The Criminal Procedure Act

In a joint charge against two or more people, it is not necessary to allege each of the listed alternative forms of participation; those alternatives are implied.

A person who has already been tried for an offence and convicted or acquitted cannot be tried again for the same offence on the same facts, unless that conviction or acquittal has been reversed or set aside.

A person who was convicted or acquitted of an offence may later be tried for another offence tied to the former trial under section 134(1).

A person who has been convicted or acquitted may later be tried for a different offence based on the same act and its consequences, if those consequences had not happened or were not known to the court at the earlier trial.

A person may be charged and tried again for another offence based on the same acts if the first court was not competent to try that offence.

This section says how a previous conviction can be proved in proceedings under the Act, including by certified court or prison documents, warrants, final judgments, and fingerprint-based certificates.

A court may issue a summons to a person who is likely to have material evidence, requiring them to attend or bring relevant documents and writings to court.

If a witness fails to appear after a court summons, and the summons was properly served in time, the court may issue a warrant to bring the witness before it.

The court may issue a warrant to arrest and bring in a witness if satisfied on oath that the witness will not attend unless compelled.

If a witness arrested under warrant gives security by recognisance to the court’s satisfaction, the court may release them; if not, the court must detain them for the hearing.

A court may order the prison officer to bring a prisoner before it for examination, and the officer must comply and keep the prisoner safely in custody during the absence.

A witness who is summoned must attend, and may be fined if they do not; the court can also enforce payment or order short civil imprisonment, and the High Court may reduce or cancel the fine for good cause.

This section lets police, courts, and the High Court grant bail, but sets limits and mandatory conditions.

If a subordinate court refuses bail, or sets bail terms the person does not accept, the High Court may grant bail, order bail to be granted, change bail conditions, or reduce the surety amount.

If a bailed accused person later faces new circumstances that would justify refusing bail or increasing bail, the judge or magistrate must issue an arrest warrant and may then either send the person to prison awaiting trial or keep them on bail, possibly at a higher amount, after hearing them.

Before release on bail or recognisance, the person must execute a bond in an amount the court or police officer thinks sufficient; if released on bail, one or more sufficient sureties must also execute it.

When the bond is executed, the person it covers must be released. If the person is in prison, the court must order release and the prison officer must carry it out.

A court or officer may allow a person required to post a bond to deposit money instead, except for a bond for good behaviour.

If accepted sureties are insufficient, the court may bring the person released on bail before it, require new sureties, and imprison the person if they fail to provide them.

Sureties may ask a magistrate to discharge a bail bond, and the magistrate must issue a warrant and may discharge the bond and require new sureties.

If a surety dies before the bond is forfeited, the surety’s estate is discharged from liability and the bond giver may have to find a new surety.

A police officer may arrest a person on bail without a warrant if bail conditions are likely to be breached or are being breached. After arrest, the person must be taken to a magistrate within 24 hours, unless the arrest happens within 24 hours of a required court appearance, in which case the person goes before that court.

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

If a person absconds or fails to appear and hides to avoid arrest, their property may be attached and the trial may continue.

If a recognisance is forfeited, the court records why, may ask the bound person to pay or explain, and may use warrants, attachment, sale, or imprisonment to recover the penalty.

Orders made by a magistrate under sections 148 to 160 can be appealed to, and may be reviewed by, the High Court.

The High Court may direct a magistrate to levy the amount due on a recognisance tied to appearing and attending the High Court.

The court may try to settle certain personal or private offence proceedings amicably and may stay the case if public interest does not require a penalty.

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

If another law names a court for an offence, that court tries the case. If no court is named, the High Court may try it, or a subordinate court may try it if the offence is listed as triable by that court.

The High Court may pass sentence or make any other order that the law authorises.

Courts may combine sentences they are legally allowed to impose. In some cases, corporal punishment ordered by a subordinate court must be confirmed by the High Court before it can be carried out.

Courts may sentence a person convicted of multiple offences at one trial, and may order imprisonment terms to run consecutively or concurrently, but subordinate courts face specific aggregate limits.

A court may exclude illegally obtained evidence in an offence case unless admitting it would substantially benefit the public interest without unfairly harming anyone’s rights and freedoms.

A subordinate court may pass certain sentences within stated limits, and a police officer in charge of a police station may compound low-penalty offences if the statutory conditions are met.

A subordinate court may send an adult offender to the High Court for sentencing if it thinks the punishment should be higher than it can impose.

Courts may release a sentenced person on bail while confirmation or revision-related orders are pending.

The Minister may, after consultation, give resident magistrates power to try certain offences or specified cases, and they may then impose sentences the High Court could impose for those offences.

Offences under section 173 must be tried with two or more assessors and follow the High Court’s trial procedure.

Section 175 was repealed by Act No. 32 of 1994 Sch.

If the High Court confirms a death sentence, the judge must promptly send the case record or a certified copy to the President and include a signed written report with any recommendations or observations.

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

The High Court may hear and try offences within its jurisdiction at any place where it can hold sittings, except as section 93 provides.

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

A court must hear and try an offence in the local area where it was committed, or where the accused was apprehended, is in custody, or appeared on a lawful summons, subject to sections 178 and 189–191.

A court may inquire into or try an offence if the accused act was done, or its consequence happened, within that court’s local jurisdiction.

A court may try or inquire into a charge when the offence relates to another offence, and either act happened within that court’s local jurisdiction.

A court with jurisdiction over any of the relevant local areas may hear or try an offence when the exact local area is uncertain or the offence spans multiple local areas.

A court may hear or try an offence if the offender, the victim, or the thing involved passed through that court’s local jurisdiction during a journey or voyage.

If there is doubt about which court should hear or try an offence, a court may refer the matter to the High Court, which decides the proper court.

Courts are generally open to the public, but judges can close proceedings in specified situations; sexual offence trials are heard in camera; and children are generally excluded from court during another person’s trial.

The court may, on an ex parte application by the Director of Public Prosecutions, order witness-protection measures such as video testimony or non-disclosure of witness identity and related documents; if some orders are made, those witness statements or documents must not be disclosed to the accused during committal or trial.

A court may transfer a complaint to the court where the complaint arose, and must follow specified steps if custody is continued or imposed.

A district magistrate may transfer a case to a subordinate court in the situations described in this section.

The High Court may transfer or assign criminal cases and offences to other competent courts, or commit an accused person for trial to itself, when the stated grounds are made out.

If an accused pleads not guilty, the court must hold a preliminary hearing and later prepare, explain, sign, and file a memorandum of agreed matters.

An accused person charged with a minor 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 and have the case finished quickly may give written notice to the magistrate, and alibi notice must be given before the hearing.

A public prosecutor may enter a plea bargain before judgment after consulting the victim or investigator when appropriate; 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 no plea agreement may be made without the written consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

If a plea agreement is made, the prosecutor may reduce or withdraw charges, and the accused may plead guilty or be ordered to pay compensation, make restitution, or face forfeiture.

A plea agreement must be written, explained to the accused, accepted, signed by the required people, and not entered without prior written consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions or another officer he authorizes in writing.

The court must register qualifying plea agreements, check that they were voluntary and that the accused is competent, and convict accordingly if the agreement is accepted.

Before a plea is recorded, the accused must be put under oath, and the court must explain the plea agreement and the accused’s rights in a language the accused understands.

Plea agreements must not be used for listed serious offences and certain high-value drug or government trophy cases.

The Director of Public Prosecutions or an accused person who is a party to a plea agreement may apply to the court that passed the sentence to set aside a conviction and sentence linked to fraud or misrepresentation.

The Chief Justice may make rules and give directives about plea bargaining, subject to this Part.

A court may summon, examine, recall, and re-examine witnesses or other persons, and must do so when their evidence is essential to deciding the case. The prosecutor, defendant, or the defendant’s advocate has a right to cross-examine such a person, and the court may adjourn the case if needed for that purpose.

In trials under this Act, evidence must be taken in the presence of the accused unless another express provision applies or the accused’s personal attendance has been dispensed with.

A court may continue a trial and give judgment even if the accused is absent, but only in the stated circumstances.

Witnesses in criminal cases must be examined on oath or affirmation, unless another written law says otherwise. If an accused person stays silent when examined, the court may draw an adverse inference and the court and prosecution may comment on that failure.

If a person called to give evidence refuses to comply with court requirements, the court may adjourn the case and keep the person in prison for up to eight days unless they comply sooner.

If the accused is the only defence witness on the facts, the court must call them after the prosecution’s evidence closes. The court may also adjourn the hearing to another time and place.

The prosecution does not get a right of reply just because the accused has been called as a witness; however, the Attorney-General, Deputy Attorney-General, Director of Public Prosecutions, or a person acting under their instruction for the prosecution may reply in all cases.

A certificate in the prescribed form can be used as evidence, the court may treat the signature as genuine, and the court may summon and examine the certificate-giver in some proceedings.

A Government analyst’s report may be used as evidence, and the court may presume the signature is genuine and may summon the analyst in some proceedings.

A fingerprint report from an officer appointed by order of the Director of Public Prosecutions can be accepted as evidence, and the court can treat the signature as genuine.

A court may treat certain reports about handwriting as evidence, and may presume the signature is genuine.

Certain expert reports may be used as evidence, and the court may presume the signature is genuine and the signer had the stated office or expertise.

The High Court or a district magistrate may issue a commission to a magistrate to take a witness’s evidence when attendance would be unreasonably delayed, costly, or inconvenient.

When a commission is issued, the court or magistrate must tell the parties they may send written interrogatories, and the magistrate must examine the witness on them. Parties may also appear before the magistrate and question the witness.

A commission issued under section 206 must be returned after execution, with the witness deposition, to the issuing High Court or magistrate; the papers may be inspected by the parties and, with just exceptions, read in evidence.

When a commission is issued under section 206, the proceeding may be adjourned for a time long enough to execute and return the commission.

In magistrate trials covered by this section, witness evidence must be written down in court language and signed by the magistrate; it is usually recorded as a narrative, though the magistrate may record particular question-and-answer portions.

Evidence must be interpreted for the accused or, if represented, for the advocate when needed; the court may interpret documents as necessary.

A magistrate must also record any material remarks about a witness’s demeanour when recording that witness’s evidence.

A magistrate may try certain minor offences without recording evidence, but must enter specified particulars; if the case becomes unsuitable, witnesses must be recalled and the case reheard. Sentences under this section cannot exceed six months’ imprisonment or a fine of one thousand shillings.

If the original magistrate cannot finish a trial or committal proceeding, another magistrate may take over and use the existing record; the High Court may also set aside a conviction and order a new trial in some cases.

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

If the court thinks the accused may be of unsound mind and unable to defend himself, it must first require the prosecution to present evidence, and may then order detention, bail with conditions, or later stop proceedings and order custody if unsound mind is found.

If an accused has recovered enough sanity, the medical officer must send a certificate to the court and the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the court must act on whether proceedings continue or the accused is discharged.

When the court receives certain reports or information, it must resume the trial and require the accused to appear; it may also hear the case again or partly heard, and if still not satisfied about the accused’s sound mind and defence capacity, it may record that finding and make a fresh order.

A defendant who plans to rely on insanity must raise that defence when called to plead, and the court must make a special finding if the evidence shows the accused acted but was insane.

The court may pause the case and order a mental-hospital examination if insanity may have affected the accused, and the hospital doctor must report within 42 days.

If an accused person cannot understand the proceedings, the court must follow special steps, and the person may be detained during the President’s pleasure in some cases.

If the accused appears or is brought before the court and the complainant does not appear, the court must dismiss the charge and discharge the accused, unless it decides to adjourn the hearing.

If both parties appear, or the complainant appears and the accused’s attendance has been dispensed with under section 193, the court must hear the case.

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 covered by the withdrawal.

If the accused person dies, any trial under this Part abates.

The court may adjourn a hearing and decide whether the accused stays at large, goes to prison, or is released on recognisance, but strict time limits apply.

If the accused or complainant does not appear after adjournment, the court may proceed, dismiss the charge, or take related steps; it also gives the complainant 30 days to seek re-institution after dismissal.

If an accused in a subordinate court does not appear at the listed hearing or sentencing date, the court may continue and dispose of the case in a specified way if attendance cannot be secured without undue delay or expense.

The court must tell the accused the charge and ask for a plea; if the charge is admitted, the magistrate may convict and sentence unless there is sufficient cause to the contrary.

If the accused does not admit the charge, the prosecutor must begin the case and call witnesses. The accused person, or an advocate, may question witnesses, and the court or magistrate has duties tied to those questions and any statement made.

If the prosecution has not made out a sufficient case at the close of its evidence, the court must dismiss the charge and acquit the accused person.

The court must tell the accused person about the charge and the rights to testify or call witnesses, then call on the accused to defend unless those rights are not used.

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

The prosecutor or their advocate, 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 amend or replace a defective charge during trial, but not if that would cause injustice.

The court must hear the complainant, accused person, witnesses, and evidence, then decide whether to convict and sentence, or acquit or discharge. If the accused is acquitted, the court must also get a permanent service address and record it.

The court may receive evidence before sentencing if it considers that evidence useful.

A subordinate court presided over by a resident magistrate may consider another offence committed by the accused when deciding sentence, but only under the section’s conditions.

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

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

In subordinate court trials, a signed medical report about a purely medical or surgical matter may be received as evidence, and the court can handle the report’s maker for examination or cross-examination.

Certain minor offences can only be tried by a subordinate court if the charge or complaint is laid within 12 months of when the matter arose, unless law allows a longer time.

If the magistrate thinks a case should be tried by the High Court, the magistrate must stop the current proceedings and send the accused for trial in the High Court.

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

A subordinate court of competent jurisdiction must hold committal proceedings when a charge is brought for an offence that is not triable by a subordinate court, or when the Director of Public Prosecutions advises that the offence should not be dealt with by summary trial.

After arrest, the person must be taken to a subordinate court within the prescribed time, and the magistrate must explain the charge without requiring a plea. Prosecutors and police must also pass case materials through the listed steps.

The subordinate court must bring the accused before it, give the accused or counsel the trial documents, explain the charge and prosecution evidence, warn the accused before any statement, record the statement, and have the magistrate certify it.

The court must list prosecution witnesses, ask the accused whether he will call witnesses, and record the names and addresses if he chooses to give them.

The court may adjourn proceedings and remand the accused, including to custody or another place of security, and may also order continued custody, bring the accused before it, or admit the accused to bail.

A person committed for trial before the High Court can get 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 needed at trial, and the court must summon that person and may bind them to appear.

If a person refuses to enter into recognizance under section 250, the court may commit that person to prison or to an officer of the court until the trial is held or the case is otherwise resolved, unless recognizance is entered in the meantime.

A magistrate may authorize a written statement from a seriously ill, injured, or otherwise unavailable witness if the witness can give material evidence; the court then records, certifies, and preserves the statement.

Notice must be given before a statement is taken, and if the person is in custody, they may be brought to the place where it is taken; if they request it, they must be brought.

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

Statements made under section 252 can be used as evidence at trial if they are properly certified and the court is satisfied about the maker’s unavailability or if the accused had a fair chance to cross-examine.

The committing court must promptly send the committal record to the Registrar of the High Court and send authenticated copies of the charge and proceedings to the Director of Public Prosecutions when an accused person has been committed for trial.

The High Court may direct that a plea and trial be transferred to a resident magistrate with extended jurisdiction.

The Registrar or deputy must add a notice of trial to the filed information and its copies after receiving the committal record copies.

The Registrar must provide trial papers to the officer serving the information, and that officer must deliver them to the accused at least 3 days before trial and explain what they mean.

The officer who serves the trial documents must promptly make a return of service to the registrar.

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

Informations made under section 257 must be signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, subject to section 92.

Every information must show the date it was signed, and it may start in the stated form with necessary case-specific changes.

This section appears to be a form heading stating that the court is informed by the Director of Public Prosecutions that A.B. is charged with offence(s).

Before trial begins, the Registrar of the High Court must issue summons for certain witnesses to attend the trial.

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

Trials before the High Court must be heard with the aid of at least two assessors.

People aged 21 to 60 may be required to serve as assessors, and the High Court may make rules about the area from which assessors can be summoned.

Several listed groups are exempt from liability to serve as assessors, and the Chief Justice may exempt some other people too.

A person cannot be exempted from serving as an assessor because of sex or marriage; a judge or magistrate may order all-male or all-female assessors, or grant a woman’s exemption in a suitable case.

The Registrar of the High Court must, usually at least 14 days before a High Court session, direct the local magistrate to summon assessors; the magistrate must comply and may, if directed, delegate selection to an administrative officer.

A summons to an assessor must be in writing and must specify the time and place of attendance.

A person served with an assessor summons may object to it before a district or resident magistrate without delay, before the attendance date, if they think they are not liable to serve.

The High Court may excuse an assessor from attending a particular session for reasonable cause, and may bar assessors who served at a trial from being summoned again for 12 months.

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

A summoned assessor who does not attend as required, leaves without permission, or fails to return after adjournment may be fined up to 500 shillings, and may face civil imprisonment if the fine is not recovered.

An accused person before the High Court must be brought to the bar, have the information read to them, and plead at once unless there has been a service issue with a copy of the information. After the plea, the court must obtain and keep the accused’s permanent address.

Objections to defects in an information must be raised immediately after it is read to the accused; the court can amend a defective information, order separate trials or postponement, and make related orders.

An information must be quashed if it cannot state an offence the accused had notice of, and motions on that issue must be filed in writing.

In cases involving a prior conviction allegation, the prior conviction details are generally not read out or put to the accused until after a guilty plea or conviction for the later offence; after that, the accused is asked, and the court then acts depending on the answer.

An accused person arraigned on an information and pleading not guilty is treated as having put himself on trial.

An accused person facing an information may plead prior conviction, acquittal, or a pardon; if the prosecution disputes that plea, the court must determine whether it is true, and if it is not, the accused must plead to the information.

If an accused person cannot answer at arraignment, the court may enter a not-guilty plea, assess mental soundness, and if needed postpone the trial and keep the person in safe custody.

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

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

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

A trial before the High Court ends if the accused person dies.

If assessors are used in a trial, the court must select them.

If an assessor cannot attend or is absent and attendance cannot be enforced immediately, the trial may continue with the remaining assessors if there are at least two.

If a 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, call witnesses, and adduce evidence for the charge.

The prosecution may not call a witness at trial if that witness’s evidence was not read at committal proceedings, unless it has given reasonable written notice to the accused person or their advocate.

Witnesses called for the prosecution must allow cross-examination by the accused person or their advocate and re-examination by the prosecution advocate.

This section lets a High Court accept a signed medical report in evidence if notice and a copy were given to the accused or advocate.

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

After the prosecution case closes, the court must either record a not-guilty finding if there is no evidence, or tell the accused about the rights to testify and call witnesses and then proceed to defence.

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

The accused may examine witnesses at trial, and courts may summon defence witnesses if their evidence is material.

If an accused person gives evidence, the prosecutor is entitled to reply, subject to section 201.

If the accused says they do not want to give evidence and the court thinks there is evidence of the offence, the prosecution must sum up and the court must call on the accused to address the court.

After both sides close their case, the judge may summarize the evidence, must hear each assessor’s oral opinion, and then give judgment. If the accused is convicted, the judge must sentence them according to law.

If the first judge cannot finish a trial, another qualified judge may continue it, use the recorded evidence, and in some cases restart the trial with witnesses re-summoned.

A person charged with a multi-part offence may be convicted of a minor offence if the proved facts make out that minor offence, even if it was not charged.

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

The court may convict a person of certain related child-homicide or birth-concealment offences even if that offence was not originally charged, if the stated conditions are met.

A court may convict a person of the related road traffic offence even if the person was only charged with manslaughter, if the court finds the manslaughter charge not proved but the road traffic offence proved.

A court may convict a person of certain other Penal Code offences even if that offence was not charged, if the court finds the person not guilty of the charged offence but guilty of one of the listed alternatives.

If a person is charged under sections 294 to 298, the court may convict them of another offence within those sections even if that offence was not charged.

A court may convict a person of a related offence even if that offence was not the charge, when the evidence supports one of the listed related offences.

A court may convict a person of a section 312 Penal Code offence even if that person was not charged with it, if the court thinks the person did not corruptly acquire or receive the property.

This section says sections 300 to 307 are additional to other Acts and the rest of this Code, and sections 301 to 307 do not limit section 300.

A person tried for a warrant offence is not to be acquitted just because the evidence proves only a non-warrant offence, and the court may instead direct prosecution for the non-warrant offence.

A person accused in a criminal court other than a primary court may be defended by a High Court advocate, subject to any written law about advocates’ professional services.

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

Judgments under section 311 must be written under the presiding judge or magistrate’s direction, include the issues, decision and reasons, and be dated and signed when pronounced in open court.

A copy of the judgment must be given to the accused person on request without delay and free of cost; a translation in the accused person’s own language must also be given if practicable and requested.

If the accused is convicted or pleads guilty, the Registrar or another court officer must ask whether the accused has anything to say before sentence is passed.

An accused person may ask the court to set aside judgment before sentence if the information does not state an offence the court can try.

The court may sentence the accused person during the sessions in certain motion-in-arrest-of-judgment situations.

The court may postpone its final decision on questions raised during a trial, and when it later gives that decision, it is treated as if given at the time of trial.

A judge may reserve a trial question for a panel of High Court judges, and the convicted person may be held in prison or bailed while it is decided.

The court may receive evidence before passing sentence.

The High Court may consider another offence when deciding sentence, but only if the accused is told about it, admits it, and asks the court to consider it.

A person sentenced to death must be executed by hanging.

If an accused person is sentenced to death, the court must tell them the time limit for appealing.

A Registrar or other court officer may issue a certificate stating that a death sentence has been passed and naming the condemned person; that certificate is enough authority to detain that person.