R v Andreyi Chongo and Others (Criminal Review Case 142 of 1940) [1940] ZMHCNR 7 (31 December 1940)
Corporal punishment should not be imposed on adults unless special circumstances exist and are recorded; the Magistrate failed to provide such justification.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [1940] ZMHCNR 7
- Parties
- Accused: Andreyi Chongo and Others; Prosecution: Republic
- Court
- High Court of Northern Rhodesia
- Jurisdiction
- Zambia
- Case Number
- Criminal Review Case 142 of 1940
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Review / Review of Magistrate's Sentence
- Outcome
- Corporal punishment sentence set aside
- Legal Topics
- Corporal Punishment, Sentencing of Adults
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Andreyi Chongo and Others
Accused
Republic
Prosecution
Procedural Posture
Criminal Review / Review of Magistrate's Sentence
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether corporal punishment can be lawfully imposed on adults without special circumstances
Ratio Decidendi
Corporal punishment should not be imposed on adults unless special circumstances exist and are recorded; the Magistrate failed to provide such justification.
Court Disposition
Corporal punishment sentence set aside
Orders
- Corporal punishment sentence against the accused is quashed
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
(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.”