Town Clerk, Livingstone v Jesse Field (Criminal Appeal Case 17 of 1941) [1941] ZMHCNR 13 (31 December 1941)

[Vol. II THE TOWN CLERK, LIVINGSTONE v. JESSE FIELD. Criminal Appeal Case No. 17 of 1941. Case slated—form—procedure. The procedure and form o f a case stated in Northern Rhodesia differ from the English practice and are to be found in section 320 and Form 20, Fourth Schedule o f the Criminal Procedure Code. Law , C . J .: The Magistrate has taken great pains, in stating this case, to follow the form employed by the Resident Magistrate, Ndola, in the case o f the Attorney-General v. Antonie Attala (H . C. Criminal Case No. 46/1940, Resident Magistrate’s Court, Ndola, Criminal Case No. 142/1940) who had evidently adopted the same from the English practice (Stone’s Justices’ Manual, 1937, 69th Edition, p. 2063). The procedure and the form, however, applicable in this Territory to a case stated are to be found in section 320 and Form 20, Fourth Schedule, o f the Criminal Procedure Code. This procedure and form were followed, approximately, by the Magistrates concerned in the cases reported in the Law Reports o f Northern Rhodesia, 1938,1 at pages 4 and 27. Accordingly, this case is remitted to the Magistrate for restatement in compliance with section 320 (Section 317 (a) Criminal Procedure and Form 20 above referred to. Code.) In Paley on Summary Convictions, 1926, 9th Edition, at page 755,2 it is remarked that, though theoretically a case stated is prepared by the Justices (in England), the case is most frequently settled in draft by the parties and then delivered to the Justices for adoption and signature. I consider that this practice can usefully be followed here, whenever con­ veniently possible, particularly where the parties concerned are repre­ sented by legal practitioners. * * 1 2 N. R. L. R.—E d ito r. 2 S e e now the 10th Edition at p.130.—E d ito r.