Results.
162 judgments found.
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| December 1938 |
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Whether a township management board owed a duty to fence an old gravel pit where a licensee fell while using a native track.
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Township law — definition of "street" and footway; highway by dedication or prescription; occupier's duty to licensee limited to warning of concealed danger; Quarry (Fencing) Act — proximity requirement; Mining Proclamation inapplicability; Townships Regulations non-retrospective/permits only.
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31 December 1938 |
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The Credit Sales to Natives Ordinance renders non‑certified credit contracts unenforceable in Northern Rhodesia; lex fori governs enforcement.
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Credit Sales to Natives Ordinance — statutory formalities — absence of District Officer’s certificate renders contract unenforceable (not void) in Northern Rhodesia — lex fori governs enforceability — Leroux v. Brown applied
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31 December 1938 |
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Conviction under s.82(b) requires an inducement within the Territory; recruitment abroad precludes liability and conviction was quashed.
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Employment of Natives Ordinance — s.82(a) and (b) — liability under s.82(b) requires prior inducement to proceed beyond the Territory — recruitment conducted abroad (outside Territory) precludes conviction under s.82.
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31 December 1938 |
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Subordinate Court III lacked jurisdiction to try murder; summary manslaughter convictions quashed and retrial ordered.
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Criminal procedure — Subordinate Court (Class III) — lack of jurisdiction to try murder (s.7(2) Criminal Procedure Code) — improper summary adjudication under s.210 — excess of jurisdiction — proceedings null and void — convictions quashed — retrial ordered; irregularities in preliminary inquiry.
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31 December 1938 |
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Making false plates and riding in the stolen car made the respondent an accessory before the fact.
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Theft — motor car — accessory before the fact — abetment by preparatory acts (selection, false number plates, participation) — presence at moment of removal not required — Penal Code s.21(b).
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31 December 1938 |
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Conviction for kidnapping upheld where servant lacked informed consent to removal beyond the Territory.
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Criminal law — Kidnapping — Penal Code s.223 — Essential element: absence of informed consent to conveyance beyond Territory — Consent must be deliberate and informed — Silence or passive acquiescence insufficient — Evidence of assault beyond border admissible to explain continuous offence.
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31 December 1938 |
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A magistrate must state the charge and record the accused's plea before summarily adjudicating under section 210.
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Criminal procedure — Preliminary inquiry — Amendment of charge from murder to manslaughter — Subordinate Court exercising s210 powers must state charge and call for plea per Part VI — Failure to record plea not necessarily fatal — No summary jurisdiction over manslaughter.
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31 December 1938 |
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Special finding of "guilty but insane" quashed where insanity at time of offence was not proved; conviction upheld and remitted for sentencing.
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Criminal law — Insanity defence — Penal Code s.13 and McNaughton rules — Special finding "guilty but insane" — Indeterminate detention — Review quashing special finding for lack of proof at time of offence.
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31 December 1938 |
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Article 3(6) was directory and cannot sustain criminal convictions under Penal Code section 107.
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Administrative law — Order in Council — Article 3(6) directory not penal — Criminal liability requires clear statutory basis — Penal Code s.107 (disobedience of statutory duty) inapplicable here — Public concern requirement for s.107 doubtful.
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31 December 1938 |
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Court reduced excessive aggregate imprisonment for multiple small-value thefts by a repeat offender to seven years six months.
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Criminal law — Sentencing discretion — Multiple convictions — Concurrent and consecutive sentences — Reduction of excessive aggregate term for repeat offender.
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31 December 1938 |
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Article 3(6) of the Order in Council is directory, not a criminal provision; convictions under s.107 were quashed.
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Administrative law — Crown Lands and Native Reserves (Tanganyika District) Order in Council 1929, Art 3(6) — directory not penal; Penal Code s.107 (disobedience of statutory duty) — inapplicable where duty is not criminal or matter of public concern; convictions quashed.
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31 December 1938 |
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Altering and tendering an out-of-date tax receipt as current constitutes uttering under Penal Code section 317, conviction upheld.
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Penal Code s.317 — Uttering a document the operation of which has ceased by effluxion of time — Altered native tax receipt — False document — Appropriate charge versus forgery (s.316) or making alteration (s.312).
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31 December 1938 |
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A deportation warrant must contain a clear operative command specifying the period; mere recital of a recommendation is insufficient.
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Deportation law — validity of deportation warrant — operative command must specify duration — recitals insufficient to prove period — Governor’s discretion over recommendations; form language ("warrant" v. "order") can cause confusion.
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31 December 1938 |
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A 12‑month hard‑labour sentence for an unplanned escape was deemed excessive and reduced to three months on review.
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Criminal law — Escape from lawful custody (Penal Code s.101) — Sentence severity and proper punishment under s.40 — Unplanned escape by a person of low intelligence — Role of prison authority’s extramural employment — Reduction of sentence on review.
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31 December 1938 |
| December 1937 |
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Where a native union is irregular, native law and the child’s interest may vest custody in the mother; such disputes suit Native Courts.
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Native law and custom — custody of infant of native union — effect of irregular native union on custody — consideration of child’s best interests — appropriate forum (Native Court or administrative officer rather than Resident Magistrate).
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31 December 1937 |
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A sentence sent for confirmation must be actually passed, not merely "recommended," and the High Court cannot impose a recommended sentence.
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Criminal procedure — Sentences submitted for High Court confirmation must be sentences actually passed, not mere recommendations — High Court revisional jurisdiction cannot impose a merely recommended sentence — s.197A Criminal Procedure Code: power to commit accused (apparent age 17+) to High Court for sentence.
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31 December 1937 |
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Sharing one's wife for payment, without evidence of promiscuity, is insufficient to prove the applicant lived off prostitution.
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Penal Code s127(1)(a) — living on earnings of prostitution — definition of 'prostitution' — exclusivity versus promiscuity — insufficiency of evidence — native custom irrelevant absent proof of offence.
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31 December 1937 |
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Conviction for cheating requires that the fraudulent misrepresentation directly induced the obtaining; prosecutors should not pursue doubtful charges.
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Penal Code s.280 — cheating — requirement that property be obtained directly by fraudulent trick; prosecutor’s duty to decline doubtful prosecutions; complainant should sign complaint; hire-purchase misrepresentation not causal.
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31 December 1937 |
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Criminal courts may order fines applied as compensation under CrPC s164, not under Penal Code s30, but this power must be sparingly exercised.
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Criminal law — Manslaughter by negligence — Compensation — Penal Code s30 limited to person injured; Criminal Procedure Code s164 permits application of imposed fine as compensation to persons (including next of kin) who could recover in civil suit; s162A £25 limit and relation to s164; section 164 to be sparingly exercised and generally confined to special damages.
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31 December 1937 |
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Conviction for cheating requires proof the fraudulent representation induced the obtaining of the property; police should avoid prosecuting doubtful complaints.
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Criminal law — Cheating (Penal Code s.280) — Causation requirement: fraudulent representation must induce obtaining of property — Evidence and timing of documents — Criminal procedure — Police discretion in taking up private complaints — Preferable practice that complainant swear information — Private prosecution and cost deterrent.
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31 December 1937 |
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A "previous conviction" for sentencing must antedate the later offence, not merely precede its later conviction.
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Criminal law — Sentencing and record-keeping — Meaning of "previous conviction" — Must predate the subsequent offence, not merely the subsequent conviction.
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31 December 1937 |
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Convicting magistrate may issue warrant to return deportee under original Governor’s order; “fresh warrant” wording is redundant.
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Penal Code s.35(3) — Deportee leaving prescribed area — Meaning and effect of “fresh warrant” — Magistrate’s authority to issue warrant under original Governor’s deportation order — Alternative of recommending new Governor’s deportation order for a fresh period.
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31 December 1937 |
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False answers to public servants' questions do not constitute "giving information" under section 106A(a); conviction quashed.
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Penal Code s.106A(a) — "give any information" — construed; does not include answers to questions by public servants; follows Indian precedent (s.182 IPC); conviction for false answer set aside; legislative gap in Native Tax Ordinance noted.
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31 December 1937 |
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The respondent’s escape sentence was reduced due to lack of proper supervision and mitigating circumstances despite a prior similar offence.
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Criminal law — Escape (Penal Code s.101) — Sentencing — Consideration of surrounding circumstances and degree of supervision — Lack of proper guard as mitigating factor — Prior similar conviction limits reduction.
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31 December 1937 |
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A mere admission of finding and taking goods is not a plea of guilty to housebreaking; guilty pleas must show full admission of all offence elements.
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Criminal Procedure Code s.187(2) — recording of admissions; plea of guilty — distinction between admission of possession/theft and admission of breaking and entering; magistrate’s duty to record accused’s words; sufficiency of evidence despite absent witness.
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31 December 1937 |
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Conviction for neglect under the District Messengers Ordinance quashed where no evidence duty was imposed by proper authority.
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District Messengers Ordinance (s.4, s.7(6)) — neglect of duty — duty must be imposed by law or by a Provincial Commissioner or District Officer — instructions from Head Messenger insufficient — indictment must contain sufficient particulars.
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31 December 1937 |
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High Court quashed unsafe indecent-assault conviction but confirmed summary perjury committals, stressing evidentiary standards and trial procedure.
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Criminal review — s.54 Subordinate Courts Ordinance — summary committal for perjury requires same proof as Penal Code s.88; High Court may review and quash unsafe convictions; corroboration in sexual-assault cases; magistrate intervention and hearsay inadmissibility.
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31 December 1937 |
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A s.7(6) conviction requires proof the duty was imposed by a Provincial Commissioner or District Officer; absent proof, conviction quashed.
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Criminal law — District Messengers Ordinance s.7(6) — charge of neglect to perform duty — essential requirement that the duty be imposed by a Provincial Commissioner or District Officer — failure to prove this element warrants quashing convictions.
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31 December 1937 |
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Series of similar burglaries in one night qualified as one lapse into crime; five-year aggregate sentence reduced to three years.
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Criminal law — Sentencing — Multiple similar burglaries committed in one night — Aggregate sentences — Concurrent and consecutive sentences — Treating a series of offences as one lapse into crime — Excessive punishment review.
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31 December 1937 |
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Ambiguous pleas should be treated as not guilty; perjury requires proved material falsity and knowledge by the accused.
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Criminal law — Perjury: contradiction between statements alone insufficient; prosecution must prove falsity (by two or more witnesses), materiality, and accused's knowledge; plea entry — enter "not guilty" when ambiguous to secure full inquiry.
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31 December 1937 |
| December 1936 |
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Proof that a judgment debtor had means to pay part of the debt can justify committal, suspended on instalment payments.
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Debtors Act 1869 s.5 — Judgment summons — Committal for non‑payment — Proof of means to pay part of debt suffices — Committal may be suspended on instalment terms; ex parte Fryer applied; Debtors Ordinance (Cap.14) s.4 equivalent to s.5.
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31 December 1936 |
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Survivor under a joint will takes an absolute estate; a subsequent gift-over as condition subsequent cannot curtail it.
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Wills — Joint will — Validity under English law; construction of operative clause as absolute gift; proviso as condition subsequent; gift over inconsistent and unenforceable.
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31 December 1936 |
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A deportation recommendation under Penal Code s.34 requires an outline of the prosecution case or principal witness evidence even after a guilty plea.
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Criminal procedure — Conviction on guilty plea — Recommendation for deportation under Penal Code s.34 — Necessity for prosecution outline or principal witness evidence in the record before deportation may be recommended.
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31 December 1936 |
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An accused should not be called to make a defence where the prosecution has no case; excessive disciplinary sentences under the District Messengers Ordinance will be reduced.
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Criminal procedure — insufficiency of prosecution evidence — accused improperly called to make defence — admissions in defence cannot cure no-case-to-answer; Review powers — quashing convictions where irregularity prejudiced fairness; District Messengers Ordinance — misuse for departmental discipline; Sentencing — reduction of excessive fines and avoidance of corporal punishment.
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31 December 1936 |
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High Court may substitute a section of conviction and reduce sentence on review where evidence supports s214 but not s208.
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Criminal procedure — review power to alter conviction and reduce sentence (Criminal Procedure Code ss.300, 309); Penal Code — unlawful act causing harm (s.214) distinguished from wounding (s.208); Plea recording requirements (Criminal Procedure Code s.187(2)); Sentencing — mitigation and reduction; Conduct: setting traps on public path.
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31 December 1936 |
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An excessive ten-year sentence for housebreaking was reduced to two years, clarifying three key sentencing principles.
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Sentencing — unlawful excess — ten-year sentence for housebreaking exceeding seven-year statutory maximum — sentencing principles: intrinsic gravity, antecedents, prevalence — reduction to two years with hard labour.
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31 December 1936 |
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A subsequent confession is inadmissible unless it is shown the inducement behind an earlier inadmissible confession was effectively dispelled.
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Criminal law — Confession — Admissibility of subsequent confession after prior improperly induced confession — Voluntariness required — Lapse of time less dispositive for unsophisticated natives — Statutory caution alone may be insufficient; need for explicit dispelling of prior inducement.
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31 December 1936 |
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Conditional discharge must be properly ordered; later sentencing without proof of recognisance breach is invalid.
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Criminal procedure — Conditional discharge/recognisance under C.P.C. s.287(1) and Penal Code s.31 — Form and conditions of recognisance (good behaviour, limitation of residence, security) — Functus officio principle — Invalidity of subsequent sentencing absent proof of breach.
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31 December 1936 |
| December 1935 |
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Appeal dismissed: prohibition power to ban imported books held valid; no unlawful interference with religious liberty.
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Penal law — s.53F power to prohibit importation of books — scope not limited to seditious publications; Ordinance drafting and Royal Instructions — no unlawful intermixture; Proclamation by Governor in Council valid; limits of repugnancy to English law; freedom of religion claim not established.
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31 December 1935 |
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Conviction under s.287 requires evidence of reasonable suspicion; charges must specify possession or conveying and stolen or unlawfully obtained.
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Penal Code s.287 — possession or conveying of property reasonably suspected of being stolen or unlawfully obtained — requirement of evidence showing reasonable suspicion; charge drafting — must plead either “possessing” or “conveying” and either “stolen” or “unlawfully obtained” (disjunctives not to be combined) — Criminal Procedure Code s.169 does not permit substitution of charge during trial — reasonable explanation by accused can negate conviction.
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31 December 1935 |
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Police and Public Prosecutor must decline prosecutions lacking realistic prospects of conviction; courts cannot order prosecutor to pay accused's costs.
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Criminal procedure — Police and prosecutorial discretion — Whether to prosecute where no reasonable prospect of conviction — Section 160(2) Criminal Procedure Code — Costs against Public Prosecutor — Duty to refer doubtful complaints to senior officers.
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31 December 1935 |
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Convictions quashed: child’s age not proved and charges misjoined; retrial ordered on carnal knowledge of an idiot charge.
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Criminal law — Defilement under twelve (Penal Code s.119(1)) — Proof of age beyond reasonable doubt — Judicial notice limits; Criminal procedure — Misjoinder of charges — Carnal knowledge of an idiot (s.120) distinct from defilement under twelve; s.127(c) applies only where law, not facts, creates doubt; misjoinder not cured by section 323 — Retrial ordered.
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31 December 1935 |
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Misjoinder of distinct offences not cured by plea; conviction on the second charge quashed.
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Criminal procedure — Joinder of charges — Misjoinder — Section 127 CPC (now s127A) — Exception requiring a single series of acts — Plea does not cure irregular joinder — Conviction quashed on misjoinder.
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31 December 1935 |
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Uncorroborated prosecutrix testimony is usually insufficient for rape; section 122(1) requires corroboration for alternative convictions.
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Criminal law — Rape (Penal Code s113) — corroboration not essential but usually required; risk of convicting on uncorroborated prosecutrix testimony (especially in native cases) — Alternative offence (Penal Code s122(1)) procuring defilement by threats/intimidation requires corroboration where the case rests on one witness — Criminal Procedure Code s172(1) power to convict of lesser offence limited by statutory proviso.
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31 December 1935 |
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Convicting the accused on multiple alternative charges based on identical facts results in impermissible double punishment.
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Criminal law — duplicity and multiplicity — alternative counts — conviction on more than one alternative offence prohibited — double punishment — attempted murder and arson arising from identical facts — Criminal Procedure Code s127(c) (repealed) and s309(2).
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31 December 1935 |
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A thumb impression without identification or intent does not constitute a signature for forgery purposes.
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Criminal law — Forgery — Signature by mark — Thumb impression by an illiterate person — Requirement of descriptive identification and evidence the instrument was explained — Necessity of intent to defraud — Distinction from misuse of identity certificate and false pretence.
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31 December 1935 |
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Leave to appeal to the Privy Council in criminal matters must be sought from the Privy Council, not the local High Court.
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Criminal appeals — leave to appeal to Privy Council — local High Court lacks authority to grant special leave in criminal matters — Northern Rhodesia Order Article XXXI; Privy Council Appeals Order Article II(b) — petition directly to Privy Council.
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31 December 1935 |
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Statements obtained without caution from a detained person by a kapasu are inadmissible; conviction quashed.
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Criminal law — admissibility of confessions — Judges' Rules (caution) — custody — kapasu as equivalent to police officer — statements obtained without caution inadmissible — conviction quashed.
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31 December 1935 |
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A Governor in Council may validly prohibit importation of specified literature; prohibition here was intra vires and appeal dismissed.
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Criminal law — Ordinance No. 10 of 1935, s.53F — Power to prohibit importation of newspapers, books or documents — Validity and scope of executive proclamation — Ultra vires challenge — Interaction with Royal Instructions and English law on religious freedom — Act of State and deference to Governor in Council.
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1 December 1935 |
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Statements made in custody to a native kapasu require Judges' Rules caution; conviction quashed for relying on inadmissible evidence.
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Criminal law — admissibility of statements/confessions — Judges' Rules caution requirement — kapasu (native chief's messenger) equated with police officer when exercising arrest/investigative functions — custody and voluntariness.
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1 December 1935 |