On 21 July 2021 after hearing arguments from counsel we proceeded to deliver an extempore judgement. The resultant order issued was as follows;
"It is ordered that the appeals in respect of sentence in both matters CRB CA 75/20 and CA 76/20 be and are hereby dismissed for lack of merit." More
All these three matters were submitted to me by the learned Regional magistrate ostensibly for review purposes.
All these three matters were dealt with by the Resident Magistrate at Bikita. Due to the sentences imposed by the trial Magistrate of 3 months imprisonment wholly suspended on the usual conditions for 5 years in all these matters, the cases would not ordinarily be subject to scrutiny or review. More
This review judgement has been necessitated by the apparent conflation of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07] and the Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] exhibited by the learned trial magistrate in sentencing a juvenile offender. More
All these three records were referred to me on 29th March, 2021 by the Acting Resident Magistrate, Gutu under cover of a Minute stated as follows;
“May the following records be placed before a Judge. The Magistrate who dealt with the matters has since left service before responding to the queries. We are therefore referring the records for further directions.” More
The sole issue which fails for determination in all these twelve (12) cases is the correct procedure to be followed where a trial magistrate resigns and leaves uncompleted criminal proceedings or matters.
All these twelve records were referred to this court by the Gutu Resident Magistrate under cover of a minute dated 28 April 2021 which I received on 5 May 2021. The said minute reads as follows;
"Please place these records of proceedings before a High Court Judge with the following request.
The magistrate who dealt with the matters has since left service without having finalised the cases. We... More
