest on the back of the
warrant and
the sentence of imprisonment
imposed on a person arrested on
that warrant shall commence from
the date
of that person’s arrest.
(6) Where an accused who has not
appeared is charged with felony,
or if the Court, refrains from
convicting the accused in the
absence of the accused, the
Court shall issue a warrant for
the arrest of the
accused and for the accused to
be brought before the Court.
171. Accused to be called upon
to plead
(1) Where the accused appears
personally or by counsel as
provided under section 79, the
substance
of the charge contained in the
charge sheet or complaint shall
be stated and explained to the
accused or if
the accused is not personally
present to the counsel of the
accused, and the accused or
counsel of the
accused shall be asked to plead
guilty or not guilty.
(2) In stating the substance of
the charge, the Court shall
state particular of the date,
time, and place of
the commission of the alleged
offence, the person against whom
or the thing in respect of which
it is
alleged to have been committed,
and the section of the enactment
creating the offence.
(3) A plea of guilty shall be
recorded as nearly as possible
in the words used, or if there
is an
admission of guilt by letter
under section 70 (1), the letter
shall be placed on the record
and the Court
shall convict the accused and
pass sentence or make an order
against the accused unless there
appears to it
sufficient cause to the
contrary.
(4) Where the plea is one of not
guilty the Court shall proceed
to hear the case.
(5) Where the accused or counsel
for the accused, refuses to
plead, or if the accused does
not appear
and the Court decides to hear
the case in the absence the
accused in accordance with
section 170, a plea of
not guilty shall be entered and
the plea so entered shall have
effect as if it had been
actually pleaded.
172. Procedure on plea of not
guilty
(1) Where the accused does not
plead guilty to the charge, the
Court shall proceed to hear the
evidence that the prosecutor
adduces in support of the
charge.
(2) The accused or the counsel
of the accused may put questions
to each witness produced against
the
accused.
(3) Where the accused does not
employ a counsel, the Court
shall, at the close of the
examination of
each witness for the
prosecution, ask the accused
whether the accused wishes to
put questions to that
witness and shall record the
answer of the accused.
(4) Where the accused instead of
questioning the witness makes a
statement regarding the evidence
of
that witness, the Magistrate
shall, if desirable in the
interest of the accused, put the
substance of the
statement to the witness in the
form of questions.
173. Acquittal of accused when
no case to answer
Where at the close of the
evidence in support of the
charge, it appears to the Court
that a case is not
made out against the accused
sufficiently to require the
accused to make a defence, the
Court shall, as to
that particular charge, acquit
the accused.
174. The defence
(1) At the close of the evidence
in support of the charge, if it
appears to the Court that a case
is made
out against the accused
sufficiently to require the
accused to make a defence, the
Court shall call on the
accused to make the defence and
shall remind the accused of the
charge and inform the accused of
the
right of the accused to give
evidence personally on oath or
to make a statement.
(2) The Court shall then hear
the accused if the accused
desires to be heard and the
evidence the
accused may adduce in defence.
(3) Where the accused states
that there are witnesses to call
but that the witnesses are not
present in
Court, and the Court is
satisfied
(a) that the absence of the
witnesses is not due to a fault
or neglect of the accused, and
(b) that there is a likelihood
that they could, if present,
give material evidence on behalf
of the
accused,
the Court may adjourn the trial
and issue process, or take other
steps, to compel the attendance
of the
witnesses.
(4) Where the accused has
examined the witnesses or given
evidence other than evidence
relating to
the accused’s general character,
the Court may grant leave to the
prosecutor to give or adduce
evidence in
reply.
175. Address to the Court
(1) The prosecutor or counsel of
the prosecutor is entitled to
address the Court at the
commencement
of the prosecutor’s case and,
where the accused has called
witnesses, other than witnesses
as to the
accused’s general character,
also at the conclusion of the
case for the defence.
(2) The accused or the counsel
of the accused is entitled to
address the Court at the
commencement or
in conclusion of the case of the
accused as the accused considers
fit.
(3) Except with the leave of the
Court, the accused or counsel of
the accused is not entitled to
address
the Court on evidence adduced by
the prosecutor in reply.
176. Variance between charge and
evidence
(1) Where at any stage of a
summary trial before the close
of the case for the prosecution,
it appears to
the Court that the charge is
defective, in substance or in
form, the Court may make an
order for the
amendment of the charge or by
the substitution or addition of
a new charge as the Court
considers
necessary to meet the
circumstances of the case.
(2) Where the charge is amended
the Court shall call on the
accused to plead to the amended
charge.
(3) Where the charge is amended
under subsection (1), the
accused may require the recall
of the
witnesses or any of them and
further cross examined by the
accused or counsel of the
accused and the
prosecution shall have the right
to re-examine any of the
witnesses on matters arising out
of the further
cross-examination.
(4) A variance between the
charge and the evidence adduced
in support of it with respect to
the time
at which the alleged offence was
committed is not material, and
the charge need not be amended
for the
variance if it is proved that
the proceedings were in fact
instituted within the time
limited by law for the
institution of the proceedings.
(5) Where an amendment of a
charge is made under subsection
(1), or where there is a
variation
between the charge and the
evidence as described in
subsection (4), the Court shall,
if it is of opinion that
the accused has been thereby
misled or deceived, adjourn the
trial for a period that is
reasonably
necessary, having regard to this
Act.
(6) Where it appears to the
Court that the variance has
deceived or misled the accused,
the Court may,
on the terms that it considers
fit, adjourn the hearing of the
case to a future day.
(7) Where a variance appears,
the Court may make an amendment
of the summons, complaint, or
charge sheet that it considers
fit and may permit a witness to
be recalled and further
questioned on a
matter relevant to the variance
or amended charge.
177. The decision
(1) The Court, having heard the
totality of the evidence, shall
consider and determine the whole
matter and may
(a) convict the accused and pass
sentence on, or make an order
against, the accused according
to
law, or
(b) acquit the accused, and the
Court shall give its decision in
the form of an oral judgment,
and shall record the decision
briefly together with the
reasons for it, where necessary.
(2) The Court may receive
evidence to inform itself as to
the sentence proper to be passed
and in the
event of the Court convicting or
making an order against an
accused in respect of which an
appeal lies,
the Court shall inform the
accused of the right to appeal
at the time of entering the
conviction or making
the order.
(3) The conviction or order may,
if required, be afterwards drawn
up and shall be signed by the
Court
making the conviction or order,
or by the clerk or other officer
of the Court.
178. Committal for sentence
Repealed.42(45)
179. Offences unsuitable for
summary determination
(1) Where it appears to the
Court at any stage of a summary
trial of an offence which is
also
punishable on indictment that
the case is unsuitable for
summary trial, the Court may
inform the
Attorney-General of its opinion
and adjourn the proceedings for
not more than fifteen days to
await the
reply of the Attorney-General.
(2) Where, within that time, the
Court is notified by or on
behalf of the Attorney-General
that it is
proposed to prosecute the
accused on indictment the Court
shall follow the procedure laid
down in Part
Four, and, in the case of a
trial by the High Court or a
Circuit Court, shall have the
powers of a District
Court under that Part.
(3) In any other case, the Court
shall proceed with the summary
trial of the offence.
180. Questions of title to land
involved
Repealed.43(46)
180A. Repealed
Repealed.44(47)
PART FOUR
Committal for Trial for
Indictable Offence
Preliminary Hearing by District
Court
181. Procedure
When a person is before a
District Court charged with an
offence which is not being tried
summarily
there shall be a preliminary
hearing of the case by the
Court, at which the procedure
laid down in this Part
shall be followed.
182. Bill of indictment and
summary of evidence
(1) The prosecution shall
furnish the Court and the
accused with
(a) a bill of indictment which
shall state in writing the
charge against the accused, and
(b) a summary of evidence which
shall comprise a list of the
witnesses who the prosecution
proposes to call at the trial
and a summary of the evidence to
be given by each witness and a
list of the documents and things
it proposes to put in evidence
at the trial.
(2) The bill of indictment shall
comply with sections 201 and 202
as to form and content.
(3) The bill of indictment and
summary of evidence may, by
leave of the Court, be amended
or added
to at any time during the
proceedings.
(4) The prosecution shall,
unless the Court otherwise
directs, deliver into the
custody of the Court the
documents and things which,
according to the summary of
evidence, are intended to be put
in evidence at
the trial.
(5) The registrar of the Court
to which the documents and
things referred to in subsection
(4) are
delivered is responsible for the
custody of those documents and
things and shall, for that
purpose,
(a) as far as may be
practicable, affix or make
identifying marks on those
documents and things;
and
(b) maintain a book in which the
registrar shall enter a complete
description of those documents
and things together with
particulars of those identifying
marks and sign the entry.
183. Authentication of
indictment and summary of
evidence
The bill of indictment and
summary of evidence shall be
signed by the Attorney-General
or by a
person authorised by the
Attorney-General in that behalf.
184. Conduct of preliminary
hearing
(1) The prosecution may address
the Court in explanation of the
case against the accused.
(2) An address may be made in
reply by or on behalf of the
accused.
(3) The address shall not be
recorded but the accused may
make a statement to be recorded
under
section 187.
(4) Where the Court is of
opinion that there is a case for
the accused to answer, it shall
commit the
accused for trial to a court of
competent jurisdiction, in this
Part referred to as the trial
Court.
(5) Where the Court is of
opinion that there is no case
for the accused to answer it
shall discharge the
accused, but, subject to clause
(7) of article 19 of the
Constitution, the discharge
shall not be a bar to a
subsequent charge in respect of
the same facts.
185. A public Court
The room or place in which the
proceedings are held is, in
accordance with clause (3) of
article 126 of
the Constitution, a public place
but, the Court may, if it
considers that the ends of
justice will be best
served by so doing, order that a
person shall not have access to,
or be, or remain in that room or
place
without the express permission
of the Court.
186. Adjournments
The provisions of section 169
which relates to adjournment
shall apply to the proceedings.
187. Taking statement of accused
person
(1) The Court shall, before
deciding whether to commit the
accused for trial, address to
the accused
the following words or words to
the like effect:
“Before deciding whether to
commit you for trial, I wish to
know if you have anything
to say in answer to the charge.
You are not obliged to say
anything but if you have an
explanation it may be in your
interest to give it now. What
you wish to say will be taken
down in writing and if you are
committed for trial it may be
given in evidence. If you do not
give an explanation your failure
to do so may be the subject of
comment by the judge, the
prosecution or the defence.”
(2) The Court shall comply with
the rules set out in the Sixth
Schedule as to the taking of a
statement.
(3) The statement of the accused
in answer to the charge shall be
recorded in full and shall be
shown
or read over to the accused who
shall be at full liberty to
explain or add to the statement.
(4) When the whole statement is
made conformable to what the
accused declares to be the
truth, the
statement shall be attested by
the District Magistrate, who
shall certify that the statement
was taken in the
Magistrate’s presence and
hearing and contains accurately
the whole statement made by the
accused.
(5) The accused shall sign or
attest by mark the record and
where the accused refuses, the
Court shall
add a note of the accused’s
refusal and the statement may be
used as if the accused had
signed or attested
it.
(6) A person requested to make a
statement under this section is
entitled to do so without being
sworn.
(7) The failure of a person
charged with an offence to make
a statement under this section
may be the
subject of comment by the judge,
the prosecution or the defence.
188. Witnesses for the defence
(1) The Court, on committing the
accused for trial, shall ask the
accused whether the accused
desires
to call witnesses at the trial.
(2) Where the accused states the
desire to call witnesses, the
Court shall cause to be taken
down in
writing the name, address and
any other necessary particulars
of each witness.
(3) Where a witness is present
in Court, the Court may bind the
witness by recognisance, with or
without a surety, to appear at
the trial to give evidence.
(4) The Court shall inform the
accused of the accused’s right
to require the attendance at the
trial of a
witness and of the steps to be
taken by the accused for the
purpose of enforcing the
attendance.
(5) The accused may give notice
to the District Court at any
time before the date to which
the accused
has been committed for trial and
at any time after that to the
registrar of the trial Court of
the desire of a
witness to attend at the trial
and the Court or registrar shall
cause a summons to be served on
the witness
for the attendance at the trial.
189. Refusal to enter into
recognisance
(1) Where a witness refuses to
enter into a recognisance the
Court may commit the witness to
prison
or into the custody of any
officer of the Court, there to
remain until after the trial,
unless in the meantime
the witness enters into a
recognisance.
(2) Where afterwards from want
of sufficient evidence or other
cause, the accused is
discharged, the
Court shall order the discharge
of the person imprisoned for so
refusing.
190. Order of committal for
trial
(1) The order of the District
Court committing an accused for
trial shall name the day, time
and place
at which the accused is to
appear before the trial Court in
answer to the indictment.
(2) The day named for the
accused to appear before the
trial Court shall not be more
than one month
after the date of committal.
(3) A committal for trial shall
not be invalidated by reason
only of a failure to comply with
subsections (1) and (2).
(4) The District Court shall
admit the accused to bail or
send the accused to prison for
safe keeping
until the day so named.
(5) The warrant of the District
Court is sufficient authority to
the keeper of the prison
appointed for
the custody of prisoners
committed for trial although the
prison is outside the area of
jurisdiction of the
Court.
191. Option of accused
respecting trial
(1) Where the charge is one in
which an option is given to the
accused, the Court on committing
the
accused for trial on indictment
shall, ascertain the accused’s
desire to be tried with a jury
or by the Court
with assessors.
(2) The Court shall record and
attest, by the accused’s
signature, the answer of the
accused, who shall
also sign or attest the record
by mark.
(3) Where the accused refuses to
do so, the Court shall add a
note of the accused’s refusal,
and the
answer shall be used as if the
accused had signed it.
192. Proceedings against
corporations
(1) A corporation may be
charged, singularly or jointly
with any other person, with an
indictable
offence and this Part shall,
subject to this section, apply
to the corporation as it applies
to any other
accused.
(2) The corporation may appear
before the Court by a
representative who shall answer
the questions
put under this Act on behalf of
the corporation.
(3) Where the corporation does
not appear it shall not be
necessary to put the questions,
and the Court
may commit the corporation for
trial.
(4) The corporation may, on
arraignment before the trial
Court, render in writing by its
representative
a plea of guilty or not guilty.
(5) Where the corporation does
not appear by a representative,
or, though it does so appear,
fails to
enter a plea, the Court shall
proceed as though the
corporation had duly entered a
plea of not guilty.
(6) For purposes of this section
“representative” in relation to
a corporation means a person
duly
appointed by the corporation to
represent it for the purpose of
doing an act or a thing which
the
representative of a corporation
is by this section authorised to
do, but a person so appointed
shall not, by
virtue only of being so
appointed, be qualified to act
on behalf of the corporation
before a Court for any
other purpose.
(7) A representative for the
purpose of this section need not
be appointed under the seal of
the
corporation.
(8) A statement in writing
purporting to be signed by a
managing director of the
corporation, or by
any other person having, or
being one of the persons having,
the management of the affairs of
the
corporation, to the effect that
the person named in the
statement has been appointed as
the representative
of the corporation for the
purposes of this section is
admissible without further proof
as prima facie
evidence of the appointment of
that person.
193. Returns to Court and
Attorney-General
(1) On a committal for trial the
bill of indictment, the summary
of evidence, a recorded
statement of
the accused, the answer of the
accused respecting the Court
before which the accused desires
to be tried,
the recognisances of the
witnesses, and of the
recognisances of bail, and any
other documents and things
which have been delivered into
the custody of the District
Court, shall be transmitted in
proper time to the
trial Court.
(2) An authenticated copy of the
document referred to in
subsection (1) shall be
transmitted to the
Attorney-General.
193A. Errors not to invalidate
committal
Although there is a contrary
provision of this Act, any
error, omission or irregularity,
in respect of a
matter specified in section 181
to 193, during the preliminary
hearing before a District Court
of the case
of an accused person, shall not
invalidate the committal for
trial, unless a District
Magistrate or Justice is
of opinion that the error,
omission or irregularity is
likely to occasion a substantial
miscarriage of justice.
Preservation of Testimony in
Certain Cases
194. Depositions of persons
dangerously ill
Where it appears to a Justice or
Magistrate that a person
dangerously ill or hurt, and not
likely to
recover, is able and willing to
give material information
relating to an offence triable
on indictment the
Justice or Magistrate may take
in writing the statement on oath
or affirmation of that person
and shall
subscribe it, and certify that
it contains accurately the whole
of the statement made by that
person, and
shall add a personal statement
containing the reasons for
taking the statement and of the
date and place
when and where it was taken, and
shall preserve the statement and
file it for record.
195. Notices to be given in
certain cases
(1) Where the statement relates
or is expected to relate to an
offence for which a person has
been
charged or in respect of whom
there has been a committal for
trial, reasonable notice of the
intention to
take it shall be served on the
prosecutor and the accused.
(2) Where the accused is in
custody, the accused may, and if
the accused so requests shall,
be brought
by the person in whose charge
the accused is, under an order
in writing of the Justice or
Magistrate, to the
place where the statement is to
be taken.
196. Transmission of statements
Where the statement relates to
an offence for which a person is
then or subsequently committed
for
trial, it shall be transmitted
to the Court in which that
person is to be tried, and a
copy of the statement
shall be transmitted to the
Attorney-General.
197. Use of statement in
evidence
On the trial of an offender or
of an offence to which a
statement so taken may relate,
where the person
who made the statement is proved
to be dead or if it is proved
that there is a reasonable
probability of that
person not being able to travel
or to give evidence, the
statement may be read in
evidence for or against
the accused person, without
further proof of the statement
if
(a) the statement purports to be
signed by the Justice or
Magistrate by or before whom it
purports to be taken; and
(b) it is proved to the
satisfaction of the Court that
reasonable notice of the
intention to take the
statement was served on the
prosecutor or accused against
whom it is proposed to be read
in
evidence, and that the
prosecutor or the accused or
their counsel had or might have
had if
present full opportunity of
cross-examining the prosecutor
or accused who made the
statement.
Procedure before Trial Court
198. Directions for trial
(1) When the accused comes
before the trial Court in
pursuance of the committal
order, the procedure
laid down in this section shall
be followed.
(2) The Court shall cause the
bill of indictment to be read to
the accused and if necessary
explained to
the accused.
(3) An objection by or on behalf
of the accused to the indictment
or the summary of evidence shall
then be taken.
(4) The Court may cause the
indictment to be amended and new
counts to be added unless it is
of
opinion that, having regard to
the merits of the case, the
amendment cannot be made without
injustice to
the accused, and may direct a
supplementary summary of
evidence to be delivered to the
accused and the
Court.
(5) The Court may then require
the accused to plead to the
indictment or may postpone the
taking of
the plea to a later date that
the Court may direct.
(6) The Court shall give
directions as to the time, place
and mode of trial.
199. Plea of guilty
(1) Where the accused pleads
guilty to a charge, the Court
before accepting the plea shall,
if the
accused is not represented by
counsel, explain to the accused
the nature of the charge and the
procedure
which follows the acceptance of
a plea of guilty.
(2) The accused may then
withdraw the plea and plead not
guilty.
(3) A statement made by the
accused in answer to the Court
shall be recorded by the Court
in writing
and shall form part of the
record of the proceedings.
(4) Where the accused pleads
guilty but adds words indicating
that the accused may have a
defence or
so indicates in answer to the
Court, the Court shall enter a
plea of not guilty and record it
as having been
entered by order of the Court.
(5) The Court shall not accept a
plea of guilty in the case of an
offence punishable by death.
(6) Where the Court decides not
to alter the plea the Supreme
Court shall have the right, on
appeal
against conviction, to order a
re-trial if the Supreme Court is
of opinion that a plea of not
guilty should
have been entered by the trial
Court.
200. Evidence of witness before
trial
(1) Where on the application of
the prosecution or the accused
it appears to the District Court
conducting the preliminary
hearing or the trial Court that
a particular witness will not be
available at the
trial, the Court may, where it
is satisfied that it would be in
the interest of justice so to
do, take the
evidence of the witness and
cause it to be recorded.
(2) The evidence may be read as
evidence in a Court although the
accused is not called as a
witness.
(3) For the purposes of
subsections (1) and (2), the
Court may permit the party
calling the witness to
make a short statement of the
facts which are necessary to
enable the evidence of the
witness to be
understood and to be related to
the charge and may also permit
any other witness to be called
and
examined for the same purpose.
(4) Unless the Court, on hearing
the applicant, decides to refuse
the application, the Court shall
direct
service of the notice of the
application on the other party
and order the applicant to
attend on a named day
for the further hearing.
(5) In the case of an
application under this section
the Court may order the accused
to attend the Court
for the hearing of the
application and on the taking of
the evidence.
(6) The Court shall cause the
order to be served on the
accused and, if the accused is
in custody, on
the keeper of the prison.
(7) The order is a sufficient
warrant to the keeper to bring
the accused before the Court and
the
accused if on bail, shall obey
the order despite the terms of
the recognisance.
The Bill of Indictment
201. Form of bill of indictment
A bill of indictment shall bear
the date of the day when it is
signed and, with the
modifications that are
necessary to adapt it to the
circumstances of each case,
shall be in the following form:
THE HIGH COURT (OR THE
......................................................................CIRCUIT
COURT)
Court of Trial (e.g. Eastern
Region Session held at Accra
(or) Volta Region Session held
at
Ho.)
A.B. is charged with the
following offences:
First Count
STATEMENT OF OFFENCE
Murder, contrary to section 46
of the Criminal Offences Act,
1960.
PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE
A.B., on the
................................................
day of
........................................................
20 ............
at
............................................................................................................................
murdered C.D.
Second Count
STATEMENT OF OFFENCE
Manslaughter, contrary to
section 50 of the Criminal
Offences Act, 1960.
PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE
A.B., on the
..................................................................
day of
..................................
20 ............
at
........................................................................
unlawfully killed C.D.
202. General provisions as to
indictments
(1) Until provision is otherwise
made by Rules of Court, this
section shall apply to an
indictment.
(2) An indictment is not open to
objection in respect of its form
or contents if it is framed in
accordance with this Act.
(3) An indictment shall contain,
and shall be sufficient if it
contains, a statement of the
offence with
which the accused is charged,
together with the particulars
that are necessary for giving
reasonable
information as to the nature of
the charge and it shall not be
necessary for it to contain any
further
particulars although a rule of
law provides otherwise.
(4) Figures and abbreviations
may be used for expressing
anything which is commonly
expressed by
figures and abbreviations.
(5) A description of the offence
charged, or, where more offences
than one are charged, of each
offence so charged, shall be set
out in a separate paragraph
termed a “count”.
(6) A count shall commence with
a statement of the offence
charged, known as the statement
of
offence.
(7) The statement of offence
shall describe the offence
briefly in ordinary language,
avoiding as far as
possible the use of technical
terms, and without necessarily
stating all the essential
elements of the
offence, and if the offence
charged is one created by
enactment shall contain a
reference to the section of
the enactment creating the
offence.
(8) Omitted.45(48)
(9) After the statement of the
offence, particulars of the
offence shall be set out in
ordinary language,
in which the use of technical
terms is not necessary.
(10) Where a rule of law or an
enactment limits the particulars
of an offence which are required
to be
given in an indictment, this
rule shall not require more
particulars to be given than
those required.
(11) Where an indictment
contains more than one count,
the counts shall be numbered
consecutively.
(12) Where an enactment
constituting an offence states
the offence to be
(a) the omission to do any one
of different acts in the
alternative, or
(b) the doing or the omission to
do an act in any one of
different capacities, or
(c) to do an act in any one of
different intentions, or states
a part of the offence in the
alternative,
the acts, omission, capacities,
or intentions, or any other
matters stated in the
alternative in the enactment,
may be stated in the alternative
in the Court charging the
offence.
(13) It shall not be necessary,
in a count charging an offence
constituted by an enactment, to
negative
an exception or exemption from
or qualification to the
operation of the enactment
creating the offence.
(14) The description or
designation in an indictment of
the accused, or of any other
person to whom
reference is made in the
indictment shall be reasonably
sufficient to identify the
accused, without
necessarily stating the
accused’s correct name, or
abode, style, degree, or
occupation, and if, owing to the
name of the other person not
being known, or for any other
reason, it is impracticable to
give a
description or designation, the
description or designation shall
be given which is reasonably
practicable in
the circumstances, or the other
person may be described as “a
person unknown”.
(15) Where it is necessary to
refer to a document or an
instrument in an indictment, it
shall be
sufficient to describe it by a
name or designation by which it
is usually known, or by its
purport without
setting out a copy.
(16) Subject to the other rules,
it is sufficient to describe a
place, time, thing, matter, an
act, or
omission to which it is
necessary to refer in ordinary
language, in a manner that
indicates with reasonable
clearness the place, time,
thing, matter, act, or omission
referred to.
(17) It shall not be necessary
in stating an intent to defraud,
deceive, or injure to state an
intent to
defraud, deceive, or injure a
particular person, where the
enactment creating the offence
does not make an
intent to defraud, deceive, or
injure a particular person an
essential ingredient of the
offence.
(18) Where a previous conviction
of an offence is charged in an
indictment it shall be charged
at the
end of the indictment by means
of a statement that the accused
has been previously convicted of
that
offence at a certain time and
place without stating the
particulars of that offence.
PART FIVE
Trial on Indictment
Procedure on Indictment
203. Trial on indictment
A reference in an enactment to
an offence as indictable or in
terms to the like effect shall
be taken as
indicating that the offence is
to be tried in accordance with
this Part.
204. Jury or assessors
Trials on indictment shall be by
a jury or with the aid of
assessors in accordance with
this Act.
Qualifications and Attendance of
Jurors
205. Qualifications of jurors
Subject to sections 207 and 208,
a person between the ages of
twenty-five and sixty years who
is
resident in the Republic and can
understand the English language
is liable to serve as a juror.
206. Qualifications of female
jurors
Repealed.46(49)
207. Exemptions from jury
service
The following persons are exempt
from liability to serve as
jurors;
(a) the President, the
Vice-President, the Speaker and
members of Parliament;
(b) the Justices of the Superior
Court of Judicature, the Judges
and Magistrates of the lower
courts, Coroners, and Deputy
Coroners;
(c) legal practitioners in
actual practice and the other
Court officers;
(d) registered medical
practitioners and registered
dentists in actual practice;
(e) registered pharmacists in
actual practice;
(f) Prison officers and warders;
(g) Police officers;
(h) Officers and other members
of the Armed Forces on full pay;
(i) public officers, other than
those engaged on clerical
duties, employed in the Medical,
Posts
and Telecommunications, Customs,
Excise and Preventive Service or
under the Ghana Ports
and Harbours Authority;
(j) persons actually officiating
as priests or ministers of their
respective religions;
(k) schoolmasters actually
engaged in teaching in a school;
(l) persons employed in a public
electric telegraph office or in
a electric power station;
(m) diplomatic and consular
representatives and the salaried
functionaries of foreign
Governments;
(o) editors of daily newspapers;
and
(p) any other persons exempted
by the Chief Justice.
208. Disqualifications of jurors
A person convicted of treason or
felony, or of an offence
involving dishonesty unless that
person has
obtained a free pardon, is not
qualified to serve as a juror.
209. Preparation of lists of
jurors
(1) A District Magistrate shall
each year, between the first and
thirty first days of May and
between
the first and the thirteenth
days of November and any other
dates authorised by the Chief
Justice, make
lists of persons
(a) resident at each town or
place within the district at or
near which sessions of the High
Court
or Circuit Court are or shall be
held who are qualified and fit,
(b) resident within the district
in which the sessions town is
situate and within four miles of
the
town, or within the area
specified by the Minister by
order published in the Gazette,
to serve as jurors, setting out
the name and surname, the
occupation and place of abode of
each person,
and shall place them in the
Court House of the district for
three weeks.
(2) A person may apply to the
District Magistrate by notice in
writing to have the name of that
person
added to or struck off a list
made by a District Magistrate on
cause duly assigned in the
notice.
210. Information to be given
when required
(1) The District Court may
require a person resident within
its district to give that
person’s full name
and surname, occupation, and
place of abode, when required
for the purposes of this Act.
(2) A person who refuses or
fails, when required to give the
information, commits an offence
and is
liable on conviction to a fine
not exceeding one hundred
penalty units.47(50)
211. Lists to be settled
(1) At the end of the time for
posting the lists the District
Court shall hold a public
sitting for
considering and disposing of the
notices then received, and shall
revise and settle the lists by
the addition
to or cancellation of names, and
by correcting the errors as to
the names, occupations or places
of abode
of a person included in the
lists.
(2) The Court shall mark on each
list the time for the
commencement for use of the
list.
(3) The persons named in a
notice, and the other persons
required by the Court are bound
to attend the
public sittings.
212. Copies of lists to be sent
to Registrars
(1) The District Court shall, on
the settlement of the lists send
signed copies of the list to the
registrars
of the High Court and Circuit
Court for the appropriate
sessions town.
(2) A list as prepared and
delivered constitutes the
jurors’ list for the sessions
town for which it has
been prepared.
213. Yearly revision of lists
The list as prepared and revised
shall again be revised once in
every year, and the list as
revised shall
be considered a new list, and
shall be subject to the rules in
respect of the preparation of
the list originally
prepared.
214. How jury panel formed
(1) Where it is necessary to
form a panel of jurors to serve
at any sessions, the sheriff
shall
(a) cause the names of the
jurors in the list prepared for
the sessions town at or near
which
sessions are to be held to be
written on separate cards or
slips of paper of equal size,
and
placed in ballot boxes to be
kept for that purpose;
(b) draw from the ballot boxes
the number of names directed by
the Court of assessors and
jurors to form a panel.
(2) The cards or slips drawn
from the ballot boxes shall be
locked up in separate boxes
until the whole
lot of names in the ballot boxes
are exhausted by subsequent
panels when the names of the
jurors except
those who may have served at the
last preceding sessions shall be
returned to the ballot boxes and
when
required the same shall be
redrawn in the prescribed
manner.
215. Certain names to be passed
over
The names of jurors who are dead
or permanently resident at a
greater distance than four miles
from
the sessions town, if any other
areas have not been so specified
under section 209 with respect
to that
town, and, if an area has been
so specified, the names of
jurors permanently resident
outside that area
shall be passed over by the
sheriff in forming a panel.
216. Names of jurors may be
added to list or expunged
(1) Where a person, liable and
suitable to serve as a juror, is
found at a sessions town, or
within four
miles of the town, or within an
area specified under section 209
with respect to the sessions
town, after
the lists are settled for the
year, the District Court may
place the name of that person on
the list as a juror
or an assessor, and that person
is liable to serve as a juror or
an assessor till a fresh list is
brought into
force.
(2) When a juror or an assessor
on the list is disqualified, the
name of that juror or that
assessor shall
be cancelled.
217. Sheriff to summon jurors
(1) The sheriff or the officer
representing the sheriff shall,
before the sitting of a Court
where a jury is
necessary, on receiving from the
Court a precept, issue summonses
requiring the attendance at the
sitting
of the persons selected as
jurors.
(2) The summons shall be
personally served on or left at
the usual or last known place of
abode of the
person summoned two clear days,
or any other time directed by
the Court, before the day
appointed for
the sitting of the Court.
218. Sheriff to excuse
attendance of jurors
(1) Where a person who has been
summoned under section 217 shows
in writing to the satisfaction
of
the sheriff that there is good
reason for excusing that person
from attending as required in
the summons,
the sheriff may excuse that
person from attending.
(2) The sheriff shall produce to
the Court the applications
received by the sheriff from
persons asking
to be excused from attendance as
required in the summons and the
correspondence relating to the
applications.
(3) Where the sheriff has
complied with the applications,
the sheriff shall furnish the
Court in writing
the reasons for doing so.
219. Inability to locate jurors
Where a person selected as a
juror cannot be located, the
sheriff shall obtain additional
names, drawn
in the prescribed manner, as may
be necessary to make up the
jurors to the proper number, and
shall issue
summonses to those persons.
220. Sheriff to deliver panel to
registrar
The sheriff shall deliver to the
registrar, a panel containing
the names, occupations and
places of abode
of the persons summoned.
221. Trials for which no jurors
list prepared
Where trials on indictment are
to be held at a place or by a
Court for which a jurors list
has not been
prepared under this Act, the
sheriff or registrar may prepare
a temporary jurors list for the
purpose of the
trials, and the provisions of
this Act, shall so far as
applicable, apply in case of the
persons whose names
are entered on the temporary
list.
222. Penalty on jurors not
attending
A person commits an offence and
is liable on conviction to a
fine not exceeding one hundred
penalty
units48(51)
(a) who is summoned to attend
the Court as a juror and does
not, without reasonable excuse,
duly attend and be present at
the Court, and at the times
appointed by the Court for
adjournment; or
(b) who is present in Court to
serve as a juror but refuses
without reasonable excuse to
serve
until discharged by the Court.
223. Punishment, summary, how
enforced, Court may remit fines
(1) Punishments may be inflicted
summarily on an order to that
effect by the Court.
(2) A fine imposed under
subsection (1) is recoverable
(a) by distress and sale of the
movable or immovable property of
the person fined, and
(b) by warrant of distress
signed by the registrar of the
Court.
(3) A warrant of distress signed
by the registrar of the Court
shall be issued by the registrar
without
further order of the Court,
where the amount of the fine is
not paid within six days,
(a) of the fine being imposed,
if imposed in the presence of
the person fined; or
(b) of its having to come to the
knowledge by notice or otherwise
of the person fined, that the
fine has been imposed, if
imposed in the absence of that
person.
(4) In default of the recovery
of the fine by distress and
sale, the person fined may be
imprisoned for a
period of twenty-one days, if
the fine is not paid sooner.
(5) The Court may remit a fine
imposed under this section.
224. Notice to persons fined in
absentia
Where a person is fined in
absentia the registrar shall
forthwith send that person a
written notice of the
fact, requiring that person to
pay the fine, or to show cause
before the Court within four
days for not
paying it.
225. Travelling allowance for
certain jurors
A person summoned on a jury who
resides more than four miles
from the place to which that
person is
summoned is entitled to be paid
as travelling allowance a sum of
money that the Court considers
fit.
226. Exemption from serving
(1) The Court may exempt, for
reasonable cause, a person from
serving as a juror at any
sessions, or
on a trail.
(2) A certificate bearing the
signature of a registered
medical practitioner specifying
that a person
required to attend as a juror is
unable from the state of that
person’s health to do so, may,
on the Court
being satisfied of the signature
of the certificate, be accepted
as prima facie evidence of
reasonable cause.
Qualifications and Attendance of
Assessors
227. Qualifications of assessors
(1) A person between the ages of
twenty-five and sixty years who
is resident in the Republic and
understands the English language
is liable to serve as an
assessor in trials on indictment
of criminal cases.
(2) The exemptions from
liability to serve as jurors and
the disqualifications apply to
assessors as they
apply to jurors.
228. Sheriff or deputy sheriff
to summon assessors
(1) The sheriff or the deputy
sheriff, before the sitting of a
Court to try criminal cases on
indictment
shall, on receipt from the Court
of a precept, issue summonses
requiring the attendance of the
number of
persons qualified to serve as
assessors that the Court may
require.
(2) The summons shall be served
in the manner and within the
time prescribed by section 217.
(3) Section 214 shall apply in
the formation of a panel of
assessors.
229. Sheriff or deputy sheriff
to deliver paper to Court
The sheriff or the deputy
sheriff shall deliver to the
Court issuing the precept a
paper specifying the
names, occupations and places of
abode of the persons so
summoned.
230. Application of sections to
assessors
The provisions of sections 222,
223 and 224 relating to
punishment for non-attendance of
jurors and
section 226 relating to
exemption from service as jurors
shall apply to assessors as they
apply to jurors.
Arraignment: Supplementary
Provisions
231. Accused to be unfettered
An accused to be tried on an
indictment shall be placed at
the bar of the Court unfettered,
unless the
Court otherwise orders.
232. Separate trial and
postponement of trial
(1) Where before a trial on an
indictment or at any stage of
the trial, it appears to the
Court that the
indictment is defective or that
an order should be made for a
separate trial, the Court shall
make an order
for the amendment of the
indictment that the Court thinks
necessary to meet the
circumstances of the
case, and on the terms that the
Court considers just unless,
having regard to the merits of
the case, the
amendment cannot be made without
injustice.
(2) Where an indictment is
amended, a note of the order for
amendment shall be endorsed on
the
indictment, and the indictment
shall be treated for the purpose
of the proceedings in connection
with the
endorsement as having been filed
in the amended form.
(3) Where, before a trial on
indictment or at any stage of
the trial, the Court is of
opinion that the
accused may be prejudiced or
embarrassed in the accused’s
defence by reason of being
charged with more
than one offence in the same
indictment, or that for any
other reason it is desirable to
direct that the
accused should be tried
separately for one or more
offences charged in an
indictment, the Court may order
a separate trial of any of the
counts of the indictment.
(4) Where, before a trial on an
indictment or at any stage of
the trial the Court is of the
opinion that
the postponement of the trial of
the accused is expedient as a
consequence of the exercise of
the power of
the Court under this Act, the
Court shall make an order to
postpone the trial as appears
necessary.
(5) Where an order of the Court
is made under this section for a
separate trial or for
postponement of a
trial,
(a) if the order is made during
a trial with a jury or during a
trial with assessors, the Court
may
discharge the jury or the
assessors from giving a verdict
or opinions, on the count or
counts
the trial of which is postponed,
or on the indictment, and
(b) the procedure on the
separate trial of a count shall
be the same as if the count had
been found
in a separate indictment, and
the procedure on the postponed
trial shall be the same where
the jury or assessors, have been
discharged as if the trial had
not commenced; and
(c) the Court may make an order
admitting the accused to bail,
and as to the enlargement of
recognisances and otherwise as
the Court considers fit.
(6) A power of the Court under
this section is in addition to
and not in derogation of any
other power
of the Court for the same or
similar purposes.
233. Indictment not to be held
insufficient for certain
omissions
An indictment for an offence
shall not be held insufficient
for want of the averment of a
matter
unnecessary to be proved nor for
(a) omitting to state the time
at which the offence was
committed; or
(b) stating the time
imperfectly; or
(c) stating the offence to have
been committed on a date
subsequent to that of the
indictment, or
on an impossible day, or on a
day that never happened; or
(d) a want of the statement of
the value or price of a matter
or thing, or the amount of
damage,
injury or spoil, where the time,
value, or price, or the amount
of damage, injury or spoil is
not the essence of the offence.
234. Quashing indictment
(1) Where an indictment does not
state, and cannot by an
authorised amendment be made to
state, an
offence of which the accused can
be convicted, it shall be
quashed on a motion made before
the accused
pleads or on a motion made in
arrest of judgment.
(2) A written statement of the
motion shall be delivered to the
registrar or other officer of
the Court by
or on behalf of the accused and
shall be entered on the record.
235. Procedure in case of
previous convictions
(1) Where an indictment contains
a count which charges the
accused with an offence and a
further
count that the accused is by
reason of a previous conviction
liable to enhanced punishment or
to
punishment of a different kind
for the subsequent offence, the
procedure shall be as follows,
namely,
(a) the part of the indictment
stating the previous conviction
shall not be read out in Court,
nor
shall the accused be asked of
the previous convictions alleged
in the indictment, until the
accused has pleaded guilty to or
been convicted of the subsequent
offence;
(b) where the accused pleads
guilty to or is convicted of the
subsequent offence, the accused
shall then be asked whether
there has been a previous
conviction as alleged in the
indictment;
(c) where the accused admits a
previous conviction the Court
may proceed to pass sentence on
the accused accordingly, but if
the accused denies the previous
conviction, or refuses to or
does not answer the question,
the jury, or the Court and the
assessors, shall then hear
evidence concerning the previous
conviction; and it shall not be
necessary to swear the jurors
again.
236. Plea of “not guilty”
An accused, on being arraigned
on an indictment, by pleading
“not guilty” generally to the
indictment
places the onus on the
prosecution to establish the
guilt of the accused.
237. Plea of autrefois acquit
and autrefois convict
(1) An accused may, on an
indictment, plead
(a) that there has been a
previous conviction or acquittal
of the accused, of the same
offence; or
(b) that the President’s Pardon
has been obtained for the
offence.
(2) Where either of those pleas
is pleaded and denied to be true
in fact, the Court shall try
whether the
plea is true in fact or not.
(3) Where the Court holds that
the facts alleged by the accused
do not prove the plea, or if it
thinks
that it is false in fact, the
accused shall be required to
plead to the indictment.
(4) This section shall not
prevent an accused who has
pleaded “not guilty” from
raising any other
matter by way of defence.
238. Refusal to plead
(1) Where an accused who is
arraigned on, or charged with,
an indictment, stands mute of
malice, or
neither will, nor by reason of
infirmity can answer directly to
the indictment, the Court may
cause a plea
of “not guilty” to be entered on
behalf of the accused.
(2) A plea of “not guilty”
entered on behalf of the accused
shall have the same effect as if
the accused
had so pleaded, or else the
Court shall proceed to try the
accused, or where the case is
triable by jury
under section 242 or 245, cause
a jury to be empanelled to try
whether the accused is of a
sound or an
unsound mind.
(3) Where the accused is found
to be of sound mind the Court
shall proceed with the trial.
(4) Where the accused is found
to be of unsound mind the Court
shall proceed in the manner
provided
by section 133.
239. Plea of “guilty”
(1) A plea of guilty, when
recorded, constitutes a
conviction.
(2) Where an accused is
arraigned on an indictment for
an offence and can lawfully be
convicted on
the indictment of any other
offence not charged in the
indictment, the accused may
plead “not guilty” of
the offence charged in the
indictment but “guilty” of the
other offence.
(3) On the plea of guilty the
Court may, with the consent of
the prosecution, acquit the
accused of the
offence with which the accused
is charged and record the plea
of guilty to the other offence.
240. Proceedings after pleas of
“not guilty”
(1) Where the accused pleads
“not guilty”, or if a plea of
“not guilty” is entered, the
Court shall
proceed to choose jurors or
assessors, as directed to try
the case.
(2) Subject to the right of
objection the same jury may try,
or the same assessors may aid in
the trail
of, as many accused successively
as the Court considers fit.
241. Power to postpone or
adjourn proceedings
(1) Where, from the absence of
witnesses or any other
reasonable cause to be recorded
in the
proceedings, the Court considers
it necessary or advisable to
postpone the commencement of or
to
adjourn a trial, the Court may
postpone or adjourn it on the
term that it considers fit, for
the time that it
considers reasonable, and may by
warrant remand the accused to a
prison or any other place of
security.
(2) During a remand the Court
may at any time order the
accused to be brought before it.
(3) The Court may on a remand
admit the accused to bail.
Mode of Trial
242. Trial by jury where charge
not capital
(1) The Minister may, by
legislative instrument,
appropriate an offence or a
class of offences to be
tried with a jury.
(2) The legislative instrument
may apply to trials that take
place in a particular Region,
area or place
or generally throughout the
jurisdiction of the Court.
(3) A person charged with an
offence directed by a
legislative instrument to be
tried with a jury shall
be tried accordingly.
(4) On the application of the
accused or the Attorney-General
the Court may, if it considers
that the
ends of justice would be served
by doing so, direct that the
accused be tried with assessors
instead of a
jury, and on the making of the
order the accused shall be tried
by the Court with assessors.
243. Trial by the Court with
assessors
(1) A person charged with an
offence not triable by a jury
under section 245, and not
directed to be
tried by a jury under section
242, shall, subject to
subsection (2), be tried by the
Court with assessors.
(2) The Court before which the
trial is to be held may for
stated reasons direct that the
accused shall
be tried with a jury.
244. Composition of jury
In cases triable with a jury the
trial shall be with a jury of
seven persons.
245. Capital cases
Trials for offences punishable
by death shall be with a jury in
accordance with section 244.
Trial with a Jury
246. Names of jurors to be drawn
from ballot boxes
(1) At the sitting of the Court
to try criminal cases triable by
jury the names of the jurors
summoned
shall be written on separate
pieces of card or paper of equal
size and put into a box.
(2) Where a jury is required,
the registrar or other officer
of the Court shall, in open
Court, draw from
the box by lot until the
required number of jurors
appear.
(3) After just cause of
challenge is allowed those who
remain as fair and indifferent
shall constitute
the jury for the trial.
(4) This section shall be
followed when it is necessary to
form a new jury.
247. Provision for new jury
Where a case is brought on for
trial during the time that a
jury in any other case is
deliberating, a new
jury may be drawn from the
residue of the cards in the box.
248. Deficiency of jurors
(1) Where there is a deficiency
of jurors, or when the number of
trials before the Court renders
the
attendance of one set of jurors
for the whole of a session
oppressive, the Court may issue
fresh precepts.
(2) The subject to rights of
challenge, the Court shall put
on the jury so many of the
bystanders as
shall be sufficient to make up
the full number of the jury.
(3) It shall not be an objection
to a tales man that the tales’
name is not on a jurors list.
249. Warning accused to
challenge
When the jurors, are ready to be
sworn, the registrar or any
other officer of the Court shall
address the
accused person as follows:
“The jurors who are to try you
are now about to be sworn; if
you object to any of them,
you must do so as they come to
the book to be sworn, and before
they are sworn, and you
shall be heard.”.
250. Peremptory challenge
There shall not be a challenge
to the array, but an accused,
personally or by counsel, shall
be allowed
to challenge three of the jurors
by way of peremptory challenge
without assigning a cause.
251. Challenges for cause
Challenges for cause shall be
allowed on any of the following
grounds:
(a) a presumed or actual
partiality or a prejudice in the
juror, as standing in the
relation of
husband, wife, master or
servant, landlord or tenant,
(i) to the accused,
(ii) to a person supposed to
have been injured or affected by
the acts complained of,
(iii) to the person on whose
complaint the prosecution was
instituted;
(iv) to a person who is in the
employment of a person who is a
plaintiff or defendant
against any other person in a
civil suit, or having complained
against or having been
accused by a person in a
criminal prosecution, or
entertaining prejudicial views
on the
case to be tried;
(b) a personal cause, of
infancy, old age, deafness,
blindness, infirmity, or
ill-health;
(c) that the juror has been
convicted for perjury or any
other offence, disqualifying the
juror
from acting as a juror;
(d) that the juror does not
understand the English language.
252. Trial of challenges for
cause
A challenge for cause, if
objected to by the opposite
party, shall be tried and
determined by the Court
without a jury, and the person
challenged shall be examined on
oath, and shall be required to
answer on
oath the lawful questions
relating to the trial of the
challenge.
253. Foreman of jury
(1) When the jurors have been
chosen they shall be sworn.
(2) When the jurors have been
sworn they shall appoint one of
their number to be foreman.
(3) Where a majority of the jury
do not, within the time that the
Court considers reasonable,
agree to
the appointment of a foreman,
the foreman shall be appointed
by the Court.
254. Duty of foreman
The foreman shall preside at the
meetings of the jury for
consideration and ask
information from the
Court that is required by the
jury or any of the jurors.
255. Giving the accused in
charge
The jury having been sworn to
give a true verdict according to
the evidence on the issues to be
tried by
them, and having elected a
foreman, the proper officer of
the Court shall inform them of
the charge set
forth in the indictment, and of
their duty as jurors on the
trial.
256. Illness of accused
Where during a trial the
accused, in the opinion of the
Court, becomes incapable,
through sickness or
any other sufficient cause, of
remaining at the bar, the Court
may discharge the jury and
adjourn the trial.
257. Absence of a juror, trial
postponed, or fresh jury called
(1) Where in the course of a
trial, at any time prior to the
delivery of the verdict, a juror
from a
sufficient cause is prevented
from attending through the
trial, or from further
attendance at the time, or if
a juror is absent and the
further attendance of the juror
cannot be immediately enforced,
the Court may
postpone the trial till the
juror can attend, if within a
reasonable time.
(2) Where the attendance of the
juror cannot be procured within
a reasonable time the Court may
direct that
(a) a juror be added and the
jury resworn, or
(b) the jury be discharged, and
a new jury empanelled,
and in either case the trial
shall commence anew.
258. When jury to be kept
together
(1) It is not necessary to keep
the jury together during an
adjournment previous to the
close of the
Justice’s summing up; but the
Court may, in the interests of
justice in a trial, require the
jury to be kept
together during an adjournment.
(2) When the jury have retired
to consider their verdict, the
Court may give the directions
that it
considers fit with respect to
their accommodation, custody and
refreshment.
259. Jurors to attend
adjournment
Where a trial is adjourned, the
jurors shall be required to
attend at the adjourned sitting
and at every
subsequent sitting until the
conclusion of the trial.
Trial with Assessors
260. Selection of assessors
(1) In trial with the aid of
assessors, the Justice shall
select from the persons summoned
to act as
assessors a number, not being
ordinarily less than three, that
the Justice thinks fit to assist
in the trial.
(2) A person charged may object
to an assessor so appointed and
the Court shall refuse to allow
that
assessor to sit if the grounds
for the objection are
substantial and reasonable.
261. Effect of decision of Court
and assessors
In a trial with the aid of
assessors the decision of the
Justice in respect of the
matters arising which in
the case of a trial by jury
would be left to the decision of
the jurors, shall have the same
force and effect
as the finding or verdict of a
jury.
262. Where an assessor unable to
attend trial may proceed
(1) Where in the course of a
trial with the aid of assessors,
at any time prior to the
finding, an assessor
from a sufficient cause is
prevented from attending
throughout the trial, the trial
shall proceed with the aid
of the remaining assessors.
(2) Where two or more assessors
are prevented from attending or
absent themselves, the
proceedings
shall be stayed, and a new trial
shall be held with the aid of
fresh assessors.
263. Adjournment
(1) The Court may adjourn the
trial, where necessary.
(2) In the event of an
adjournment the assessors shall
be required to attend at the
adjourned sitting,
and at every subsequent sitting
till the conclusion of the
trial.
264. Decision
(1) The opinion of each assessor
shall be given orally, and shall
be recorded in writing by the
Court,
but the decision shall be vested
exclusively in the Justice.
(2) An assessor who dissents
from a decision of the Court may
have the dissent and the grounds
of the
dissent recorded in the minutes.
Case for the Prosecution
265. Opening of case for
prosecution
In a trial before a Justice with
the aid of assessors where the
accused has pleaded to the
indictment or,
in a trial by jury, the where
accused has been given in charge
of the jury, counsel for the
prosecution shall
open the case against the
accused and shall call witnesses
and adduce evidence in support
of the charge.
266. Additional witnesses for
prosecution
(1) Where the Attorney-General
is of opinion that there is in a
case committed for trial a
material or
necessary witness other than
those mentioned in the summary
of evidence, the
Attorney-General may call
the witness before the trial
Court on giving to the registrar
of the Court and to the accused
notice of the
intention to call the witness
before the trial Court together
with a summary of the evidence
to be given by
the witness.
(2) The Court shall determine
what notice is reasonable, with
regard to the time when and the
circumstances under which the
prosecution became acquainted
with the nature of the witness’s
evidence
and determined to call the
witness as a witness.
(3) A notice need not be given
where the prosecution first
became aware of the evidence
which the
witness could give on the day on
which the witness is called.
(4) Where in pursuance of
section 121 a medical
practitioner’s or analyst’s
report has been tendered
as evidence at the preliminary
hearing it shall not be
necessary for the prosecution to
give notice to the
accused of its intention to call
the writer of the report as a
witness.
267. Cross-examination of
witnesses for the prosecution
Repealed.49(52)
268. Police statement
(1) At any time before, or
during the course of, the trial,
the accused may require the
police to deliver
to the accused a copy of a
statement taken by them from a
person who is listed in the
summary of
evidence or in a supplementary
summary or is actually called on
as witness.
(2) Where a witness is
cross-examined at the trial on
behalf of the accused on a part
of the witness’s
statement to the police, the
prosecution may furnish the
Court with a copy of the
statement which shall
become part of the record of the
trial.
(3) The statement shall not
become evidence of the facts
alleged but the Justice and jury
may take it
into account in assessing the
credibility of the witness on
the witness’s evidence as a
whole, and the
prosecution and the defence are
entitled to refer to it in
examining or cross-examining a
witness and in
addressing the Court.
269. Proof of statement of
accused in lower Court
(1) The statement of the accused
duly recorded by or before the
committing Court, and whether
signed by the accused or not,
may be given in evidence without
further proof of the statement
by the
prosecution, unless it is proved
that the Magistrate purporting
to sign it did not in fact sign
it.
(2) Where the prosecution does
not put in the statement, the
Justice, on the application of
the defence,
may order the statement to be
read at the conclusion of the
prosecution evidence as part of
the prosecution
case.
270. Dying declaration
Repealed.50(53)
271. Consideration of case to
answer
The Justice may consider at the
conclusion of the case for the
prosecution whether there is a
case for
submission to the jury, and if
of the opinion that a case has
not been made that the accused
has committed
an offence of which the accused
could be lawfully convicted on
the indictment on which the
accused is
being tried, the Justice shall
direct the jury to enter a
verdict of not guilty and shall
acquit the accused.
Case for the Defence
272. Judge to inform undefended
accused of accused’s rights
(1) At the close of the evidence
for the prosecution and after
the statement of the accused
before the
committing Court has been given
in evidence, the trial Court
shall in cases where the accused
is not
defended by counsel inform the
accused
(a) of the right to address the
Court,
(b) on the right to give
evidence on the accused’s own
behalf or to make an unsworn
statement,
and
(c) of the right to call
witnesses in defence of the
accused, and
shall require the accused or
counsel of the accused to state
whether it is intended call
witnesses as to fact
other than the accused.
(2) On the accused being so
informed the Justice shall
record the fact and shall then
observe the
appropriate procedure set out in
section 273.
273. Procedure to be followed
where accused is undefended
(1) Where the accused is not
defended by counsel and states
the intention not to call a
witness as to
the facts, the Court shall call
on the accused to make a
statement or say nothing or give
evidence on oath
as to the facts, and after
cross-examination of the witness
the accused shall be permitted
to address the
Court and to call any witnesses
as to character.
(2) Where the accused is not
defended by counsel but states
the intention to call other
witnesses, the
Court shall call upon the
accused to open the accused’s
case.
(3) At the conclusion of the
evidence for the defence the
accused shall be permitted to
sum up the case
of the accused to the Court and
counsel for the prosecution is
entitled to reply.
274. Where accused is defended
(1) Where the accused is
defended by counsel who states
that a witness as to the facts
will not be
called except the accused, the
Court shall require the accused
to make an unsworn statement or
give
evidence, and subsequently
counsel for the prosecution may
address the Court and counsel
for the
defence may reply and shall then
call a witness as to the
character of the accused.
(2) Where the accused is
defended by counsel who states
the intention to call witnesses
other than the
accused, the Court shall call on
the accused’s counsel to open
the case; and at the conclusion
of the
evidence for the defence,
counsel for the accused may
address the Court and counsel
for the prosecution
may reply.
(3) Where two or more accused
are jointly tried and some
accused are defended by counsel
and others
are not, the Court shall for the
purpose of procedure consider
that all of the accused are
defended by
counsel.
275. Additional witnesses to the
defence
(1) The accused shall be allowed
to examine the witness, although
not previously bound over to
give
evidence and if the accused is
of the understanding that the
witness will not attend the
trial voluntarily,
the accused is entitled to apply
for the issue of process to
compel the witness’s attendance.
(2) An accused is not be
entitled to an adjournment to
secure the attendance of a
witness, unless the
accused shows that by reasonable
diligence earlier steps taken
could not obtain the presence of
the
witness.
276. Evidence by prosecution in
rebuttal
(1) At the close of the evidence
for the defence, or, where it is
sought to rebut evidence of good
character, after evidence of
good character has been given,
the Court may, on the
application of counsel
for the prosecution, grant
counsel leave to call evidence
to disprove new facts set up by
the evidence.
(2) Where the evidence in
rebuttal is given, counsel for
the defence is entitled to
comment on the
evidence so given.
Close of Hearing
Trials by Jury
277. Summing up by Justice
When, in a trial before a jury,
the case on both sides is
closed, the justice shall, if
necessary, sum up
the law and evidence in the
case.
278. Duty of Justice
(1) For the purposes of this
Act, the Justice
(a) shall decide the questions
of law arising in the course of
trial, and especially the
questions as
to the relevancy of facts which
it is proposed to prove and the
admissibility of evidence or
the propriety of questions asked
by or on behalf of the parties,
and, may prevent the
production of inadmissible
evidence whether or not it is
not objected to by the parties;
(b) shall decide on the meaning
and construction of the
documents given in evidence at
the trial;
(c) shall decide on the matters
of fact which it may be
necessary to prove in order to
enable
evidence of particular matter to
be given;
(d) shall decide whether a
question which arises is for the
Justice personally or for the
jury, and
on this point the Justice’s
decision binds the jurors.
(2) The Justice may, in the
course of summing up, express to
the jury a personal opinion on a
question
of fact or on a question of
mixed law and fact relevant to
the proceedings.
279. Duty of jury
It is duty of the jury
(a) to decide which view of the
facts is true and then to return
the verdict which, under that
view, ought, according to the
direction of the Justice, to be
returned;
(b) to determine the meaning of
the technical terms other than
terms of law and words used in
an
unusual sense, which it may be
necessary to determine, whether
the words occur in
documents or not;
(c) to decide the questions
which according to law, are to
be deemed questions of fact;
(d) to decide whether general
indefinite expressions do or do
not apply to particular cases,
unless
the expressions refer to legal
procedure, or unless their
meaning is ascertained by law,
in
either of which cases it is the
duty of the Justice to decide
their meaning.
280. Jury to consider verdict
(1) After the summing up, the
jury shall consider their
verdict, and for that purpose
may retire.
(2) Except with the leave of the
Court, a person other than a
juror shall not speak to or hold
a
communication with a member the
jury while the jury are
considering their verdict.
281. Delivery of verdict
When the jury have considered
their verdict, the foreman shall
inform the Justice what is their
verdict,
or that they are not unanimous.
282. Procedure where jury differ
(1) Where the jury are not
unanimous, the Justice may
require them to retire for
further consideration.
(2) After a period that the
Justice considers reasonable,
the jury may deliver their
verdict, or state that
they are not unanimous.
283. Verdict on each charge
(1) Unless otherwise ordered by
the Court, the jury shall return
a verdict on the charges on
which the
accused is tried, and the
Justice may ask them the
questions that are necessary to
ascertain what their
verdict is.
(2) The questions and the
answers to them shall be
recorded.
284. Amending a verdict
When by accident or mistake a
wrong verdict is delivered, the
jury may, before or immediately
after it
is recorded, amend the verdict,
and it shall stand as ultimately
amended.
285. Action on verdict
(1) When the jury are unanimous
in their opinion, the Justice
shall give judgment in
accordance with
that verdict.
(2) Where the accused is found
not guilty, the Justice shall
record a judgment of acquittal.
(3) Where the accused is found
guilty, the Justice shall pass
sentence on the accused
according to law.
(4) Where the jury are not
unanimous in their opinion, the
Justice shall, after the lapse
of a time that
the Justice considers
reasonable, discharge the jury,
but a verdict of a majority of
not less than five to two
shall, in respect of an offence
which is not punishable by
death, be held, taken to be, and
received by the
Court as the verdict of the
whole jury.
286. Retrial of accused after
discharge of jury
Where the jury is discharged,
the accused shall be detained in
custody or released on bail, and
shall be
tried by another jury.
Cases Tried with Assessors
287. Delivery of opinions by
assessors
(1) When, in a case tried with
assessors, the case on both
sides is closed, the Justice may
sum up the
evidence for the prosecution and
the defence, and shall then
require each of the assessors to
state a
personal opinion orally, and
shall record their opinions.
(2) The Justice shall then give
judgment, and in so doing is not
bound to conform with the
opinions of
the assessors, but shall record
a personal judgment in writing.
(3) The judgment shall contain
the point or points for
determination, the decision of
the judgment and
the reasons for the decision,
and shall be dated and signed by
the Justice at the time of
pronouncing it.
(4) Where the accused is
convicted, the Justice shall
pass sentence on the accused
according to law.
Passing Sentence
288. Calling on the accused
(1) Where the jury finds the
accused guilty or if the Justice
sitting with assessors convicts
the accused,
or if the accused pleads guilty,
the registrar or other officer
of the Court shall ask the
accused whether the
accused has anything to say why
sentence should not be passed
according to law.
(2) The omission so to ask the
accused that question shall
affect the validity of the
proceedings.
289. Motion in arrest of
judgment
(1) The accused may, at any time
before sentence, whether on the
plea of guilty or otherwise,
move in
arrest of judgment on the ground
that the indictment does not,
after an amendment which the
Court has
made and had power to make,
state an offence which the Court
has power to try.
(2) The Court may hear and
determine the matter during the
same sitting, or adjourn the
hearing to a
future time to be fixed for that
purpose.
(3) Where the Court decides in
favour of the accused, the
accused shall be discharged from
the
indictment, but the discharge
shall not operate as a bar to
subsequent proceedings against
the accused on
the same facts.
290. Sentence
Where a motion in arrest of
judgment is not made, or where
the Court decides against the
accused on
the motion, the Court may
sentence the accused at any time
during the session.
291. Power to reserve decision
on question raised at trial
The Court before which a person
is tried for an offence may
reserve the giving of its final
decision on
questions raised at the trial,
and its decision when given
shall be considered as given at
the time of trial.
292. Objections cured by verdict
A judgment shall not be stayed
or reserved on the ground of an
objection, which if stated after
the
indictment was read over to the
accused, or during the progress
of the trial, might have been
amended by
the Court, nor
(a) because of an error
committed in the summoning or
swearing the jury or any of
them;
(b) because a person who has
served on the jury was not
qualified to sit as a juror;
(c) because of an objection
which might have been stated as
a ground of challenge of any of
the
jurors;
(d) for an informality in
swearing the witnesses or any of
them.
293. Evidence for arriving at a
proper sentence
The Court may before passing
sentence, receive evidence it
considers fit, in order to
inform itself as to
the sentence proper to be
passed.
PART SIX
Punishments
Different Kinds of Punishment
294. Different kinds of
punishment
The following punishments may be
inflicted for offences:
(a) death;
(b) imprisonment;
(c) detention;
(d) fine;
(e) payment of compensation;
(f) liability to police
supervision.
295. Death sentence not to be
pronounced on juvenile
(1) Sentence of death shall not
be pronounced on or recorded
against a juvenile offender,
namely, an
offender who, in the opinion of
the Court, is under the age of
seventeen years.
(2) In lieu of the death
sentence the Court shall order
the detention of the juvenile
during the pleasure
of the President and the
juvenile shall be detained in a
place and manner which is legal
custody.
296. General rules for
punishment
(1) Where a criminal offence is
declared by an enactment to be a
first degree felony and the
punishment for that offence is
not specified, a person
convicted of that offence is
liable to imprisonment
for life or any lesser term.
(2) Where a criminal offence
which is not an offence
mentioned in subsection (5), is
declared by an
enactment to be a second degree
felony and the punishment for
that offence is not specified, a
person
convicted of that offence is
liable to a term of imprisonment
not exceeding ten years.
(3) Where a criminal offence is
declared by an enactment to be a
felony without specifying
whether it
is a first or second degree
felony, and the punishment for
that offence is not specified it
shall be deemed
to be a second degree felony.
(4) Where a criminal offence
which is not an offence
mentioned in subsection (5), is
declared by an
enactment to be a misdemeanour
and the punishment for that
offence is not specified, a
person convicted
of that offence is liable to a
term of imprisonment not
exceeding three years.
(5) A person convicted of a
criminal offence under any of
the following sections of the
Criminal
Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29),
that is to say, sections 124,
128, 131, 138, 145, 151, 152,
154, 158, 165,
239, 252, 253, and 260 is liable
to a term of imprisonment not
exceeding twenty-five years.
(6) A term of imprisonment shall
be with hard labour unless, in
the case of a sentence of less
than
three years, the Court otherwise
directs.
297. Rules relating to fines
(1) Where a person is convicted
of a felony or a misdemeanour or
of an offence punishable by
imprisonment other than an
offence for which the sentence
is fixed by law, the Court may
sentence that
person to a fine in addition to
or in lieu of any other
punishment to which that person
is liable.
(2) Where the amount of the fine
which a person may be sentenced
to pay on conviction is not
expressly limited, the amount of
fine shall, subject to the
limitations on the powers of the
Court, be in the
discretion of the Court, but
shall not be excessive.
(3) Where a person convicted of
an offence is sentenced to pay a
fine the Court may direct that
if that
person fails to pay the fine
within the time appointed for
payment that person shall suffer
imprisonment
until it is paid.
(4) The imprisonment to which a
person is sentenced under
subsection (3) shall be in
addition to any
other imprisonment to which that
person is sentenced, and in the
case of a felony or misdemeanour
shall
not exceed three years and in
any other case shall not exceed
twelve months.51(54)
(5) Where a fine is imposed by a
Court exercising summary
jurisdiction or at a trial on
indictment,
and before the expiration of the
term of imprisonment fixed in
default of payment, a proportion
of the fine
is paid or levied and the term
of imprisonment suffered in
default of payment is not less
than proportional
to the part of the fine still
unpaid, the imprisonment shall
terminate.
298. Consequences of
imprisonment for three years or
more
(1) Where a person is convicted
of an offence, and is sentenced
to imprisonment of not less than
three
years, then unless the Court
otherwise orders,
(a) a public office held by that
person within the jurisdiction
of the Court shall forthwith
become
vacant; and
(b) a pension, superannuation
allowance, or an emolument
payable to that person out of
the
public revenues or out of a
public fund, or chargeable on a
rate or tax, and an accruing
right
to that pension, allowance or
emolument, shall determine and
be forfeited from the date of
the conviction.
(2) The consequences mentioned
in subsection (1) shall not
ensue in the case of a person
who, at the
time of committing the criminal
offence of which that person is
convicted, was a juvenile.52(55)
(3) A person who receives a
pardon is, unless the pardon
otherwise directs, relieved from
the
consequences mentioned in this
section, except as to an office
of employment which, having been
vacated
under this section, has been
filled up before the receipt of
the pardon.
299. Recognisance for keeping
the peace
(1) The Court before which a
person is convicted of an
offence other than an offence
for which the
sentence is fixed by law may,
according to the circumstances
of the case, order that person
in place of or
in addition to any other
punishment, to enter into
recognisance, with or without
sureties, for keeping the
peace and to be of good
behaviour.
(2) In default of entering into
recognisance with or without
sureties, that person shall be
imprisoned,
in addition to the term of
imprisonment to which that
person is sentenced, for a term
not exceeding six
months and not exceeding the
term for which that person is
convicted or, if a term of
imprisonment is not
specified, for a term not
exceeding two months.
300. Previous convictions
(1) Where a person, having been
convicted of a criminal offence,
is again convicted of a criminal
offence that person is liable to
increased punishment provided in
the Table annexed to this
section and the
notes to it or to a period of
detention in this Act called
“preventive custody” under Part
Thirteen.
(2) Subsection (1), and the
contents of the Table annexed to
this section shall not exempt a
person
from a liability to which that
person is subject under an
enactment, to death or to a
greater or any other
punishment than the punishment
mentioned in the Table, and a
punishment to which that person
is liable
may be inflicted in addition to
the punishments mentioned in the
Table.
(3) This section, and the
contents of the Table, shall not
apply to libel, or to any other
act which is a
criminal offence on the ground
of negligence.
(4) A conviction of a person for
a criminal offence committed by
that person before attaining the
age
of eighteen years shall not be
admitted in evidence against
that person for the purposes of
the Table after
that person has attained the age
of twenty years.
TABLE
Scale of Increased Punishments
for Repetition of Crime
Nature of conviction Nature of
previous
convictions
Punishment to be
substituted for the
punishment prescribed
Summary conviction for
criminal offence.
Conviction for
misdemeanour
Conviction for a second
degree felony.
A conviction for a similar
criminal offence.
A conviction for a similar
misdemeanour; or for a
similar felony; or two
summary convictions for
similar criminal offence
A conviction for a felony;
or a conviction for a similar
misdemeanour for which a
sentence of more than six
months’ imprisonment was
passed.
Twice the maximum
imprisonment and twice
the maximum fine which
might otherwise be
inflicted.
Imprisonment for five
years in the discretion of
the Court.
Imprisonment for fourteen
years; and, if the Court so
directs, police supervision
for not more than five
years.
Notes to the Table
(1)
In this Table, and in the notes,
expressions referring to a
criminal offence include
attempts to commit and abetments
of the criminal offence.
(2)
Where a person has, in a part of
the Commonwealth beyond the
jurisdiction of the
Courts, been convicted of
felony, or has, within the
jurisdiction of the Courts, been
convicted of a felony committed
or commenced before the
commencement of this Act,
the conviction shall have the
same effect as if it had taken
place under this Act.
(3)
A criminal offence which is
punishable under a Chapter of
the Criminal Offences Act
is similar to every other
criminal offence punishable
under the same Chapter. A
criminal offence punishable
under Chapters 2, 3 and 4 of
Part Two of the Criminal
Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) is
similar to every other criminal
offence punishable
under the same Chapters. A
criminal offence punishable
under Chapters 1 and 2 of
Part Three of the Criminal
Offences Act is similar to every
other criminal offence
punishable under either of those
Chapters. In any other case the
question whether one
criminal offence is similar to
another is a question of law the
Court should decide.
301. Sentences consecutive
unless the Court otherwise
directs
Where a person after conviction
for a criminal offence is
convicted of a different
criminal offence,
before sentence is passed on
that person under the first
conviction or before the
expiration of that
sentence, a sentence which is
passed on that person under the
subsequent conviction, shall be
executed
after the expiration of the
first sentence, unless the Court
directs that it shall be
executed concurrently
with the first sentence or a
part of it.
302. Several crimes, or several
acts done in execution of one
criminal purpose
With respect to cases where one
act constitutes several criminal
offences or where several acts
are
done in execution of one
criminal purpose, the following
provisions shall have effect:
(a) where a person does several
acts against or in respect of
one person or thing, each of
which
is a criminal offence but the
whole of which acts are done in
execution of the same design,
and in the opinion of the Court
before which that person is
tried, form one continuous
transaction, that person may be
punished for the whole of the
acts as one criminal offence, or
for anyone or several of those
acts as one criminal offence,
and all the acts may be taken
into
consideration in awarding
punishment, but that person is
not liable to separate
punishments
as for several criminal
offences; and
(b) where a person by one act
assaults, harms or kills several
persons, or in any manner causes
injury to several persons or
things, that person is
punishable only in respect of
one of the
persons so assaulted, harmed or
killed, or of the persons or
things to which injury is so
caused, but in awarding
punishment the Court may take
into consideration all of the
intended
or probable consequences of the
criminal offence.
Illustrations
1.
A steals the master’s money,
and, in order to escape
detection, falsifies the
accounts kept by
A for the master. Here A ought
not to be punished both under
section 124 and also under
section 140 of the Criminal
Offences Act; but the Court may,
in awarding punishment for the
stealing, take into
consideration the falsification,
or vice versa.
2.
A assaults B and strikes B ten
blows in immediate succession.
Here A is not liable to be
convicted of ten assaults, and
sentenced to ten terms of
imprisonment. However, the Court
may properly pass a more severe
sentence than it would have
passed for a single blow.
3.
A signalman on a railway, by one
act of negligence, causes the
death of or injuries to several
persons. That signalman cannot
be sentenced to several
punishments in respect of the
deaths
of or injuries to each or
several of those persons.
4.
A person by one act wilfully
poisons several cattle. That
persons cannot be separately
punished for each, but the
Court, in considering the amount
of the punishment to be
awarded, may take into
consideration the number of the
cattle wilfully injured or
destroyed.
303.
Saving in respect of concurrent
sentences
(1) The Court may pass on a
person convicted, at one or more
trials of any two or more
offences, a
separate sentence in respect of
which section 302 imposes
certain restrictions in regard
to punishment,
and the separate sentences, if
sentences of imprisonment, shall
run concurrently and not
consecutively,
and, if sentences of fines,
shall not operate in a manner
that imposes the fines
cumulatively.
(2) Subsection (1) is without
prejudice to section 302.
PART SEVEN
Proceedings after Trial
Capital Sentences
304.
Forms of sentence of death
(1) A sentence of death shall
direct that the person condemned
shall suffer death in accordance
with
this section, but need not state
the place of execution.
(2) A certificate signed by the
registrar that sentence of death
has been passed and naming the
person
sentenced, is sufficient
authority for the detention of
that person.
(3) The execution may be by
hanging, lethal injection,
electrocution, gas chamber or
any other
method determined by the
Court.53(56)
305. Accused to be informed of
right to appeal
When an accused is sentenced to
death the Court shall inform the
accused of the period within
which
the accused should file an
appeal.
306. Where body of person
executed to be buried
The body of a person executed
shall be buried in a place that
the sentence of the Court
directs and the
Minister orders.
307. Justice to report to
Minister
As soon as conveniently may be
after the sentence of death has
been pronounced, where an appeal
from the sentence is not filed,
or, where an appeal is filed and
the sentence is confirmed, then
as soon as
conveniently may be after
confirmation, the presiding
Justice shall forward to the
Minister a copy of the
minutes, the notes of evidence
taken and the full record of
trial, with a report in writing
signed by the
Justice, containing the
recommendations or observations
on the case which the Justice
thinks fit to make.
308. Communication of the order
of the Minister
The Minister shall communicate
to the Court a copy of the order
the President or the Minister
may
make, which order, if the
sentence is to be carried out,
shall state the place and time
where the execution
is to be had, and, if the
sentence is commuted into any
other punishment, shall state
what punishment, or,
if the person sentenced is
pardoned, shall state the fact.
309. Form of order
(1) The Minister shall issue a
death warrant, or an order for
the sentence of death to be
commuted, or
a pardon, signed personally by
the Minister and under the
presidential seal to give effect
to the decision.
(2) Where the sentence of death
is to be carried out, the
warrant shall state the place
and time of the
execution, and shall give
directions as to the place of
burial of the body of the person
executed.
(3) Where the sentence is
commuted for any other
punishment, the order shall
specify that
punishment.
(4) Where a person sentenced is
pardoned the pardon shall state
whether it is free, or to what
conditions it is subject.
(5) The warrant may direct that
the execution shall take place
at a specified time and place
and that
the body of the person executed
shall be buried at the place
appointed by an officer
specified in the order.
(6) The specified officer shall
endorse on the warrant over the
officer’s signature the place
and time of
the execution and the place of
burial or some one or more of
them according to the terms of
the warrant.
310. Warrant to be executed by
Director of Prisons or other
officers
(1) Where the sentence is to be
carried out at Accra, the
warrant shall be directed to the
Director of
Prisons; and where it is to be
carried out elsewhere the
warrant shall be directed to the
officer prescribed
by the Minister.
(2) The Director of Prisons or
officer directed to act shall
proceed to act in accordance
with the
warrant.
311. Order to be sufficient
authority
The warrant or order or pardon
of the President under the
signature of the Minister and
the presidential
seal is sufficient authority in
law to the persons to whom it is
directed to execute the sentence
of death or
the punishment awarded and to
carry out the direction given in
accordance with the terms of the
sentence
or the punishment.
312. Enquiry into pregnancy of
woman
(1) Where a woman is convicted
of an offence punishable by
death, the Court shall order
that the
woman be tested for pregnancy
unless the Court has reasonable
grounds to believe that the
woman is
post-menopausal.
(2) Where the woman tests
positive for pregnancy, the
Court shall pass on her a
sentence of
imprisonment.
(3) A pregnant woman sentenced
to imprisonment for life shall
be detained in a place where her
health needs can be met and
arrangements shall be made by
the Prison Service in
consultation with the
social welfare department of the
District Assembly to ensure that
after delivery her child does
not remain
in prison.54(57)
Sentences Other than Capital
313. Application
The following provisions
respecting sentences and their
execution apply in the case of
convictions and
orders on summary trial, and in
the case of sentences on trial
on indictment.
313A. Pregnant woman convicted
of a non-capital offence
(1) Where a woman is convicted
of a non-capital, offence, the
Court shall order that the woman
be
tested for pregnancy unless the
Court has reasonable grounds to
believe that the woman is
post-menopausal.
(2) Where the woman tests
positive for pregnancy, the
Court shall pass on her a
non-custodial
sentence or may suspend the
sentence for a period that it
may determine.
(3) Where the sentence is
suspended, the Court shall
explain to the offender in
ordinary language that
if another offence is committed
during the period of the
suspension she will be liable to
serve the sentence
for the original offence in
addition to the sentence for the
new offence.55(58)
314. Persons under 15 not to be
sentenced to imprisonment
A Court shall not impose a
sentence of imprisonment on a
person who is under the age of
fifteen
years, or in the case of a
District Court, under the age of
seventeen years.
315. Warrants to be issued in
respect of sentence of
imprisonment
(1) Where a person is sentenced
to a term of imprisonment, the
Court which sentenced that
person
shall issue a warrant of
commitment ordering the carrying
out of the sentence in a prison
in the Republic.
(2) The warrant is the authority
to the police and prison
officers to take, convey, and
keep that person
and to any other person for
carrying into effect the
sentence described in the
warrant.
(3) A sentence of imprisonment
commence on and includes the day
on which it is pronounced.
(4) Where the accused is
confined in a prison in
pursuance of the warrant, the
superintendent in
charge of the prison shall have
the custody of the warrant, and
on the release of the prisoner,
the
superintendent shall endorse the
date of the prisoner’s release
on the warrant and shall return
the warrant
to the Court which issued it.
316. Persons sentenced to fine
may be searched for money to pay
fine
(1) Where a Court adjudges money
to be paid by an accused, for
fine, penalty, compensation,
costs, or
otherwise, and the accused is
then and there before the Court,
the Court may order a search and
money
found on the accused on arrest
or when so searched or which may
be found on the accused when
taken to
prison in default of payment of
the sum of money so adjudged to
be paid, may, unless the Court
otherwise
directs, be applied towards the
payment of the sum of money
adjudged to be paid and the
surplus shall be
returned to the accused.
(2) The money shall not be
applied where the Court is
satisfied that the money does
not belong to the
person on whom it was found, or
that the loss of the money will
be more injurious to the
person’s family
than that person’s imprisonment.
317. Levy of fine by distress
(1) Where a Court orders a
person to pay a sum of money by
way of fine, costs,
compensation, or
otherwise, the Court may,
subject to section 320 and in
addition to any other powers
conferred by section
318 or otherwise, take action to
recover that sum.
(2) The recovery of that sum
shall be by distress and sale
under a distress warrant on the
movable and
immovable property of that
person.
(3) The wearing apparel and
bedding of a person and that
person’s family, and to the
value of an
amount of money equivalent to
fifty penalty units, the tools
and implements of that person’s
trade, shall
not be taken under a distress
issued under this section.56(59)
(4) Where there is sufficient
movable property available to
satisfy the warrant, the
immovable
property shall not be sold.
(5) Where a person pays or
tenders to the person charged
with the execution of a warrant
of distress
the sum of money mentioned in
that warrant, or produces the
receipt for the same of the
Court issuing the
warrant, and also pays the
amount of the costs and charges
of the distress up to the time
of the payment or
tender, the warrant shall not be
executed.
(6) A warrant shall not be
issued or executed if the person
proved to pay the fine, costs,
compensation, or other penalty,
has undergone the whole of the
imprisonment ordered to be
suffered in
default of payment.
(7) A warrant under this section
may be executed within the area
of the jurisdiction of the Court
issuing the warrant, and it
shall authorise the distress and
sale of property belonging to a
person within
that area when endorsed by a
Magistrate holding a Court
within the area of jurisdiction
of the Court
where the property was found.
318. Suspension of execution of
sentence of imprisonment
(1) When an offender is
sentenced to a fine only and to
imprisonment in default of
payment of the
fine, and the Court issues a
warrant under section 317, it
may suspend the execution of the
sentence of
imprisonment and may release the
offender on the offender
executing a bond, with or
without sureties, as
the Court considers fit,
conditioned for the offender’s
appearance before the Court on a
date which is not
more than fifteen days from the
time of executing the bond.
(2) Where the fine is not paid,
the Court may direct the
sentence of imprisonment to be
carried into
execution at once, or may from
time to time extend the
operation of the bond for a
further period of not
more than fifteen days.
(3) Where an order for the
payment of money is made, on
non-recovery of which
imprisonment may
be awarded, and the money is not
paid forthwith, the Court may
require the person ordered to
make the
payment to enter into a bond as
prescribed under subsection (1),
and in default of so doing may
at once
pass sentence of imprisonment as
if the money has not been
recovered.
(4) The Court may direct that
money to which this section
applies may be paid by
instalments at the
times and in the amounts that
the Court considers fit.
(5) In default of payment of any
of the instalments the whole of
the amount outstanding shall
become
immediately due and payable, and
the provisions of this Act and
or the Criminal Offences Act,
1960 (Act
29) applicable to a sentence or
fine and to imprisonment in
default of payment shall apply
accordingly.
319. Commitment for warrant of
distress
Where the officer having the
execution of a warrant of
distress reports,
(a) that a property could not be
found, or
(b) that not sufficient property
could be found,
on which to levy the money
mentioned in the warrant with
expenses, the Court may by the
same or
subsequent warrant commit the
person ordered to pay, to
prison, with or without hard
labour, for a time
specified in the warrant, unless
the money and the expenses of
the distress, commitment, and
conveyance
to prison, to be specified in
the warrant are sooner paid.
320. Commitment in lieu of
distress
Where it appears to the Court
(a) that distress and sale of
property would be ruinous to the
person ordered to pay the money,
and to that person’s family, or
(b) that that person does not
have property on which distress
may be levied, or
(c) that there is sufficient
reason, to be recorded in the
minutes,
the Court may, instead of or
after issuing a warrant of
distress commit that person to
prison, for a time
specified in the warrant, unless
the money and the expenses of
the commitment and conveyance to
prison,
to be specified in the warrant,
are sooner paid.
321. Payment in full after
commitment
A person committed for
non-payment may pay the sum of
money mentioned in the warrant,
with the
amount of expenses authorised to
the person in whose custody that
person is, and the person having
the
custody of the other person
shall discharge that other
person from the custody, if that
person is in custody
for no other matter.
322. Part payment after
commitment
(1) Where a person committed to
prison for non-payment pays a
sum of money in part
satisfaction of
the sum of money adjudged to be
paid, the term of that person’s
imprisonment shall be reduced by
a
number of days bearing as nearly
as possible the same proportion
to the total number of days for
which
that person is committed as the
sum so paid bears to the sum of
which that person is liable.
(2) The officer in charge of a
prison in which a person is
confined who is desirous of
taking advantage
of subsection (1) shall, on
application made to the officer
by that prisoner, at once take
that prisoner
before a Court, and the Court
shall certify the amount by
which the term of imprisonment
originally
awarded is reduced by the
payment in part satisfaction,
and shall make the appropriate
order.
323. Issue of warrant
A warrant for the execution of a
sentence may be issued by the
Justice or Magistrate who passed
the
sentence or by the successor in
office.
PART EIGHT
Appeals
Appeals from District Courts
324. Where an appeal lies
Repealed.57(60)
325. Limitation
(1) An appeal shall be entered
within one month of the date of
the order or sentence appealed
against.58(61)
(2) The High Court may for good
cause admit an appeal though the
period of limitation prescribed
by
this section has elapsed.
326. Petition of appeal
(1) An appeal shall be made in
the form of a petition in
writing presented by the
appellant or the
appellant’s counsel.
(2) The petition shall, unless
the High Court otherwise
directs, be accompanied by a
copy of the
judgment or order appealed
against.
(3) Where the appellant is
represented by counsel, the
petition shall contain
particulars of the alleged
error of law or of fact on which
the appellant relies.
327. Appellant in prison
An appellant in prison may
present a petition of appeal and
the copies accompanying the
petition to
the officer in charge of the
prison, who shall immediately
forward the petition and copies
to the registrar
of the High Court.
328. Summary dismissal of appeal
(1) On receipt of the petition
and copy under section 326 or
327, the High Court shall peruse
it and
dismiss the appeal summarily
unless the Court is satisfied
that there are sufficient
grounds for interfering.
(2) Where the appellant is not
in custody an appeal shall not
be dismissed unless the
appellant or
counsel of the appellant has had
a reasonable opportunity of
being heard in support of the
appeal.
(3) Where the appellant is in
custody an appeal shall not be
dismissed unless the appellant’s
counsel
has had the opportunity of being
heard.
(4) Before dismissing an appeal
under this section, the Court
may call for the record of the
case, but is
not bound to do so.
329. Notice of time, place and
hearing
Where the High Court does not
dismiss the appeal summarily, it
shall cause notice to be given
to the
parties or their counsel, of the
time and place at which the
appeal will be heard, and shall
furnish the
respondent with a copy of the
proceedings and of the grounds
of appeal.
330. Power of Court
(1) The High Court shall send
for the record of the case, if
the record is not already in
Court.
(2) After perusing the record
and hearing the appellant or the
appellant’s counsel, if the
counsel
appears, and the respondent or
the respondent’s counsel, if the
counsel appears, the Court may
determine
the appeal in accordance with
law.
331. Order of High Court to be
certified to District Court
(1) Where a case is decided on
appeal by the High Court, the
Court shall certify its judgment
or order
to the Court by which the
conviction, sentence, or order
appealed against was recorded or
passed.
(2) The judgment shall be
recorded in writing and shall
contain the point or points for
determination,
the decision and the reason for
the decision, and shall be dated
and signed by the Justice at the
time of
pronouncing it.
(3) The Court to which the High
Court certifies its judgment or
order shall make the orders that
are
conformable to the judgment or
order of the High Court, and if
necessary, the records shall be
amended
accordingly.
332. Suspension of sentence
pending appeal
Repealed.59(62)
333. Further evidence
(1) In dealing with an appe | 
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