Criminal Procedures / Court Proceedings
Court Proceedings
Once investigations are complete, and the AGC has decided to charge an accused person, he will then be produced in court. This will usually be in the first mentions courts in the State Courts (either Court 4A or Court 4B).
Thereafter, the criminal process would generally be as follows:
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When the accused is produced in Court, and the charges are read to him, the accused would have to decide whether he wishes to plead guilty or to claim trial. If the accused is not ready to make this election, the court may grant a request for an adjournment of the court of mention for one of several (non-exhaustive) reasons:
The accused wishes to engage a lawyer / seek legal aid from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (CLAS);
The accused or his lawyer wishes to write representations to the AGC; or
The accused’s lawyer wishes to meet with the AGC to discuss the evidence in the case.
Importantly, the accused must be found to be fit to plead (i.e. he must be mentally capable of making the decision on whether to plead guilty or claim trial). If the court suspects that the accused might be unfit to plead, either on its own observation of the accused or on the AGC’s application, the court will order the accused to be remanded in the Institute of Mental Health to ascertain his fitness to plead.
Once the accused is ready to record his plea, and he is found fit to plead, the accused will then have to inform the court whether he would be pleading guilty or not guilty to the courts. Making the plea at this stage does not prevent an accused person from changing his mind subsequently. For example, if the accused initially wishes to plead guilty, but is subsequently unable to agree to the Statement of Facts as set out by the Prosecution, he may then decide to claim trial to the charges.
Alternatively, if the accused initially claimed trial to the charges against him, but subsequently decides to plead guilty, he may do so at any time before the court issues its verdict at the conclusion of the trial.
If the accused claims trial to the offences, the matter will then be fixed for a pre-trial conference (PTC). PTCs are intended to help the Prosecution and defence work out pre-trial issues. These include the disclosure of documents under the Criminal Case Disclosure regime (if applicable), the ascertaining of witness availabilities, and the scheduling of the trial dates itself.
The Criminal Case Disclosure Regime
The Criminal Case Disclosure regime is intended for both the Prosecution the Defence to disclose their respective cases (i.e. the facts supporting their case) and evidence that they intend to rely on before the trial itself. This makes for a more efficient trial process as the parties would not need to take time during the trial to read and understand new evidence that is only adduced at the trial itself.
The Criminal Case Disclosure Conferences (CCDC) applies if the following conditions are met:
The case is tried in the District Court (i.e. the charge number begins with “DAC”); and
The offence in question is specified in the Second Schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
These issues are sorted out through CCDC and the timelines for the process are as follows:
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Under the CCDC regime, the Prosecution would have to disclose the following documents on the Defence and the Court in its CFP:
Charge
Summary of Facts
List of witnesses
List of exhibits
Statements of accused which prosecution intends to adduce as part of its case
After receiving the CFP, the Defence will have to file the CFD. This includes the following documents:
Summary of Facts
List of Witnesses
List of Exhibits
Objections made to any issue of fact or law in Case for the Prosecution
After receiving the CFD, the Prosecution will then have to serve on the Defence all the documents stated in the List of Exhibits disclosed as part of the CFP as well as all the accused’s remaining statements that were not disclosed at the CFP stage. Trial dates will only be taken after the PSB is served on the Defence.