The Criminal Procedure Act

A person who has already been tried for an offence cannot be tried again on the same facts for the same offence while the earlier conviction or acquittal still stands.

A person who was convicted or acquitted of an offence may later be tried for another offence that could have been charged at the earlier trial under section 137(1).

A person may be tried again for a different offence arising from the same act if the later consequences were unknown or had not yet happened when the first case ended.

A person who was convicted or acquitted may still be charged and tried for another offence based on the same acts if the first court was not competent to try that later offence.

This provision says how a previous conviction may be proved in court, including by certified court or prison records, a warrant of commitment, a final judgment, or certain certificates using fingerprints.

A court may summon a person if that person can provide, or holds, material evidence.

If a witness fails to appear after proper service of a court summons and has no sufficient excuse, the court may issue a warrant to bring the witness before it.

If the court has oath evidence that a witness will not come unless compelled, it may immediately issue a warrant to arrest and produce the witness before the court.

If a witness is arrested under a warrant, the court may release the witness on security by recognisance; if security is not given, the court must detain the witness for the hearing.

A court may order a prison officer to bring a prisoner before it for examination, and the officer must comply and keep the prisoner safe while away from the prison.

A summoned witness who misses court without lawful excuse, leaves without permission, or fails to return when ordered can be fined up to 500 shillings.

This section lets a police officer or court grant bail to a person in custody, but also lists cases where bail must be refused and allows the High Court to intervene.

The High Court may deal with bail where a subordinate court has power to grant it but refuses, imposes unacceptable terms, or has already granted bail.

If a bailed accused person later faces new circumstances, a judge or magistrate may issue a warrant and may send the person to prison pending trial or keep them on bail, including at a higher amount.

Before release on bail or recognisance, the person must execute a sufficient bond; if released on bail, one or more sufficient sureties must also execute it, and the bond must require attendance at the stated time and place until the court or police officer directs otherwise.

When a bond has been executed, the person covered by it must be released. If the person is in prison, the court must issue a release order and the prison officer must release the person on receiving it.

A court or police officer may allow a person who must execute a bond to pay a money deposit instead, except for a bond for good behaviour.

If accepted sureties are later found to be insufficient, the court may order the person released on bail to provide sureties, bring the person before it by warrant, and imprison the person if they do not comply.

Sureties may ask a magistrate to discharge a bail bond, and the magistrate must issue a warrant and may later discharge the bond or commit the person to prison if new sureties are not found.

If a surety dies before a bond is forfeited, the surety’s estate is released from liability on the bond, and the person who gave the bond may have to find a new surety.

A police officer may arrest a person on bail without a warrant in specified bail-breach situations, and an arrested person must be brought before the proper magistrate or court within the stated time.

If a person on bail is arrested on reasonable suspicion of breaking bail conditions, and the court is satisfied the arrest was justified, the person cannot be considered again for further bail in the same case.

If a person absconds on bail or fails to appear and hides to avoid arrest, some of their property may be confiscated and the trial may continue.

If a recognisance is proved forfeited, the court can require payment of the penalty, recover it by warrant against movable property, and in some cases order six months’ imprisonment.

Orders made by a magistrate under sections 151 to 163 can be appealed to the High Court and may be reviewed by it.

The High Court may tell a magistrate to levy the amount due on a recognisance so the person appears and attends the High Court.

The court may help settle certain minor personal offences by reconciliation, compensation, or other approved terms, and may stay or dismiss the proceedings.

This section says offences under the Penal Code may be tried by the High Court, and some may also be tried by a subordinate court.

Offences under laws other than the Penal Code are tried by the court named in that law; if none is named, they may be tried by the High Court or, in some cases, a subordinate court.

The High Court may pass sentence or make another order authorised by law.

A court may combine lawful sentences, but some corporal punishment sentences by certain subordinate courts need High Court confirmation. The court may also bar parole when sentencing under subsection (1), and must give reasons.

Courts may sentence a person convicted of multiple offences at one trial to the separate punishments for those offences, subject to limits on consecutive imprisonment and fines.

A court must generally exclude evidence obtained illegally or in breach of legal requirements, unless admitting it would specifically and substantially serve the public interest without unduly harming anyone’s rights or freedom.

This section lets a subordinate court impose certain sentences, sets limits for some sentences, and requires High Court confirmation for some larger sentences before they can be carried out.

The court may appoint an officer to help compound a compoundable offence, but it cannot refer the case for compounding without the parties’ consent and without giving the accused an opportunity to compound.

If a fine under a compounding order is not paid on time, the authorised officer must either levy it against the accused person’s property or agree an alternative sanction such as supervised community work.

The Minister may make regulations to better carry out sections 173, 174, and 175.

A subordinate court may send an adult offender to the High Court for sentencing if it thinks a greater punishment is needed than it can impose.

A court may release a sentenced person on bail while a sentence waits for confirmation.

The Minister may, after consultation, give resident magistrates power to try certain offences or specified cases, and the High Court keeps its transfer power.

This section was repealed.

This section is repealed; the remaining text refers to a record and report to be sent to the President.

If the High Court confirms a death sentence, the judge must send the case record (or a certified copy) and a signed written report to the President as soon as possible.

Every court may bring before it a person within its local jurisdiction who is charged with certain offences, and may deal with that accused person according to its jurisdiction.

The High Court may hear and try offences within its jurisdiction at places where it can hold sittings.

The High Court must hold sittings at places and on days directed by the Chief Justice, and the Registrar of the High Court should ordinarily give advance notice of all sittings.

Courts must try offences in the local area where the offence happened, or where the accused was apprehended, in custody, or appeared after a lawful summons, subject to section 184 and transfer powers in sections 195 to 197.

A court may hear or try an offence in the place where the relevant act was done or its consequence happened.

A court may hear or try a charge in this situation if either related act was done within its local jurisdiction.

If an offence happened in more than one local area, or it is unclear where it happened, a court may hear it if it has jurisdiction over any of those areas.

A court may hear or try an offence committed during a journey or voyage if the relevant person, person affected, or thing involved passed through its local jurisdiction.

If there is doubt about which court should handle an offence, a court may report the issue to the High Court, which decides the proper court.

Courts hearing offences are generally open to the public, but judges or magistrates may exclude access in specified circumstances. Courts may also sit on Sundays or public holidays, and sexual-offence evidence must be heard in camera with publication restricted.

A child generally must not be in court during another person's criminal trial or related preliminary proceedings, unless needed as a witness or for justice.

The court may, on an ex parte application by the Director of Public Prosecutions, order witness-protection measures such as video testimony, limiting disclosure of a witness’s identity or whereabouts, or other suitable measures. The Chief Justice may also make rules for this section.

A court may transfer a complaint to the court with jurisdiction where the complaint arose, and may have the accused taken there by police if custody is to continue.

A district magistrate may transfer a case he has already taken cognisance of to a subordinate court, including in some cases outside his local jurisdiction.

The High Court may transfer or reassign criminal matters when specified reasons are shown, and an accused applicant must give written notice to the Director of Public Prosecutions and support the application by affidavit unless the applicant is the Director of Public Prosecutions.

If an accused pleads not guilty, the court must hold a preliminary hearing and deal with agreed matters before trial.

An accused person charged with a qualifying warrant offence may plead guilty in writing or through an advocate, and the magistrate must usually excuse personal attendance.

An accused person who wants to plead guilty, or rely on an alibi, must give notice within the times set out here; the magistrate may then serve a formal charge, and the court may disregard an alibi not properly notified.

A public prosecutor may enter plea bargaining before judgment after consulting the victim or investigator when circumstances allow. The accused, the accused’s advocate, or a public prosecutor may start plea bargaining and notify the court. The court must not take part in plea negotiations, and in private prosecutions a plea agreement needs the written consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

If a plea agreement is made under a plea bargaining arrangement, the prosecutor and accused may take certain negotiated steps, including reduced charges, plea changes, or compensation/restitution/forfeiture.

A plea agreement must be in writing, fully set out the terms and facts, be explained to the accused, be accepted and signed by the required people, and cannot be entered without prior written consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions or an authorised officer.

The court must register qualifying plea agreements, check they were voluntary and that the accused was competent, and then convict and sentence in line with the agreement if it is accepted.

Before a plea is recorded, the accused must be put under oath and the court must speak to the accused in a language they understand and explain their rights.

Plea agreements must not be entered into for the listed offences and offence categories.

The Director of Public Prosecutions and an accused person who is party to a plea agreement may apply to the sentencing court to set aside a conviction and sentence in specified plea-bargaining situations.

The Chief Justice may make rules and give directives for carrying out the plea bargaining provisions in this Part, subject to those provisions.

A court may summon, examine, or recall people as witnesses, and must do so when their evidence seems essential; the prosecutor, accused, or accused’s advocate has a right to cross-examine.

Evidence in a trial under this Act is generally taken in the accused’s presence, unless personal attendance has been dispensed with or another express exception applies.

The court may take evidence and proceed with a trial even when the accused is absent, if the stated conditions are met.

Witnesses in criminal cases must be examined on oath or affirmation, unless another written law says otherwise.

If a person called to give evidence refuses to be sworn, answer questions, produce items, or sign depositions without sufficient excuse, the court may adjourn the case for up to 8 days and may keep the person in prison meanwhile unless they comply sooner.

The court may, in its discretion, adjourn the hearing of the case to a later time and place.

The prosecution does not get a right of reply just because the accused was called as a witness, but certain senior prosecuting officers always do.

A certificate from an officer appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions can be evidence of the facts stated in it, and the court may treat the signature as genuine.

Reports from a Government analyst may be used as evidence in proceedings under the Act, and the court may presume the report signature and the signer’s office. In some non-inquiry proceedings, the court may also summon and examine the analyst.

A fingerprint report signed by an officer appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions can be used as evidence, and the court may treat the signature as genuine.

A court may treat certain DPP-appointed handwriting reports as evidence, presume signatures are genuine, and must allow the report maker to be summoned and examined if requested by the accused or advocate in qualifying cases.

A report signed by certain experts may be used as evidence in proceedings under this Act, if the expert was appointed by the Director of Public Prosecutions for that purpose.

The Director of Public Prosecutions may appoint an expert by notice published in the Gazette.

A High Court or district magistrate may order a magistrate to take evidence from a witness when getting the witness to court would be unreasonably difficult, costly, or delayed.

When a commission is issued, the parties may submit written interrogatories and may appear before the magistrate to question the witness; the magistrate must examine the witness on those interrogatories.

After a commission under section 222 is executed, it must be returned to the issuing High Court or magistrate with the witness’s deposition. The papers are open to inspection by the parties and may be used in evidence, subject to just exceptions and section 140 of the Evidence Act.

When a commission is issued under section 222, the proceeding may be adjourned for a specified time needed to execute and return the commission.

In most magistrate trials, witness evidence must be written down, usually as a narrative, and the magistrate must tell each witness they can ask for it to be read back.

If evidence is in a language the accused or their advocate does not understand, it must be interpreted for them; the court may decide how much of certain documents to interpret for formal proof.

If a magistrate has recorded a witness’s evidence, the magistrate must also record any remarks considered material about the witness’s demeanour during examination.

A magistrate may try certain minor offences without recording evidence, but must record specified details and cannot impose a sentence above the stated limits.

If a magistrate cannot finish a trial or committal proceeding, another qualified magistrate may take over and continue it; the High Court may also set aside a conviction in certain cases and order a new trial.

The High Court may make rules about how evidence is recorded in cases before it.

If the court suspects the accused is mentally unfit to defend the case, it must first hear prosecution evidence; if no case is made out, it must dismiss and acquit; if a case is made out, the court may order medical examination or bail with conditions, and later act on the medical report.

If an accused person has regained capacity to defend himself, the medical officer must send a certificate to the court and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The DPP may ask to continue the case within 14 days, and the court must then either bring the accused before it or discharge him, depending on whether the Republic will continue proceedings.

If the court receives the specified report or information, it must resume the trial and bring the accused before it.

If insanity is to be used as a defence, it must be raised when the accused is called to plead. If the court finds the accused committed the act but was insane, it must make a special finding and may order custody, discharge, supervision, reporting, or transfer of the offender.

If insanity may have affected an accused person, the court may adjourn the case and order a mental-hospital examination; the medical officer must report within 42 days, and the accused and prosecution may then present evidence.

If an accused cannot understand proceedings, the court follows special procedures, may detain the accused during the President’s pleasure in specified cases, and the Minister has control over detention conditions and later discharge.

If the accused appears but the complainant does not, the court must dismiss the charge and discharge the accused, unless it decides to adjourn the hearing.

The court must proceed to hear the case when both the complainant and accused appear, or when the complainant appears and the accused’s personal attendance has been dispensed with under section 199.

A complainant may withdraw a complaint before a final order if the court is satisfied there are sufficient grounds, and the court must then acquit the accused; this applies only to minor offences.

A trial under this Part must abate if the accused person dies.

The court may adjourn a hearing and manage the accused person’s custody or release, but only within the time limits and certificate requirements in this section.

If an accused or complainant does not appear after an adjournment, the court may still continue, dismiss the charge, or issue a warrant depending on the circumstances.

If an accused in a subordinate court does not appear, the court may still continue and dispose of the case if attendance cannot be secured without undue delay or expense.

The court must tell the accused the charge and ask whether it is admitted or denied, then follow different steps depending on the response.

If the accused does not admit the charge, the prosecutor must open the case, call witnesses, and present evidence; the accused or advocate may question witnesses.

If, after the prosecution evidence closes, the court thinks the case is not strong enough to require a defence, it must dismiss the charge and acquit the accused.

After the prosecution’s evidence closes, the court must explain the charge and tell the accused about the rights to testify and call witnesses, then ask what the accused wants to do.

If the accused gives evidence or examines witnesses, the court may allow the prosecutor to reply with evidence.

The prosecutor and the accused or their advocate may address the court in the same manner and order as in the trial before the High Court.

The court may alter a defective charge during trial, and the accused and prosecution get related rights to recall and re-examine witnesses.

After hearing the complainant, the accused, their witnesses, and the evidence, the court must convict and sentence the accused or acquit/discharge them under the Penal Code. If the accused is acquitted, the court must require a permanent address for service and record it.

The court may receive evidence before sentencing if it thinks fit.

A subordinate court presided over by a resident magistrate may consider another offence when deciding sentence, if the section’s explanation and admission/request conditions are met.

A conviction, acquittal, or other order may be drawn up if required, and it must be signed by the court or by the court clerk or another court officer.

A certified copy of an acquittal order can bar a later charge for the same matter against the same accused.

A subordinate court may accept a medical witness’s report on a purely medical or surgical matter as evidence, and the accused can require the reporter to be called for examination.

A subordinate court cannot try certain offences unless the charge or complaint is laid within 12 months, unless a longer time is specially allowed by law.

If a magistrate thinks a case should be tried by the High Court, the magistrate must stop the trial and commit the accused for trial before the High Court.

A magistrate may commit a person for trial to the High Court, unless the appointment terms forbid it.

If a person is charged with an offence that is not triable by a subordinate court, or the Director of Public Prosecutions says it should not be dealt with summarily, a subordinate court must hold committal proceedings.

A person arrested for a High Court-triable offence must be brought to a subordinate court within the time set by section 33, and the magistrate must explain the charges; the accused need not plead then.

The subordinate court must bring the accused before it, give copies of the information and trial notice, explain the case and prosecution evidence, warn the accused before any statement, and record any statement made.

The court must list the prosecution witnesses and ask the accused whether they will call witnesses at trial.

The court may adjourn proceedings and remand an accused person, with limits and conditions.

A person committed for trial before the High Court is entitled to a free copy of the committal record before trial, and the court must tell the accused about that right when committing them for trial.

A prosecutor may ask the High Court to summon a person to give evidence or produce documents, and the court must summon that person and may bind them by recognizance to attend trial.

If a person who must enter into recognisance under section 267 refuses, the court may keep them in prison or court custody until the trial or other disposal of the case, unless they enter into recognisance first.

A court may take a written statement from a seriously ill or unavailable witness, and the magistrate must certify and file it.

Reasonable notice must be given to the prosecutor and the accused person before a statement is taken.

If a statement is taken in the accused person’s presence, the accused or their advocate, and the prosecutor if present, must be allowed to question the deponent. If the accused is committed for trial, the statement must be sent to the Registrar of the High Court and a copy to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A statement made under section 269 can be admitted in evidence at trial if it is duly subscribed and certified by the magistrate and certain conditions about the maker’s unavailability and the accused’s notice and chance to cross-examine are met.

If an accused person has been committed for trial, the committing court must send the committal record to the Registrar of the High Court without delay and send authenticated copies of the charge and proceedings to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The High Court may transfer plea-taking and trial to a resident magistrate with extended jurisdiction.

After the committal record is received, the Registrar or deputy must add a notice of trial to each relevant information and copy served for the accused person’s trial.

The Registrar and the serving officer must pass trial papers to the accused, with the documents delivered at least three days before trial and explained to the accused.

The officer who serves the trial papers must promptly return proof of service to the registrar.

The High Court may postpone an accused person’s trial if the prosecutor or accused applies and the court finds sufficient cause for delay.

Information prepared under section 275 must be signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, subject to section 93.

Every information must bear the date it is signed. It may also begin in the stated form, with necessary changes for each case.

The Court is informed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, on behalf of the United Republic, that A.B. is charged with offence(s).

The Registrar of the High Court must issue summons before trial for certain witnesses to attend.

The High Court may regulate its own practice when exercising criminal jurisdiction, but only subject to this Act and other written laws.

The High Court may sit with at least two assessors, may use amicus curiae in criminal proceedings, and the Chief Justice may make rules for amicus curiae procedure.

People aged 21 to 60 can be required to serve as assessors, subject to stated exemptions and disqualification rules. The High Court must also make rules about the area from which assessors may be summoned.

Several listed groups are exempt from liability to serve as assessors.

A person cannot be excused from serving as an assessor because of sex or marriage; however, a judge or magistrate may order all-male or all-female assessors, or exempt a woman from assessor service in a case, in the stated circumstances.

The Registrar of the High Court must normally direct a resident or district magistrate to summon assessors at least 14 days before the High Court sessions, and the magistrate must comply.

A summons to an assessor must be in writing and must state the time and place for attendance.

A person served with a summons may quickly go before a district or resident magistrate to object if they think they are not liable to serve as an assessor.

The High Court may excuse an assessor from attending particular sessions for reasonable cause and may stop trial assessors from being summoned again for 12 months.

At each session, the High Court must have a list made of the names of assessors who attended.

An assessor who is summoned must attend as required, must not leave without High Court permission, and may be fined up to 500 shillings for non-compliance.

Before a High Court trial on an information, the accused is to be brought before the bar unfettered unless the court orders otherwise, the information must be read and, if needed, explained or interpreted, and the accused must plead right away.

Objections to formal defects in an information must be made immediately after it is read to the accused; the court may amend a defective information, order separate trials, or postpone trial in some cases.

A charge may be quashed if it does not state an offence the accused had notice of and cannot be amended to do so; any related motion must be put in writing and delivered to the court registrar.

This section controls when a court may ask about a prior conviction and when the prior-conviction part of the information may be read in court.

An accused person who is arraigned on an information and pleads not guilty is deemed to have put himself on trial.

An accused person charged by information may plead prior conviction, acquittal, or pardon; if the prosecution disputes the plea, the court must decide whether it is true, and if the plea fails the accused must then plead to the information.

If an accused person cannot or will not answer when arraigned, the court may have a not-guilty plea entered, assess mental soundness, and take further steps depending on the result.

If the accused person pleads guilty, the plea is recorded and conviction may follow.

If the accused pleads not guilty, the court must choose assessors and try the case.

The court may delay or adjourn a trial, remand the accused to custody, bring the accused before it during remand, and admit the accused to bail.

A High Court trial must abate if the accused person dies.

The Chief Justice may make rules about how assessors are selected.

If an assessor cannot continue in a trial and cannot be immediately compelled to attend, the trial may continue with the remaining assessors, provided there are at least two; they are treated as properly constituted and may return a verdict by unanimity or majority.

If the trial is adjourned, the assessors must attend the adjourned sitting and any later sitting until the trial ends.

If assessors have been chosen, the advocate for the prosecution must open the case against the accused person and present prosecution witnesses and evidence.

If a witness’s statement or substance of evidence was not read at committal proceedings, the prosecution may call that witness at trial only after giving reasonable written notice to the accused person or their advocate, unless the prosecution first learned of the evidence on the day the witness is called.

Prosecution witnesses may be cross-examined by the accused person or their advocate, and then re-examined by the prosecution advocate.

In High Court trials, a medical witness’s signed report may be received as evidence if prior notice and a copy are given to the accused or their advocate.

A statement of the accused person certified by the committing magistrate may be used in evidence without further proof, unless it is shown that the magistrate did not actually certify it.

After the prosecution case closes, the court must decide whether to acquit or to put the accused on defence, and it must tell the accused about the right to testify and call witnesses.

The accused person or his advocate may open the defence case, the accused person may give evidence, and either the accused person or his advocate may examine witnesses and sum up the case.

The accused may examine witnesses at trial and can ask for defence witnesses to be summoned in limited circumstances.

If an accused person gives evidence, the prosecutor is entitled to reply, subject to section 215.

If the accused says they do not want to give evidence and the court sees evidence of the offence, the prosecution sums up and the court calls on the accused to address the court.

When the case is closed on both sides, the judge may sum up the evidence, must ask each assessor for an oral opinion and record it, then must give judgment; if the accused is convicted, the judge must pass sentence according to law.

If a judge cannot finish a trial, another judge with jurisdiction may take over and continue it, rely on the recorded evidence, and if needed re-summon and re-hear witnesses.

A person charged with an offence may be convicted of a minor offence in certain proof-based situations.

A person charged with an offence may be convicted of attempting that offence even if not charged with the attempt.

The court may convict a person of certain lesser or alternative offences even if that offence was not charged, when the stated conditions are met.

A court may convict a person of a lesser road-traffic offence instead of manslaughter if the person was charged with manslaughter arising from driving and the court finds the manslaughter charge not proved.

A court may convict a person of another offence under sections 294 to 298 even if that offence was not charged, if the court thinks the person is not guilty of the charged offence but guilty of the other one.

A court may convict a person of certain related offences even if that person was not originally charged with them.

A court may convict a person of an offence under section 312 of the Penal Code even if that person was not charged with it, if the person was charged under section 27(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act and the court finds the section 312 offence is proved.

Sections 319 to 326 must be read as adding to, and not limiting, other Acts and the rest of this Act; sections 320 to 326 also do not limit the generality of section 319.

If, in a warrant-offence trial, the proved facts amount to a non-warrant offence, the accused is not acquitted just for that reason, and the accused cannot later be prosecuted again for a warrant offence on the same facts unless the court orders prosecution for a non-warrant offence.

A person accused before a criminal court other than a primary court has a right to be defended by a High Court advocate, subject to any written law on advocates’ professional services.

Courts must deliver criminal judgments in open court promptly, and usually within 90 days after trial ends.

Judgments under section 330 must be written under the presiding judge’s or magistrate’s direction, in the court’s language, and signed, dated, and set out with the decision and reasons.

The court must give the accused person a copy of the judgment, or a translation in the accused person’s language if practicable, without delay and free of cost on application.

After a conviction or guilty plea, the court officer must ask the accused if they have anything to say before sentence is passed.

The accused person may ask the court to arrest judgment before sentence, and if the court agrees the person is discharged from that information.

The court may sentence the accused person during the sessions if no motion in arrest of judgment is made, or if the court decides against the accused on that motion.

The trial court may reserve its final decision on questions raised during the trial.

In a High Court criminal trial, the judge may reserve a question for a panel of two or more judges, and the convicted person is held in prison unless bail is allowed.

A court must not delay or reserve judgment because of certain curable objections or mistakes in swearing witnesses.

The court may receive evidence before sentencing to help decide the proper sentence.