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September 23, 1963
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT OF AKAINYAH J.
The respondent was tried by the District Court, Accra, on a charge of stealing the sum of £G50 and was found not guilty and acquitted. The Commissioner of Police has appealed to this court against the acquittal.
On the 26th June, 1963, Mr. Koi Larbi, counsel for the respondent, took a preliminary point, that the appellant cannot appeal against an acquittal therefore the appeal is not properly before the court. He submitted that under section 324 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960,1 the prosecution can only appeal against a "conviction" or "order" of a district court ;or a juvenile court but not against an "acquittal". The respondent was acquitted therefore the prosecution has no right of appeal.
Counsel did not cite any authority on the point but referred to Osborne's Concise Law Dictionary and Archbold's Pleadings, Evidence and Practice in Criminal cases (33rd ed.) for the definitions of the words [p.338] "conviction" and "order" and submitted that the word "order" did not include an acquittal.
Mr. Zwennes for the appellant submitted that he was surprised that the point had been taken by Mr. Koi Larbi because the prosecution always appealed under section 324 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960. He contended that the section was clearly intended to confer a right of appeal on the prosecution from an acquittal. He further contented that it was not necessary to invoke the aid of a dictionary if the meaning of a word can be found in the Code; that offences under the Criminal Code, 1960,2 and (subject to the provisions of any other enactment) all other offences shall be enquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with according to the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960; and that the Code is, therefore, the primary source of construction and that dictionaries are secondary. Counsel then referred to sections 330 (1) and 415 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960, and section 4(a) of the Criminal Code, 1960, and seriously submitted that by virtue of section 330 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960, the word "order" must be taken to include the word "acquittal," therefore the appeal is properly before the court. He too cited no case in support of his submissions. I have considered the arguments carefully. Although the word "order" is not defined in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960, it is defined in section 1 of the Criminal Code, 1960 as follows: "order includes a conviction." I have read also the provisions of the Criminal Proc
AI Generated Summary
Akainyah J. addressed a prosecution appeal by the Commissioner of Police from an acquittal entered by the District Court, Accra, in a case where the respondent had been charged with stealing £G50. On a preliminary objection taken on 26 June 1963 by Mr. Koi Larbi for the respondent, the court examined whether section 324(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 authorizes appeals from acquittals. The appellant9s counsel, Mr. Zwennes, urged a broad reading of 9order (invoking CPC sections 330(1), 415 and Criminal Code section 4(a)) to include acquittals, and emphasized that the Code is the primary interpretive source. The judge rejected this, reading 9order as an enforceable command or direction and underscoring the double jeopardy maxim and CPC section 113, which preserves it. Concluding the legislature did not clearly confer a right to appeal from acquittals, the court dismissed the appeal.