Presence

of accused. 7 Ed. 7,

c. 23, s. 11.

Absence

of accused.

7 Ed. 7,

c. 23, s. 11.

General powers.

Repeal of Ordinance No. 9 of 1899, ss. 68 and 109.

226

his sentence, which shall be deemed to be resumed or to begin to run, as the case requires, if the person or appellant is in custody, as from the day on which the case is determined by the Full Court, and, if he is not in custody, as from the day on which he is received into prison under the sentence.

(3) An appellant notwithstanding that he is in custody, shall be entitled to be present, if he desires it, on the hearing of his appeal, except where the appeal is on some ground involving a question of law alone, but, in that case and on an application for leave to appeal and on any proceedings preliminary or incidental to an appeal, shall not be entitled to be present, except where rules, and orders made under section 10 of this Ordinance provide that he shall have the right to be present or where the Full Court gives him leave to be present. Such leave may be given also in any case under section 78; but without it the accused shall not be entitled to be present.

(4) The power of the Full Court to pass any sentence under this Ordinance may be exercised notwithstanding that the accused is for any reason not present.

(5) The Full Court in every appeal or case reserved under this Ordinance shall, subject to the express provisions of this Ordinance, have all the powers of the court of trial, with regard to sentence, commencement of sentence,

costs, compensation, release on recognizances or any other matter.

4. Sections 68 and 109 of the Criminal Procedure Ordi- nance, 1899, are repealed.

Objects and Reasons.

1. Section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, 1899 (No. 9 of 1899) provides that the procedure of the Court under that Ordinance shall be, as nearly as possible, the same as the practice and procedure in criminal causes and matters in the High Court of Justice and the Courts of Assize in England.

2. It contains no provision for special rules of practice in criminal cases, though a limited power to make such rules is given by section 32 of the Supreme Court Ordinance (No. 3 of 1873).

3. Other Ordinances, notably the Probates Ordinance (No. 2 of 1897, s. 71), dealing with special classes of court procedure, make provision for the making of such rules in respect of the proceedings to which the Ordinances relate.

4. As the principal object of this amending Ordinance is to make provision for criminal appeals in this Colony on the lines of the Criminal Appeal Act, 1907, in England and the Criminal Appeal Ordinance, 1931, in the Straits Settlements, both of which have provisions relating to rules of court, it appears desirable to amend section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. This is done by section 2 of the Amending Ordinance. A feature of the new section 10 is the provision for assigning counsel and solicitors as legal aids

Page 5Page 6

Share This Page