Criminal Law When a verdict is not unanimous then the Criminal Court has a discretion to choose which punishment is to be awarded The Court held that the Criminal Court has a discretion to award a punishment in cases of wilful homicide in terms of Article 492(2) of…MMA EditorAugust 6, 2023
Criminal Law Fingerprints alone may be sufficient for an accused to be found guilty of theft There is no need of other circumstantial evidence, if fingerprints are found, in order to convict a suspect of theft. This was held by the…MMA EditorJuly 14, 2023
Criminal Law Court must be precise on whether it is finding the accused guilty or not A judgement is null if it is not clear whether the court has found a person guilty or not of a crime.MMA EditorJune 25, 2023
Criminal Law Special circumstances may help to change punishments When the accused admits to charges, the Court of Criminal Appeal may change the punishment only if it finds an error when the sentence is…Marthese HiliNovember 2, 2022
Criminal Law Can the rearing of pigeons amount to harassment? The offence of harassment requires the principle of this offence to behave in such a way with the intention of causing the harassment. The harassment…MMA EditorAugust 15, 2021
Criminal Law If the accused understands the charges, then guilty plea stands If the accused understands the charges he is admitting to, then that guilty plea is valid at law and cannot be overturned. This was held…MMA EditorJuly 25, 2021
Criminal Law Police must not rest on a report but investigate before issuing charges The police must not issue charges on the basis of a police report without first carrying out an investigation in order to establish whether the…MMA EditorMay 30, 2021
Criminal Law Pretended rights charges borders on the civil law rights Although the charge of pretended rights is a crime, it is not far off from rights that emerge from civil law. This was held in…MMA EditorMay 23, 2021
Criminal Law Defence of insanity upheld The Court must examine whether at the time of the commission of the crime, the accused could have resisted from carrying out the offence.MMA EditorDecember 13, 2020
Criminal Law Not refunding payment may constitute a crime A supplier who failed to refund an order which was cancelled on the hope that his claim would be set off, was in fact committing…MMA EditorMay 4, 2019