R v Andreyi Chongo and Others (Criminal Review Case 142 of 1940) [1940] ZMHCNR 7 (31 December 1940)

(Vol. IX R. v. ANDREYI CHONGO AND OTHERS. C r im in a l R e v ie w Ca s e N o. 142 o f 1940. Corporal punishment—should only be awarded to adults in special circum­ stances. Adults should only receive corporal punishment if there are special circumstances (which should be recorded by the Magistrate) which warrant it. As to the present power of a Court to order corporal punishment see section 27 o f the Penal Code. Law , C. J .: The Magistrate appears to have overlooked paragraph 55 o f Instructions to Magistrates on the subject o f whipping and caning. 2. All three accused are adults, aged 26, 25 and 22 respectively. No special circumstances were explained by the Magistrate to warrant the punishment of caning . . . 3. In connection with the subject o f corporal punishment, the following paragraph is quoted from the Commission o f Inquiry into the Administration of Justice in Kenya, Uganda and the Tanganyika Terri­ tory in Criminal Matters (May, 1933): “ 178. We are unable to subscribe to the view that caning and flogging should be made legal as a punishment for adults, whether generally or for natives only, for any but the most serious crimes. Such a form o f punishment must be damaging to self respect, particularly to those Africans who have advanced to a certain stage o f civilisation, and may even tend to brutalise its victim s. Any extension o f the use o f corporal punishment we consider a retrograde step which we must oppose.”